Zaire and her family were fantastic hosts. When I arrived I was promptly met at the gate and given a brief tour, then given total privacy for a week. I stayed for a workweek in the city, and their apartment was a great, quiet refuge to come home to at night. The apartment is bright, very clean, and comfortable.

It's only a few blocks away from a handful of subway stops on a quiet residential street, so getting to work in Williamsburg and back was easy. There's a good handful of delis and bodegas and coffee shops less than 2 blocks away.

The library is stocked with a diverse collection of fiction nonfiction, lots of excellent stuff. I ended up accidentally reading half of Snow Crash (I put it back where I found it, so you can read it too).