NEIGHBORLY NO MORE, P.2

The new intercom exposed unknown fault lines. "I haven't seen you in ages" became the new "Hello." We had voted for a capital improvement that cost plenty of the former while providing dubious amounts of the latter. Technology made it easier to admit guests and deliveries, but we were losing touch with each other.

This was not the first time I had lived in a neighborhood felled by technology. Growing up on Long Island in the 1960s, I would wake for school to the sound of neighbors greeting each other as they pulled open heavy, creaky garage doors. A word or two would pass about the weather, the war, the Giants. The "click, click" of a dead battery was quickly followed by the fumbling of jumper cables as a neighbor's car pulled into the driveway to offer a charge.

But by the time I returned from college, the block seemed deserted. No one had moved away, but everyone had installed electric garage-door openers. People were now going directly from kitchen to car, separated by the isolation that comes from the privacy of the pod.

And so it was with our intercom. Holed up in our apartments, we could more easily inflate our own needs while dismissing those of our neighbors. Leaks, broken elevators and hall décor were all reasons to grouse. Then threaten. And now sue.

Still, one constant remains: our super. Regardless of the dramas, his birthday was coming.

"Luis should have his party," my upstairs neighbor said. "It will be good for all of us."

She was right. By the time the candles were lit, an amiable group had assembled in the mailroom. As we stood side-by-side nibbling coffee cake, I caught a glimpse of a happier time. Neighbors gathered downstairs, laughing, talking and teasing Luis for being surprised year after year. Bits of powdered-sugar crumbs tumbled off of napkins, down the fronts of trousers and skirts, sweat pants and shorts, jeans and pajama bottoms.

Maybe we can make do with the crumbs. Maybe where there is still cake, there is hope.

Adapted from Habitat November 2006. For the complete article and more, join our Archive >>