Where in Manhattan did Laura live? Ann? Waldo? Shelby? McPherson?
I think they all lived within a short distance of each other. I would say Laura lived in the East 60s, Ann on Park Avenue and Waldo on Fifth. Shelby in a Midtown-East residential hotel and the exception, McPherson, in a Hell's Kitchen walk-up.
"No, I don't like to cook, but I have a chicken in the icebox, and you're eating it."