Vortex, my landlord gets in after 1 on Mondays. I'll get the plumber's number and model info to you after that.

I was without a working disposer for a couple of months. It was bad for me on a bunch of levels. I found it really hard to cook. I know that is a 1st world problem of the highest order, but eh, it's a thing.

In dinner news, I'm making a shepherd's pie with mashed cauliflower and ground turkey. It features olives, shredded carrots, peppers and much more. It is smelling reeeaaaallly good.

Do the brownstones butt up against each other or is there an alley of some sort? Or greenspace? I've seen lots of pictures of New York brownstones with gardens.

Brownstones are almost always attached. The garden is in the back yard.

Yeah, generally, the front steps of the brownstone go right to the sidewalk, as do the steps from the basement apartment.

In Brooklyn, a brownstone might be far enough from the curb for a garden out front, but that is never the case in Manhattan.

Is there any roadway or access behind the brownstones, or is the greenspace taking all the room? IE, what's behind the brownstones? (Probably the simplest form of the question, actually)

Behind a brownstone is a garden/patio, fenced in on three sides. The only access is through the building, usually (but not always) via the basement apartment, hence real estate agents try to market them as "garden apartments".

Do you mean one can't get to the garden without going through the basement apartment? Doesn't the super usually live in the basement apartment?

Most brownstones aren't big enough to have a full-time super. There are lots of different possible layouts. Sometimes the basement apartment has full access to the back yard; sometimes there are stairs from the 1st floor to the garden, sometimes the basement and 1st floor are a single-unit duplex, sometimes there is single occupant in the whole brownstone.

Oh dang, Nilly baby! That is one adorable baby, and yes, so happy and so completely engaged. Oh Nilly, he's scrumptious.