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Brett Kay Moves to the BIG City, Anthony Stays in Coney Island Brett Kay has been given something that is making his magical summer even more special. It’s a gift, of sorts. Since mid-July, he’s been in possession of something every New Yorker wants—a Manhattan apartment. “The guy Bob who helped me with my contract, he’s like my dad in a way, you know?” begins Brett, whom I’ve asked to explain his current living situation. “And his son used to be a model out here, and so the son has a place in the Chelsea part of Manhattan that no one lives in now because he’s back in L.A. Normally he just rents it out to his buddies, but two or three weeks ago I had called Bob to talk about how crappy the living situation was. I guess whoever was staying in the apartment owed Bob’s son a favor, so they asked him to move out for the rest of the summer. Then Bob called me and said, ‘Go ahead and live in there.’” Before I can even explain to this California native how lucky he is to live in such a neighborhood, and presumably for free, Brett continues happily, his pregame energy pushing his sentences out in excited bursts. “He’s never there, you understand? They sent me the keys, and I was hooked up. So now I’ve got my own place in Manhattan, twenty blocks away from Times Square. It’s on, um, like, 24th [Street] and 7th [Avenue],” Brett says, clearly not even totally sure where in this new city he lives. He is clear on the fact that he doesn’t have to fight for rides in the team van anymore. “Now I take the subway to the field, which is an ◆ 128 ◆ 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ experience in itself. The N train or the F train are both near the apartment . I’m just trying to figure out which one is faster. It’s not like I really know my way around yet, and I still get lost sometimes. I usually leave, like, four hours before I need to be here. I’ll just be walking around 7th Avenue or whatever, somewhere in Chelsea. I mean, I get lost all the time.” In future conversations, more details come out about the apartment. “It’s just a studio apartment. Not that big, but I don’t need anything big,” Brett says a couple of days later. “It has a bed, a TV, a computer that I can check my emails on. Everything is sweet. I’m making the best of it. There’s a food market right outside my door where I can get my healthy stuff. I think Manhattan food is really good. There’s also a liquor store nearby if I want. The whole setup is awesome.” Not that Brett is living wildly. “Nah, I’m still not there that much—I don’t even go back there every single night. But at this age I’ve become a little more of an antisocial guy, so I do like being alone when I can. I know that some of the guys in the dorms [at St. John’s University] like to go out at night, but I’m not a party guy. Even back home, I only like to go out if it’s with my girlfriend or if everyone is going out. Besides, I didn’t want to give the wrong impression by coming back to the dorms drunk. Some people can go out, drink, and play the next day, no problem, but my body is just not meant for that. When they’d do that I’d just be sitting in my room, alone. That’s why this apartment is such a hook-up—as amazing as things are with this team in Brooklyn, lodging is a problem. Now I don’t have to deal with that.” Besides, according to Brett, there is more than enough wild stuff going on in his neighbors’ apartment. “I probably shouldn’t say this, but, you know, the apartments are really close together in Manhattan. So one of the first days I was there, about ten in the morning, I’m eating my breakfast , and I look up and there’s people having sex in the middle of the apartment. Then...

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