Author: Brett

Last Saturday, the next door neighbors moved away. We knew that it was coming; they had told us the week before, and of course, we had been there when the “For Sale” sign had gone up last April, the same day that we had left Manhattan and descended on the Boro of Kings.

Still, we were taken aback when we woke on Saturday morning to find the immense moving truck parked out front and to see the shouting men hoisting couches and mattresses and tossing them into the back.

All those many months of speculating who would buy the run-down, Colonial next door was finished. After 36 years, this family, one of the last of the old-timers on the block was selling to a wealthy family from around the corner. Apparently, the new owner had wanted to expand his house and met resistance from the neighbors. Eventually, he won the right to expand, but by then, bad feelings abounded, so they decided to move instead. Now we are not only coping with the loss of a fine next door neighbor, but the prospect of a new, arrogant one. Finally, what was this new owner planning to do? Would he knock the house down, as so many in this area have done, and construct a McMansion? Or would he simply add on, towering over us? Either way, our future is sure to be filled with the many sounds of scraping and drilling.

On Monday morning, I picked up the mail to find a postcard from the realtor who had sold our neighbor’s house. “Congratulations!” It read, “You have new neighbors!” Then: If you are looking to sell your home, please call us. When and if we will move or not is another issue entirely, and one better left for a future post.