toby and the taylors

just walked down the hall to dump my recycling in the bin and toby is barking like a maniac from behind eve and byron taylor's green door.

can i tell you how much i love my neighbors? like the majority of the reason i don't want to leave tribeca - or even this building - is how i adore them?

a year or two ago, when rara had to present a speech to her class on someone she loved and admired - instead of choosing her mum or dad or grandparents - she chose eve taylor.

and when sasha and zarina were tiny, they used to grab their blankets and camp out outside eve and byron's door on weekend mornings, waiting for them to wake up.

eve was the person i called when my kids were home sick and i couldn't look after them, when someone needed to meet them at the pediatrician or someone needed to take the dog to the vet.

the other day, i came home from work with a colleague and made her creep down the hallway, whispering, "be quiet..."

and she said, "wait, isn't that your dog? what's he doing over there?"

and i whispered, "shhh. that's his other family."

quite often byron will come over mid-morning and pick up toby to take him for a walk or to take him home.

and i haven't even BEGUN talking about betsy haddad where i used to drop rara off in her pajamas with her breakfast in a tray when she was 1.5 and i had to get sasha and zarina to school.

or umbreen sheikh, my british pakistani neighbor, where i hang out for hours drinking tea and gossiping about our families. and zarina babysits her son on weekends (and then calls me to bring her snacks and stuff from our house.)

and michael and tammy rubin who have 3 boys to my 3 amazons so i call them every time the wayward boy ends up in the girlworld that is my apartment.

oh - and there's the doorman who is a fashion photographer, walks my dog for nothing if i don't have the money and is always trying to help me get work and save money.

oh my gosh, cool as brooklyn is - if i can't transport my extended family - how could i live anywhere else?