As June comes to an end, we too conclude the month by hearing from one of our very own. Author Leslie Adatto has chosen eBooks2go for the electronic publication of her book, Roof Explorer’s Guide: 101 New York City Rooftops. After touring New York through her eyes, we wanted to explore even further with the author herself. In this piece, Leslie delves into the origins of motivation for crafting her instructive rooftop guide. Enjoy!
Love at First Sight – A New York Rooftop Story
-By Leslie Adatto
The first time I got here, in the first moment I got out of the cab on the corner of Broadway and W. 111th Street, I fell in love with New York City. It was 1997 and I was 34 years old with a 5-year-old child and a full life a continent away in San Diego. After deciding it was true love and not just a crush, I planned to move to NYC as soon as I could – which turned out to be on July 27, 2010, nearly four years ago, a few weeks after my son graduated from high school and embarked on his “gap year” abroad.
While planning my escape from the easy life in San Diego to the urban whirlwind of NYC, I became increasingly passionate about New York City, read what I could, visited when I could and discovered I was always looking up and wanting to see the city from “up there.” When I finally got to rooftops, it was even better than I’d imagined. Like a middle aged woman at a candlelit dinner, rooftops show off NYC in her best and most romantic light, and I fell even harder for Gotham.
Around 2008, I began looking for books about NYC rooftops and found, much to my surprise, that there were none (this was true until 2011). I saw my opening and decided to go for it! After visiting scores of fantastic private rooftops, it became clear that my passion was really public access rooftops – so friends, family and other rooftop enthusiasts could enjoy the same thrilling experiences I was having – and Roof Explorer’s Guide: 101 New York City Rooftops was born.