Harbor Commons

Description xxxxxThis courtyard is the lush central hub of the surrounding Harbor Commons, bound in on three sides by rows of duplexes and triplexes, cutting upward at the sky with the sharp thrift of a minimalist's style, neat lines and bountiful windows, boldened with accents in wood towards the upper stories, stone towards the base, the whole of the compound sealed in by a low stoneworked wall that opens entrance gates to the streets beyond at its two far corners, smaller gates at building back doors. The fourth side of the courtyard is open to the East River, the ground forming a slight decline, controlled on one side by micro-retaining walls to form wide steps where picnic tables sit beneath the nominative shelter of a trio of dogwood trees, accessible by ramp. The other side is allowed to slope at its natural angle, a wide open yard space, until its cut off at the river's edge, where a massive pair of oak trees stand, a staircase leading away up one of their thick trunks. The yard itself is carpeted in an organic flow of emerald grass swirled through with wending channels of smooth-paved cement walkways, flowing naturally away from the building's front entrances, where some are arced by trellis, some flanked by hosta plants, fern and lilies, a few laid in gentle switch-backing ramps for wheelchair access, before forking off at matching angles to sites of small garden installments. Bird feeders and baths suspended from the necks of small lamp posts, a sleek gazebo tucked to one side in simplistic varnished wood, its southern side overgrown with a mass of thriving grapevine and a caged-in barbecue pit under its sheltering roof. A play area and proper garden are within sight off another branch, until finally all paths spiral in like wheel spokes to a central shared common house at the center of all traffic flow. Notes & Trivia Harbor Commons is a co-housing development in the Lower East Side. Started as a project after many of the residents of the Village Lofts were served eviction notices for being mutants, the development is, while not loud or public about the fact, a very mutant-friendly alternative to the overwhelming housing discrimination common in the city. As a co-housing group, residency is not, ICly, fully open to everyone -- potential applicants must, in addition to the standard sorts of credit/history checks common to finding new housing, also be interviewed by a small group of residents to ensure they are a good fit. This is because unlike a traditional apartment, all residents of the Commons are expected to take part in the general upkeep and environment of the place. Residents can contribute to this in a large variety of ways, as applicable to their interests and skills -- anywhere from helping with grounds maintenance to helping take care of the finances and tech support to helping prepare communal meals or organize social events or shop for needed supplies; there's a large variety of chores and work that always need doing, and everyone is expected to do what they can to keep the place going. Additionally, there is a small monthly maintenance fee for all residents to take care of the cost of utilities/supplies/maintenance/etc for the shared-use areas. Also additionally, while this is not publicly advertised, anyone with strongly anti-mutant sentiments (or, really, much of any bigotry all around) is highly unlikely to be accepted into a unit here -- they do have a telepath or two in the group for vetting potential new applicants and aren't looking to invite trouble into a community with a very high portion of mutants living there. The common-use buildings (Common House, Workshop) are accessible via electronic keyfobs all residents are issued. These fobs are also tied to certain things around the building -- you can add money to them on the Commons website online for doing laundry, use them to unlock certain more-dangerous equipment lockers in the Workshop, use them to unlock the movie/games cabinets in the entertainment room or the instrument lockers in the music room. There's not really parking here. It's still New York City. Hardly any residents even have cars; those who do are on their own for finding street parking around the Lower East Side. Important Events xxxxxAnything particularly noteworthy happen in this spot? Note it here! Residents xxxxxNone yet -- the Commons is ICly under construction and will not be available to actually move into until early summer, 2014. Harbor Commons Neighborhood Lower East Side Type Residential Mutant-friendliness Welcoming
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