Prodigal House For Sale Pick - $579,000 (Saint George)

This beautiful Victorian needs a good owner. It is behind Borough Hall and if you remove some of that remuddling you'd have quite a nice gothic looking abode. Or, use it as a commerical space. The listing states that it could be residential or commerical. Street: Fort Place. Phone: Foxtons, 1-800-FOXTONS. Price: $579,000. ID: WLBR0092111

Potential Disaster of the Day: Hurricane

Photo: NOAA
Were we the only ones more than a little scared by yesterday's apocalyptic headlines predicting that, in the event of a major hurricane in the Northeast, the northern coast of Staten Island could be completely devastated and "without power for weeks?" So now we know how NY1 feels about it, but the The Advance couldn't decide whether to be optimistic or pessimistic. Instead, the paper released the same information twice under different headlines:

5/15/06: [ Glass Half-Empty Version -- Ed ]
City strategy for a killer storm relies on lessons of Katrina

"If a huge hurricane were to target New York City, about 2.3 million residents -- more than 100,000 of them on Staten Island -- could be ordered to evacuate their homes ... Staten Islanders living in flood zones would have up to four days to make plans to leave their homes and find somewhere to ride out a major hurricane or make their way to a shelter, according to city officials who have been refining emergency plans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina ... Most of Staten Island's coastline would be under water and thousands of waterfront residents from St. George to Tottenville would be forced to flee their homes for one of five evacuation centers throughout the Island."

5/16/06: [ Glass Half-Full Version -- Ed ]
Island should be spared brunt of any big storm, meteorologist predicts

"Though forecasters predict an active hurricane season, Staten Island should be spared the brunt of any major storm that might batter the Northeast. This region is most likely to suffer a direct hit from a hurricane between mid-August and early October, but the Island would likely be on the less-powerful western side of any storm that comes up the coast, said Henry Margusiti, a meteorologist with AccuWeather ... More than 2.3 million city residents -- including about 100,000 on Staten Island -- live in evacuation zones identified by the city Office of Emergency Management, requiring them to leave their homes should a major hurricane strike this area."

At any rate, you have until June 1st, the official start of "hurricane season" to get yourselves ready, and we at the Prodigal Borough strongly recommend assembling an emergency supply kit. We haven't done this yet, but it's on our to-do list as of yesterday. Here's some very useful information copied from a New York Times blurb from 9/10/05; we clipped the original and promptly lost it:

Emergency Kit Shopping List

Experts recommend keeping a three-day supply of food and water in a container like a duffle bag or waterproof box that is easy to grab during an evacuation. Here is a shopping list for one person; multiply the food and water by the number of people in your family. (Don't forget dry food for the pets.)

Water: 3 1-gallon jugs ($4)
Nutrition bars: 12 (36)
Vegetable juice: 3 46-oz cans or bottles (9)
High-protein diet shakes: Dozen 4-oz cans (25)
Dried fruit: 3 7-oz bags (8)
Unscented bleach: 1 96-oz bottle (2)
Batteries: 3 packs of 4 (42)
First-aid kit: 1 (40)
Duct tape: 60 yards (5)
Compact multitool: 1 (20)
L.E.D. flashlight: 1 (20)
Crank/solar-powered AM-FM radio: 1 (25)
Total: $212

And of course, if you have as many animals as we do (14 and counting), you'll definitely need a Pet Emergency Kit as well.

Prodigal House For Sale Pick - $699,000 (Ward Hill)

We call this the "Hobbit House". It has an incredible roof and an adorable tudor architectural style. It is in Stapleton. Recently we discovered that it had a "for sale" sign out front. Phone: Century 21 Safari, 718-442-5200. ID: SF5142.

[ Courtesy of our friends at curbed.com, here is the link to the New York Times listing for the house. -- Ed. ]

The Mob and The Mansion: A Murder in Kreischerville

Photo: The Staten Island Advance, Illustration: DeForrest Collection
When this news wire came across the desk Friday afternoon, it was assigned it to me for two reasons: First, I have been obsessed with Kreischer mansion for almost a year and frequently ask to be driven by it. We're there so often it's no small wonder we weren't there on that fateful day last April. Second, my own grandfather was murdered in the Bronx by the mafia in the 1930s.

I have been eyeing this mansion ever since we first set foot upon Staten Island. It had a "for sale" sign on it, and we at Prodigal Borough made a bet. Russell thought it would sell for $3 million, and I thought it couldnt be much more than $1 million. After all, it's in a deserted industrial neighborhood near the Fresh Kills Landfill, on the side farthest from Manhattan. I had visions of ditching our house and buying that one, bizarre, industrial neighborhood notwithstanding. Contradiction or not, it is the most beautiful house on all of Staten Island. Rumor has it that the musician George Harrison almost bought it many years ago.

I called the real estate agent listed, Marcus & Millichap, and the pleasant, professional woman I spoke with said the price tag was $4 million. So much for living in Kreischerville! It seems, according to a May 2005 article in Allbusiness.com that Isaac Yomtovian, the property developer who owns the mansion and surrounding land, wants to sell the mansion and the assisted living housing complex he is building behind it for $20 million. The price they quoted me must have indicated that he was also willing to part with the mansion itself for a paltry $4 million. According to The Staten Island Advance, Yomtovian himself bought the whole parcel for $1.4 million in 2000. I was 6 years too late. In my former research on the dwelling, I also found out that the house is allegedly thought to be haunted (which only made me want it more). After all, as my friend and fellow Staten Islander often says, Staten Island is the spookiest borough.

The Victorian-style, turreted Kreischer Mansion at 4500 Arthur Kill Road was built by Balthazar Kreischer, a wealthy brick baron, for one of his sons -- he built another similar mansion on a hill close by for the other. Kreischer the elder lived nearby in an Italianite mansion called Fairview (no longer standing) which was fittingly located at the highest point on the property. A bitter feud broke out between Kreischer and one son, Charles; shortly after, Charles's house mysteriously caught fire, and he, his wife, and their house were lost in the flames. The couple is said to haunt the mansion that still stands. It is odd that the sons' houses were built from easily burned wood when the family business was brick.
Photo: New York Times
If this isnt already enough spookiness, recently the mob stepped in. According to the charges, revealed Thursday in a federal court in Brooklyn, Bonnano mob soldier Gino Galestro supposedly paid an African-American former marine, Joseph Young, 27, $8000 to murder Robert McKelvey. Young allegedly lured Robert McKelvey to Kreischer Mansion where he was the caretaker. Perhaps the ghosts stepped in though, because McKelvey would not die. Young tried without success to strangle and stab him. According to the charges, Young eventually drowned his victim in a nearby pond and then incinerated the body in the mansion's furnace. FBI agents are still awaiting the results of forensic materials taken from the mansion. "The cravenness of the killing was matched by the thoroughness with which the body and other evidence was disposed of," said FBI Assistant Director Mark Mershon.

Young was arrested and held without bail this week. Young and Galestro, if found guilty, may face the death penalty for their crimes. According to the New York Times, McKelvey owed Galestro money. Galestro was a former newspaper delivery driver for both The New York Post and The Daily News, yet both papers neglect to mention this in their articles.

Meanwhile, the developer who owns the house and surrounding acreage, Yomtovian, had no idea that a murder had taken place, and had the furnace replaced since then. "I was very saddened and heartbroken," said Yomtovian, 57, of Cleveland. "This house has an extremely rich history."


New York Times
Staten Island Advance
New York Post
Gothamist
Daily News

News Flashes: S.I. NASCAR Plan Blows Gasket ; Snug Harbor Not Run Well

We here at the Prodigal Borough breathed a sigh of relief when we got the update at 5am from our sources within NASCAR that Staten Island's relevant city councilmen unanimously quashed plans for a Staten Island NASCAR track.

Despite our prior mental affiliation of Snug Harbor with love, good breakfasts (albeit with so-so coffee), and nice places to stroll around on weekends, it turns out the Snug is actually a hotbed of corruption, scandal, terrorism and greed. According to an article in today's Advance, the administration of Snug Harbor was rife with "financial irregularities and the possibility of criminal misconduct during the years that former Borough President Ralph Lamberti was chairman of the center's board of directors." As if that PR wasn't bad enough, it also came up in court this week during the trial of attempted (and admitted) Herald Square suicide bomber and all-around schzophrenic loose cannon James Elshafay (originally arrested in 2004 that he had once worked as a landscaper at Snug.

At the risk of turning this into an Onion article, we have to say (with sarcastic indignance) that we're shocked to hear Snug Harbor wasn't the top notch public institution we thought it was! I mean really, it's a lovely place on beautiful grounds with giant potential that seems to be perpetually on siesta. On our many visits there, the only people we've seen getting a thrill out of the Snug's offerings have been the little kids poking the koi with sticks while their parents look on indifferently. Otherwise, the prevailing management and promotion style there seems to be "out to lunch."

The Cat Who Wouldn't Come Inside

Photo: CvB

Perhaps you've seen her on the ferry pounding furiously away at her iBook and wondered what was so all-consuming about that little screen. Well, Staten Island's favorite children's book writer and illustrator (and the Prodigal Borough's own favorite girl in the world), Cynthia von Buhler, today announced the inception of a new blog, Come Inside Kitty. The site will serve as the news page for www.comeinsidekitty.com, the official website of her forthcoming book, The Cat Who Wouldn't Come Inside, published by Houghton Mifflin. The book features an elaborate handmade dollhouse set and several bewitching characters from the animal and human kingdoms, and although I'm a little old for it, it is a pretty entertaining read.

Additionally, rumor has it that the HM public relations machine has already begun promoting the book, which is slated to appear nationwide on bookstore shelves this fall. Von Buhler herself will be touring to give signings and workshops on creating the sculpted animals -- check the blog for her appearance schedule and other updates.

Cellphone Pic of the Day: Junior's Comes to Times Square?

This one was a bit of a shocker, considering that this restaurant space on 45th between Broadway and 8th once housed former abomination Charley O's and more recently some faceless Italian place that apparently blanded itself out of business. I wonder if Junior's will retain its old-Brooklyn-Judeo-African-American David Lynchy feel, or if it will just become another Carnegie Deli tourist trap with comically huge portions, T-shirts, and $30 sandwiches.