I live in lower Manhattan in one of the few high rises that was built in the early 1960s in GreenwichVillage, the kind of big modern banality that spawned and then gave urgency to the historic preservation movement. To prevent further construction of such buildings, much of theVillage, which dates to the mid-1800s,was declared a historic district. As a result, my south looking apartment has an exceptional viewof all of downtown: the Village, Soho, Tribeca, and the towers of the Financial District as well as the Hudson River and New Jersey to the west. I have lived here for two years, and never ceased marveling at the expanse and density that lie just outside my front door... [+]