Have you been keeping up? (New York, York: middle-class, real estate, rental)

[OyCrumbler]

With what's been going on in Parkchester?

Make sure you subscribe to the Parkchester Times, the publication at the forefront of all things Parkchester.

You're welcome.

[elnrgby]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

With what's been going on in Parkchester?

Make sure you subscribe to the Parkchester Times, the publication at the forefront of all things Parkchester.

You're welcome.

As I am sure, this was intended as more "humor" on the subject of Parkchester, the Bronx, so I didn't comment on it... but, it is actually something really important for Parkchester - not necessarily the publication itself, but the initiative behind it (the publication is only a part of it). If you look at this Parkchester Times (some of it is available online), you'll see that it has been launched by the local Islamic community, composed mostly of immigrants from Africa and Bangladesh. It is a group of progressive, modern, global-minded Islamists (ie, totally opposite from all the intolerant backwards fanatical fundamentalists that we mostly hear about in connection with terrorism). But these people are totally different, with classic US immigrant values (honest work, education, ethno-religious tolerance). They are also anti-crime. In short, all the things that I support (except that I am not a Moslem, but an agnostic of two different Christian ancestries). The element of their initiative that probably has the greatest significance for Parkchester is that they opened a PRIVATE SCHOOL, which at present has a limited number of students, but could potentially attract kids from every modern middle-class Muslim household in NYC. This is not just some goofy religious school, but a very ambitious educational project aiming to prepare kids for high level of achievement.


Coincidentally, there has been a HUGE uptick in selling of properties in Parkchester in the last month, with some previoualy unheard-of property prices (two small condos sold for $300k each). I was wondering what was going on all of a sudden, but then it dawned on me that this school (and the rest of the civic activities of this Islamic group) might be the reason. Well, stay tuned for more news...

[pierrepont7731]

Damn it... They haven't renovated that fountain at the Oval out of gold just yet...

[elnrgby]

Originally Posted by pierrepont7731

Damn it... They haven't renovated that fountain at the Oval out of gold just yet...

Umm no... but, did you catch my post on a different thread, about The New Yorker article last week (the July 23 issue) regarding Ocasio Cortez? I am subscribed to The New Yorker, but I believe you can also look up at least some content online. So, Ocasio Cortez was born in Parkchester, the family later moved to Westchester County because of better schools, but Ocasio Cortez lives in Parkchester again now, in a 1 bdrm condo (Parkchester does get a detailed attention in the article :-). The fact that she lives in Parkchester still won't make me agree with her political program (which to me appears as nonsense, as you can imagine), but I definitely do like to have her demographic (ie, a young educated woman pursuing a career) in the neighborhood.



To be clear, none of this has persuaded me to go back on my decision to NOT retire to Parkchester after all (still too much crime - one of the several gang members that killed that young man in a famous recent incident (after mistaking him for somebody who did something sexually inappropriate with somebody's sister), so, one of them was a Parkchester resident) - but, in the light of things looking up in the last month, I am glad I kept my rental unit and didn't sell it on impulse after all.


Btw, real estate ads have started listing the new Parkchester Metro North station as something that will be "opening in the near future". Does that mean that the construction of this has physically started, anyone knows? My tenant doesn't know anything about it (but then, she walks to work, church and grocery store, and does not go anywhete else, so she isn't really a major source of information even on things happening four blocks away).

[pierrepont7731]

Originally Posted by elnrgby

Umm no... but, did you catch my post on a different thread, about The New Yorker article last week (the July 23 issue) regarding Ocasio Cortez? I am subscribed to The New Yorker, but I believe you can also look up at least some content online. So, Ocasio Cortez was born in Parkchester, the family later moved to Westchester County because of better schools, but Ocasio Cortez lives in Parkchester again now, in a 1 bdrm condo (Parkchester does get a detailed attention in the article :-). The fact that she lives in Parkchester still won't make me agree with her political program (which to me appears as nonsense, as you can imagine), but I definitely do like to have her demographic (ie, a young educated woman pursuing a carrer) in the neighborhood.



To be clear, none of this has persuaded me to go back on my decision to NOT retire to Parkchester after all (still too much crime - one of the several gang members that killed that young man in a famous recent incident (after mistaking him for somebody who did something sexually inappropriate with somebody's sister), so, one of them was a Parkchester resident) - but, in the light of things looking up in the last month, I am glad I kept my rental unit and didn't sell it on impulse after all.


Btw, real estate ads have started listing the new Parkchester Metro North station as something that will be "opening in the near future". Does that mean that the construction of this has physically started, anyone knows? My tenant doesn't know anything about it (but then, she walks to work, church and grocery store, and does not go anywhete else, so she isn't really a major source of information even on things happening four blocks away).

While the budget for the new stations was approved, no work has started yet to my knowledge, and even when it does, it likely won't be ready until sometime around 2022 at the earliest. That's four years away!! Funny though... For now it's the BxM6 to Manhattan or the ever worsening subway.