ISLAND LIFE
New developments — and a village-meetsseaside vibe — are luring residents to the beloved Bronx enclave of City Island
The Bronx’s b st-k pt s cr t isn’t lion cubs at t zoo, rar blossoms at t botanical gard n or Italian r staurants on Art ur Av nu . It’s a n ig bor ood call d City Island t at tak s up l ss t an alf a squar mil in t boroug ’s nort ast rn corn r. N w York rs ar flocking to t nautical nab , known primarily for its s afood r staurants and marinas, for affordabl r al stat and a quaint community vib . N w r ssid nts — or “muss l suck rs,” as nativ s (“clam digg rs”) call t m — includ young famili s moving from Brooklyn and Man attan looking for bigg r om s, as w ll as mpty n st rs downsizing from toni r local s in W stc st r or Long Island. Tak Al xand r Linz r and B v rly Jon s, attorn ys w o w r squ zing t ir son, Wyatt, and t r dogs into a on -b droom apartm nt in Williamsburg. “W w r looking for mor spac in an ar a wit good sc ools t at was in our pric rang ,” Linz r says of t coupl ’s 2014 ous unt. T n t listings app Zillow sugg st d a City Island prop rty. “W w r impr ss d wit w at you could g t for t mon y.” Ind d, in Octob r of 2014, t coupl purc as d a t r -b droom ous on Sc ofi ld Str t wit a backyard, a front yard and an abov ground pool for $450,000. T ir tax s ar $4,500 a y ar — compar d to $10,000 to $15,000 in W stc st r, Linz r says. Wyatt, now 4,
will attend the local public school, which has a good reputation.
“[The area] has a character all its own,” says Linzer, 39, who has a typical City Island commute: an hour and 20 minutes each way via an express bus and the 6 train. “We moved to one of the only neighborhoods with a selection of restaurants that can rival Williamsburg.”
Among their favorites is Archie’s Tap & Table ( ArchiesTap.com), opened last summer by chef and fellow mussel sucker Alex Pertsovsky. (On an island of 4,500 people, new eateries don’t open every day.) Following his parents and sister, who relocated from Queens and Long Island to neighboring townhouses on City Island, Pertsovsky moved to join them 12 years ago after graduating from culinary school in Manhattan.
“I fell in love with how quiet and peaceful the island actually is during the wintertime, and how close it is to the city,” he says.
At first, he traveled to jobs at Jean-Georges Vongerichten restaurants in Manhattan. But when his wife, Lee, and their now-2-year-old, Asher, entered the picture, he decided to work closer to home.
“To open a restaurant in Manhattan, you literally need millions of dollars,” says Pertsovsky. “But . . . I wanted to work inside the community I lived in; most of my customers are my neighbors.”
The Pertsovskys recently bought a three-bedroom, 3 ½ -bathroom at On the Sound, the first new realestate development on City Island in more than a decade. Thirteen of 43 units on the waterfront site, which have access to a gym, a pool and an outdoor esplanade, are still available, according to Jill Preschel, vice president of marketing of On the Sound developer Greystone. They range from $770,000 to over $1 million.
“When I wake up and walk the dog and go down to the diner, it feels like I am on vacation,” says Laura Clemente, an agent with McClellan Sotheby’s International Realty, who not only sells On the Sound properties, but bought there herself. In July, she moved with her husband from a larger house in Pelham Manor, Westchester.
New developments like On the Sound are rare and and real-estate listings are dominated by resales of charming older homes along with waterfront condos. For example, a two-bedroom duplex with updated appliances in a gated community at 3 Deepwater Way is asking $625,000; it’s repped by Douglas Elliman’s Charles G. Brophy.
In June, the median asking price on the island was $599,021, according to StreetEasy data; meanwhile, Williamsburg’s was $1.19 million. Since 2012, real-estate prices have been climbing; median sales price totaled $350,000 then and rose to $410,000 last year. Most industry experts still maintain it’s a good time to buy. Controversy has delayed the completion of a new bridge — the island’s only (and easily clogged) access point from the mainland — and there’s also unwanted noise from Rodman’s Neck, a police training facility with a firing range.
More inventory would help keep prices low. Local developer Haim Joseph says he is reviving his plan to erect 22 two-family homes on the site of the old Royal Marina in a new development called Harbour Pointe Court. Joseph expects to start construction in the spring, after permits are approved. He’s also plotting six new two-family homes on Tier Street. Sales for both projects will start from $470,000 for 1,300-square-foot units and run up to $600,000 for larger homes. Meanwhile, a 32-apartment development called Seabreeze at 173 Marine St. is also reportedly in the pipeline.
Local enthusiasm belies City Island’s tiny size and slow pace. Residents’ votes made it real estate web site Curbed NY’s 2014 neighborhood of the year, beating hot spots like West Chelsea. Pride runs deep — and spans generations.
Clam digger Dan Treiber, who runs a company selling vintage items called Dan’s Parents’ House ( DansParentsHouse.com), bought his actual parents’ house in 2010.
Then, in March, he bought a 150-year-old building at 239 City Island Ave. and transformed it into Dan’s Parents’ House’s first brickand-mortar store called 239 Play. (His wares are also currently sold at the weekly Brooklyn Flea markets.)
With his wife, artist Reina Mia Brill, Treiber is raising young twins Waverly and Thora. The kids swim every other day in the summer.
“I have a beach on the end of my street,” Treiber says. “Eventually, I don’t want to go to Brooklyn anymore; I want [my kids] to grow up in the store.”
Serene waterfront life proves irresistible to everyone from children to grown-ups. After 22 years living in East Quogue, Cathy Moore and her partner, James Daly, purchased a condo on Schofield Street last fall.
“City Island is known as the sanctuary,” says Moore, who works as a real estate agent at Living New York in Manhattan. “It is extremely quiet. I’ve never slept so well in my life.”
Native son Dan Treiber (with wife Reina Mia Brill and their twins) in front of his antiques shop, 239 Play.