By Tara Ryazansky Photos by Max Ryazansky
On Top of the World The highlife at Journal Squared The penthouse apartment at Journal Squared is impeccably decorated. Every corner of the space is perfectly curated with pieces like a jet-black bust and framed living moss. Yet all the art is upstaged by the view. The place has floor-to-ceiling windows in every room. “The sunsets are phenomenal,” says Hector Matos, who lives there with his wife Yineidy Matos and their dog Olivia. Soon, they will welcome another member to the family. “Olivia is going to have a sister,” Yineidy says. The second bedroom is being made into a nursery. “There’s still a lot to do in here, but we’re getting there,” Yineidy says. The couple found that they were expecting after they moved in to their new place. “That room was going to be Hector’s office,” Yineidy says. “He got kicked out. He never even got to move in.” 30 • Jersey CITY Magazine ~ FALL | WINTER 2021
Hector says, “I’ve taken many losses for lesser reasons so I was fine with this one.” One of the building’s many amenities is a coworking space, but Hector, an engineer at Cisco, hasn’t used it yet. “I haven’t had to because there’s more than enough space up here,” he says. The couple is enjoying some of the building’s other benefits. This includes a sky lounge with Manhattan views and a luxury gym with a rock-climbing wall. “There’s both a lap pool, that’s really useful for a workout, and the lounging pool,” Hector says. “We got some use of that this summer. We moved in at the beginning of July. We decided to do something for July 4th. We had a small get-together with friends. We thought we would have a great view of the fireworks.” “It didn’t work out,” Yineidy laughs. “Come to find out that fireworks only go up maybe 21 floors,” Hector says. Their apartment is more than 60 stories up. “Literally, we were just looking at tiny little explosions.” “We were looking down,” Yineidy says. The fireworks might have been a bust, but as the golden hour begins just before sunset the light show is incredible.
