This month,we spoke to Allan Ishac, the writer of “New York’s 50 Best Places to Find Peace and Quiet”. We met him at his home in Greenwich Village.
Ask a New Yorker: How long have you lived in New York?
Allan : I’ve been living in New York for 15 or 16 years, primarily in this location in Greenwich Village. I was working in advertising for years, and it was a very stressful business. Between that and the feeling I wasn’t getting the tranquility and refuge and places to find peace and quiet, I noticed I needed the places in the book.
Ask a New Yorker: I read the preface with the inspiration of the teletype on your subconscious. How did you get the idea for this book?
Allan : I was literally here for six or seven years and I was in that half state between waking and sleeping and the words “25 places to find peace in quiet in New York” were sort of typed on the inside of my closed eye lids and I was wondering “what is this message?” and I wrote it down on a little piece of paper, and that little piece of paper kept leaping back into my life and would appear under a book or fall off my desk or would find me somehow and I realized that I thought it was a good article. I thought maybe other people were trying to find peace and refuge in the city. It was really stressful at the time, back in the Dinkens days, and I started to gather up places I’d known about already and then went out seeking other locations by asking doormen in different neighborhoods and I wrote a little slim jim, a little guide book, which I published myself. It found its way to a Barnes and Noble buyer, which really helped me out, and it took off from there. I found and agent and a publisher and the book ended up changing my life. Apparently, it’s also given a lot to other New Yorkers.
Ask a New Yorker: At that stressful point were you ever thinking of leaving New York? Where else could you have gone?
Allan : I always think of the book as a way to stay and still get away. But for me, it would have been rural. I found that I was going to seek out some rural suburban location. I grew up in such an environment. I was just thinking I couldn’t stand the stress and I needed to learn how to decompress. There’s a great expression, “you teach what you most need to learn”, and I found out that this is what I needed to learn.
Ask a New Yorker: I hear you practice Yoga.
Allan : I go to Yoga three days a week, actually! Why does a guy spend 10 years thinking about peace? Because I wasn’t peaceful, my mind wasn’t quiet, and I really actively used the book. Yesterday I was at two locations in the book.
Ask a New Yorker: What are your two favorite places mentioned in the book?
Allan : I am a big cyclist. They’ve done a wonderful job renovating the west side of Manhattan, so there are some wonderful piers. Pier parks! There is one at the end of Christopher Street, but I was up by the Lighthouse Park and I stopped there and at Strawberry Fields yesterday. I think Strawberry Fields is the number one location in the book for me. I’m a big Beatles fan. I think there’s something special about that “Imagine” mosaic.
Ask a New Yorker: What’s the most irritating noise for you in this city?
Allan : I’m involved the change in the noise code, and one of the things we’re talking about is what I think is the most oppressive noise in the city…you may not realize…Air Conditioners! Roof top air conditioners get lots of complaints. The one that bothers me most is jack hammers though. Noise is the worst pollution we have in this city. Noise can rob us of a sense of inner peace. Silence and solitude are very connected to creativity and I am a writer, and I think those connections are absolute.
Ask a New Yorker: Ever use ear plugs?
Allan : I use ear plugs every night. Believe it or not. I live on a very busy street, and it’s a bus route, so I need them every night so I can sleep better.
Ask a New Yorker: So, how has the book been selling?
Allan : Since 9/11, sales of the book and interest in the book have been astronomical. I really believe this, that the book provides a counterbalace to the pace of this city. Not only to the sense of fear and terror, but also to the pace in which we lead our lives. I think that people are seeking urban sanctuaries more than ever.
Ask a New Yorker: What are some of the other books you’ve written?
Allan : I edited another City and Company book called “New York City’s 50 Best Places for Body, Mind, and Spirit”. I wrote “New York’s 50 Best Places to Take Children”. The book I’m working on now is called “Simple, Silent, and Slow”. It’s my answer to the way we’re living our lives today. I’m going to get some experts to help me with this.
Ask a New Yorker: Your apartment is pretty comfortable, and has a very peaceful feeling. Did you get any help with this?
Allan : A Yale-trained architect who is also an expert in Feng Shui help me re-do the apartment. He told me to get the books out of the bedroom. Books are about intellect and the mind, and he said to get them out of the bedroom, and gave me a lot of advice about color schemes and the arrangement of the furniture and things to improve the place.
Ask a New Yorker: What happened to your finger?
Allan : I was playing touch football with a couple guys and caught the ball wrong, and broke it.
Ask a New Yorker: Did you scream and make a lot of noise?
Allan: It didn’t hurt, so I was quiet.
