Editor’s Note: As part of a regular West Side Rag series, artist Michelle Hill will interview and paint/draw an Upper West Sider. This is the first in that series.

By Michelle Hill

Meet Pieter Kramer, born in the Netherlands 78 years ago. Drawn with oil pastel.

When did you move to the Upper West Side?

I moved to New York to become an architect in the early 70’s. Originally lived on the East side but saw a rent stabilized apartment advertised on West 72nd St for $250 per month. Which was an average rent for that time. Took the apartment after I missed out on a Penthouse apartment on 86th St for $200. The 86th Street place had a roof deck and all. Figured I would have been shot up there though. In the 80’s the streets were so unsafe! The 70’s were safer, though there were prostitutes and drugs on every corner. I had to throw huge parties with lots of goods to get people to visit me here.”

Where did you go to college to study architecture?

“I didn’t go to college, I just worked for the best firms. They trained me. Then a head hunter told me there was a city architecture job available so I thought it would be a good idea to take it since it had a pension. I retired about 5 years ago. I loved it, I worked there for 22 years.”

What is your favorite thing to do on the Upper West Side?

“Going home! I love my home, it’s a sturdy building with gypsum walls. I never hear my neighbors.”

What about our mayors? Who was (is) the best mayor since you’ve moved here?

“Our current one! When I take a cab ride, the city looks so beautiful. Even the lower East Side looks good. All areas look good. It didn’t in the past. The subways were full of pickpockets and dirt. It is much cleaner now.”

What do you miss about the old Upper West Side?

“I miss the small Greek diners, the corner stores were you could a carton of milk on your way home. I also miss good affordable restaurants. On Friday nights after work we would decide to go to either The Ritz or The Plaza for drinks. Everyone did that. There weren’t as many rich people back then, we could afford to go out. Now I can’t afford to go out, so I stay home.”

Michelle Hill began her professional artist career at the age of 9 in the small town of Branchville, painting the store windows in exchange for milk shakes and jaw breakers. At the age of 19, after a year of at local community college studying fine art, she got a scholarship to Parson’s School of Design’s Illustration Department. She moved with a friend from New Jersey into a 2 bedroom rent stabilized apartment on the Upper West Side. Twenty-five years later, she still lives in that same apartment building with her husband and 2 kids. Her illustration clients include the Village Voice, Scholastic Books, and Highlight Magazine. Her fine art work is in the collection of Bear Stearns, White Columns and many private homes.

While working at Random House as an art director in the children’s division, she went to Teacher’s College to study Art Education. Upon completing her MA degree in 2001, she transitioned to teaching art and yoga full time. In Michelle’s art studio, which is across the street from her house in the TIP TOP SHOES building, she holds weekly art lessons for elementary school aged children. She has taught at local schools as well, such as PS 199, Goddard Riverside Preschool, and Satellite High School.