Frank Condenzio and Steve Vogel   (interview 1999 photo 1996)

   Steve teaches English as a Second Language for Hunter College. He also translates contemporary French plays into English and is currently translating a play about Maria Callas. One of his translations, "The White Bear," had a run Off Broadway. Frank is an instructor of Culinary Arts for New York Food and Hotel Restaurant School and also teaches cooking skills to deaf students.

   Coming from the East Village, Steve and Frank bought in Hudson View Gardens in 1995, after viewing just five apartments. Word of mouth from several people clued them to the low prices that could be had at the time.

   "I didn't know anything about the neighborhood until we came up to see Simone, the first day. This was the very first apartment we saw, and it was the one we liked," Steve said, sipping tea in his dining nook overlooking the private road and gardens within the co-op.

   "We liked the complex immediately," Steve continued. "Hudson View Gardens is from the 1920's and has a Tudor look, which is very impressive. But we especially liked this apartment because it was on the drive and a walk-up, and neither one of us likes to wait for an elevator. It is very pleasant being on the drive, and much more secluded. You have more of an intimate feeling walking in and out of your apartment than you would on most city streets. The gardens! You see flowers and greenery and trees and living organisms."

   Commenting on the neighborhood, Steve explains, "This is a very residential area. There is a lot less going on in terms of nightlife . . . but on the other hand, what it has is a very calm atmosphere, which is one of the reasons I wanted to move up here and, I think, Frank did, too. I was a little tired of the hubbub of the rest of Manhattan. I'd lived in the East Village for twenty years, and it was exciting . . . but we both got tired of that atmosphere. Then we decided what we really wanted was a place that was relaxing and pleasant to live in, and this area is that. It has a very sort of laid back atmosphere, and you feel it right away when you get off the subway. I think of Manhattan as having commercial buildings and especially shops on the ground floor of every building. That's not true up here. There is a very small commercial district on 187th, and then a lot of commercial buildings from 181st east and south."

   Many of Steve's friends . . . "are impressed with the architecture of the co-op, and I think many of them are impressed with the gardens, because most of the year you see flowers. You even see butterflies and fireflies . . . I didn't even know they existed in Manhattan!"