Last night was the funniest, most enjoyable evening I’ve had in months thanks to the inimitable JOAN RIVERS, who performs periodically at Manhattan’s West Bank Cafe, trying out new material while also raising money for her two favorite charities–Guide Dogs For The Blind and God’s Love We Deliver.

You must not miss her at West Bank. My dog-loving book guru, HARRY HELM, brilliant editorial director at Hachette Book Group, and his trusty assistant, Adlai Yeomans, were at my table, along with Broadway actor Brandon Williams and his wife, photographer Sheila, the fantastic life coach Peg Wallis, the adorably congenial real estate rep Taylor Yunis, accessory designer David Cohen, and my “youngest” friend, octogenarian Bud Klauber, energetic and stunningly dressed as always.

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On this slightly dreary rainy day, as I’m looking from my office window, I’m remembering what the view usually looks like in spring, as in the picture taken in spring 2009. As the weather warms up, though, the grand English oaks, river birches, and weeping willows are going to make their entrance. As I bike through the pathways, I’m going to be shaded by a lush umbrella of trees, an ideal backdrop for lunchtime strollers. In the evening, the purple lanterns set close to the water glow as residents and visitors dine at candlelit tables.

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Looking outside the window today on this balmy first day of spring, I’m transfixed by the glittery surface of the Hudson River and the procession of boats up and down it. As I see all the dogs promenading up and down the tree-lined Esplanade, my mind is drifting back in time to all the fun my dog, Katie, and I had here, in Battery Park City.

Battery Park City, a little town built on water. For those who don’t know it, our neighborhood is tucked away at the southernmost tip of Manhattan, built on the land fill created when the World Trade Center was first constructed. The charm of the place is that it’s so hidden away, though impossible to leave once you’ve discovered it. Here there are playgrounds decorated with fanciful sculptures, playing fields brimming with Little Leaguers, expansive lawns for sunbathing, and plazas for outdoor concerts. I write all about it in the introduction of Katie Up and Down the Hall–in a section titled: Welcome to Battery Park City.

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An intuition or spontaneous decision can take you almost anywhere, including to a profoundly close friendship that develops when you least expect it.

That’s what happened to me. One day, with a brand-new puppy in my arms, I impulsively knocked on my next-door neighbor’s door, anxious for advice about how to train her. Whether it was serendipity, luck, chemistry, or sheer proximity–that brief encounter, and the events that followed it, would change my life (and my dog’s) forever.”

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