My boyfriend Atikur Abdul and I were one of the lucky 89 families to move into El Barrio's Artspace PS 109. 53,000 families applied last summer which made the chances to get an apartment in this amazing historical building as low as 0.001%. Something told me that we'd beat the odds, and we did! Our own little jackpot! Not only are we both artists who want to focus more on our craft, we are also raising a 3 month old and a 8 year old who will now be able to live in a community like no other in NY. A place where you know your neighbor, a place where kids spend time with the neighbor's kids, a place where you can go downstairs with your baby strapped in a baby carrier and have a nice chat with your neighbor that's just moving in. The energy is unbelievable. No quiet awkward moment in the elevator. Endless talks and laughter is what's surrounding us. We've been in our new home for one week now and every night I wonder if I will wake up in our old apartment only 5 blocks away...

The news about El Barrio's Artspace PS 109 are spreading and more and more articles are being published about it. The newest one written by Justin Davidson for NY Magazine titled The Beauty and Limitations of PS 109 was very interesting and disturbing to me. It made me wonder why we have to view things in the worst light possible. What happened (and is still happening) to 89 lucky families should be inspiring, uplifting, giving hope to other artists and their families, but instead this article focuses on negativity and is full of sarcasm.

I guess it's just in the nature of the human race to envy, to find the bad in the good.