PORTRAIT OF A NEIGHBOR: LAUREN RONCETTI

Editor’s Note: As part of a regular West Side Rag series, artist Michelle Hill interviews and draws Upper West Siders. This is the ninth installment in our Portrait of a Neighbor series.

By Michelle Hill

Lauren H. Roncetti, born in Connecticut in 1949.

When did you move to the Upper West Side?
We lived in New Jersey from 1977 (having just relocated from San Francisco) until 2002 since our jobs were there. I taught elementary school for 22 years. But, we always enjoyed coming to the City on the weekends. So, in 1993 we started living on a part time basis in a condo (on Broadway between 67th and 68th) which we had purchased in 1986 and rented out to tenants for a few years. My husband did the reverse commute back to NJ, which worked out really well for him. He worked for Bestfoods, as an environmental engineer.
After my husband retired we sold our house in NJ (2002) and built a home on Nantucket. We became residents of Massachusetts and spent the major part of the year on the Island. But we had in 2007 bought a larger apartment in New York and decided we wanted to spend more and more time here in the City so we switched residency status to New York. We spend the summer months in Nantucket.

Why the Upper West Side?
Because here women wear wool coats, not furs. The East Side is another world. We are natural people.

What do you do on the Upper West Side?
My husband volunteers at the Museum of Natural History and we both joined the gym. After years of commuting, my husband started to put on weight and not feel great. By doing the reverse commute he was able to take care of himself better. Because we are both retired we are able to workout daily, go to free Wednesday’s Noon concerts at Julliard. We take advantage of enjoying culture with our friends. On Nantucket I volunteer now at the Nantucket Lightship Basket Museum. We see art house movies. Our doorman says we are the most going out couple in the building. We decided many years ago not to have children because of environmental reasons, we felt the world was populated enough. We also said if we came to regret our decision we would adopt, but we never did.

How has the Upper West Side changed since you arrived?
I miss the old post office. The grittiness. It has become a mall here. Barnes and Noble, Greek Diners, the art house movie theatre on 67th
and Broadway: all gone.

What would you change?
Food trucks. Do we really need so many of them? The engines of these trucks revving all day can’t be good for the environment.