Riverdale

The average price of a home in Central Riverdale increased over 15.2 percent to $425,495 from 2000 through 2007, according to an analysis by the Riverdale Press. The average price in the tony Fieldston section of Riverdale increased 17.4 percent during the same time period to $1.7 million.

A reader who supports Obama emailed a report from the Bronx this morning:

6:50am - 18 year old holding an Obama sign in front of the only Starbucks in [R]iverdale. The store wasn't event open yet! Hillary's toast!

Halstead Property has a report out that says that Riverdale's average sales price per foot is $596, lower than that of Harlem, Park Slope or Williamsburg. The brokerage--the first of the big Manhattan firms to open an office in the northwestern Bronx enclave--stresses the “unparalleled value”, “safe neighborhoods” and “sprawling parks” of Riverdale.

But what would bargain hunters actually be getting when they make the trek out to Riverdale?  read more »

• Is blocking the Starrett City sale fair?
[WSJ]
• Solving size puzzle in an Upper West Side studio.
[NY Times]
• Finding New York apartment share for under $1,000.
[NY Times]
• How safe is your city home against storms?
[NY Times]
• Red Hook's "fan club has a growing membership."
[NY Times]
• Poughkeepsie fastest-growing Metro-North station.
[NY Times]
• Americans choosing Israel for second homes.
[NY Times]
• Rare condos draw attention on the East End.
[NY Times]
• New Fifth on Park starts rising in Harlem.
[NY Times]
• Laminated windows can keep out the city din.
[NY Times]
• What're rules on when a co-op deal has to close?
[NY Times]
• Mortgage industry's woes "troubling" for Wall Street.
[NY Times]
• UBS creates "brand recall" with redesigned space.
[NY Times]
• Real-estate signs brouhaha in Riverdale.
[NY Times]
• Final bash of The Roxy.
[NY Times]
• Madonna hunting for Manhattan home.
[NY Post]
• Trouble still ahead for national housing market.
[NY Post]
• More city eateries closing from failed inspections.
[NY Post]
• Sunnyside Gardens battle over landmarks designation.
[NY Post]
• City mulls closure of part of lower Broadway.
[NY Sun]

Did we miss any New York City real estate news this morning? Please send along tips and links.

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Eight days after being sworn in as governor, Eliot Spitzer's campaign transferred $2,799.85 to the Bronx Democratic Trustees Committee, the only political organization to get a contribution, according to the latest campaign filings.

The Bronx is Spitzer's home borough (Go Riverdale!) and is a power base for one of his political consultants, Roberto Ramirez. Ramirez's former chief of staff was tapped by Spitzer to be the state's Secretary of State.

Listed among "in-kind contributions" are more than $3,000 worth of services from the political action committee of DC37. The services were described as "printing" and "Election Day." The statement showed that the campaign had spent $2.7 million between December 1st and January 11th, and has $2.9 million left in the bank.

-- Azi Paybarah

• The world doesn't need another "wellness community" real estate article, but luckily Forbes' entry into the genre includes the following: "[W]hat is happening is the boomers have spent the whole time in the office, and they somewhat forgot themselves," and "It's not just about going to a gym. It's not about working on your mind a little bit." [Forbes]
• From the Lights of Dyker Heights to the 'Burg and Bergen Beach, Gowanus Lounge has the full guide to Brooklyn's glowing holiday cheer. Prospect Park, lord bless them, has 600,000 lightbulbs alone. [G.L.]
• Here's a grossly Manhattanized version of the news above: Sachs Fifth Avenue's yearly yuletide celebration will only consume "the energy equivalent of three toaster ovens." Green Design is officially chic. [Interior Design]
• Jonathan Miller has a must-read analysis of real estate bubble blogging, written (in part) as a response to a recent PBS piece. Mr. Miller's conclusion? "Lord help us." [Matrix]
• Jewish Condo News of the Year: A press release we got on Thursday brags that Riverdale's "Kosher-smart" condominium has "secured the approval of the community." Architect David Mandl admits that the community "was weary of the project," but apparently the golden Jerusalem Stone at the base won them over. More gold, after the jump.
- Max Abelson  read more »
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Joe Lieberman will be in town on July 22 for an evening fund-raiser sponsored by the pro-Israel political action committee NORPAC. The invite to the event, which will be held at a private home of New York chemicals magnate Jack Bendheimin in Riverdale, emphasized Lieberman's commitment "to the strongest relationship" on the issue of US-Israel relations.

As for the the challenge he is facing from Ned Lamont and liberal bloggers, here is what the invite has to say.

Senator Lieberman has always been a centrist Democrat. Like other centrists around the country, he is very popular in his state among the general public. But he has been targeted by the MoveOn.org national movement and is in the race for his political life in the August Democratic Primary, where the extremes of the parties tend to dominate.

Doesn't sound like the netroots will be welcome.

--Jason Horowitz

There’s a new and ugly wrinkle to Bridezilla, that monstrous, wedding-obsessed creature baptiz  read more »

Now that cutting little slits in one’s arm is the preferred form of self-mutilation, eating disord  read more »

Now that cutting little slits in one’s arm is the preferred form of self-mutilation, eating di  read more »

Freddy stopped in at a nursing home in Riverdale this morning to cast his vote, promising "a steady diet of ideas" from here on in and sympathizing with a voter who said she needed a drink.

Down the hill, the ad agency Weber Shandwick put a mule and a mustachioed Hispanic man with a broad-brimmed hat in front of "supporters" with "Vote for Juan" signs, promoting the character Juan Valdez as "favorite advertising icon."

"Tacky to say the least," said Congressman Jose Serrano.  read more »

So up in Riverdale -- look, things get slow in Riverdale sometimes -- there's quite a bit of amused chatter about the service Freddy's been getting from the Department of Transportation.

The city is repaving Palisade Avenue and Kappock Street, which intersect "right on the doorstep" of Freddy's coop, a Bronx-based reader writes. (Well, not far from the doorstep; he lives on Palisade.)  read more »

Killing him with kindness, apparently.

The Riverdale Review is reporting:

"Indictments of borough officials over corruption charges could be handed down shortly.  read more »

"Several sources close to the investigation, including one in the Department of Justice, have intimated to this newspaper that the grand jury in the case against State Senator Efrain Gonzalez, Jr., has closed, and indictments will be handed down shortly."

Is a supporter who has to apologize. That's the message of Ollie Koppell's opponent in the Democratic primary, according to a Bronx newspaper. "Koppell must take responsibility for his role in promoting Jennings' career and the diminished influence that came with it," Ari Hoffnung told The Riverdale Review. "Jennings would not be in the City Council were it not for Koppell's remarkable intervention."  read more »

Two years ago, when Michael Sherman completed his cooking apprenticeships at several of the city's m  read more »

The second group is less obvious: the liberal, Jewish Democratic establishment that was solidly behind Mark Green in 2001. Many of its leaders continue to loathe Ferrer adviser Roberto Ramirez, blaming him for the racially-charged implosion that year and for Mike Bloomberg's victory.

"There'll be plenty of people who see Virginia as a chance to return the favor that the Ramirez-Freddy Ferrer campaign did in '01," he said.

A particularly sharp example of this can be found in Riverdale, where people like Rep. Eliot Engel and Assemblyman Jeff Dinowitz have, over the years, turned hating Roberto into an art form.

"They'll never, ever back Freddy," said a Democratic consultant. "They're up for grabs, and they're taking a hard look at Virginia."  read more »

While only the Riverdale crowd has made any movement in that direction, the logic could be very appealing for Manhattan Democrats, who might lean toward their own Borough President anyway. It's a way to a)screw Freddy and b)avoid the "racism" charges that his supporters have already show an eagerness to use.

For sheer exclusivity, privacy and prestige, there are few neighborhoods that can rival Fieldston, a  read more »

At noon on Saturday, April 4, the handsome all-male cast of Gross Indecency , the Off-Broadway hit p  read more »