Manhattan Plaza: Kramer's Crash Pad

There's a non-distinct high-rise on West 42nd Street, basically a very large public housing project, that turns out to have been a place where an unusually large number of creative people lived in their early days (including singer Alicia Keys who was literally born there) -- a rather drab sister to the Chelsea Hotel.  

It's called Manhattan Plaza, and it remains one of the few affordable places to live in midtown Manhattan.

One resident was the notorious Kenny Kramer and he was living there when he got to know his neighbor, a struggling comedian and comedy writer named Larry David. The rest, needless to say, is television history.

Kenny Kramer actually did an interview for this blog back in 2007 which you can read here. There's also a new document about this building coming out soon called Miracle on 42nd Street. I can't wait to see it!