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Bronx’ seaside: Affordability on the water in Throgs Neck

The Bridgeview Estates in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx.

A view of the Whitestone Bridge from the pool.

Directly across the Long Island Sound from the multimillion-dollar Mediterranean villas in Whitestone Woods, the Throgs Neck neighborhood in the Bronx might offer the most affordable coastal living experience in the five boroughs.

At Bridgeview Estates, 21 two- and three- bedroom condominiums, some with direct waterfront access, are available starting at $475,000. Located at Schurz and Davis Aves. in a neighborhood known for families, water proximity and the shopping stretch of E. Tremont Ave., Bridgeview Estates is a newly built gated condominium complex with views of the Throgs Neck and Whitestone bridges.

“At night, these two bridges light up and make this area something magical,” says Robert Van Zandt, the longtime North Bronx real estate developer who built the property. “We tried to make this an alternative living option to what people are paying in and around Manhattan. They just have to come out here and their mind will be changed.”

With beach clubs and catering halls, bungalows, condominiums and small single-family brick and wood homes a block from the water, Throgs Neck bustles with entire families taking walks together while kids ride bikes and play sports on front lawns. Up the street, the community has asked the city for a long-planned public golf course on a former landfill cornering Ferry Point Park. Recent rumors suggest it might happen, making the neighborhood more attractive to homeowners.

“This side of the bridges is more laid-back than the Queens side, with lower price points and a less suburban feel,” says Maria Paleatsos, who owns MP Power Realty in nearby Pelham Bay. “I’m not sure you can find anything this price on the water where families can live so well.”

Completed and ready for move-in, Bridgeview Estates includes balconies for each apartment, two upscale homes for sale in the multimillion- dollar range with large decks and swimming pools and a development team that truly cares for the area. Van Zandt and colleague Richard Rodriguez funded and coach the baseball team for Villa Maria, a local Catholic grammar school. Their own children graduated, yet they still remain as coaches. Van Zandt also funds three scholarships for students from financially saddled families.

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New York promotes the Bronx’s parks and gardens

Ladies and gentlemen, the Bronx is blooming!

Despite its urban image, the Bronx has 7,000 acres of park land, about 25% of its total area. In addition to Yankee Stadium and the Bronx Zoo, the borough’s green spaces include the New York Botanical Garden; a 19th century garden overlooking the Hudson River called Wave Hill; and Van Cortlandt and Pelham Bay parks, where you can bird-watch, play golf and ride horses.

New York City is touting the Bronx’s green attractions in a new promotion. “Most people don’t think of the Bronx like that. We want to open their eyes to the actual physical beauty of the Bronx,” said George Fertitta, CEO of NYC & Company, the city’s marketing and tourism organization.

CITY GUIDE: Where to sleep, eat and shop in New York

It’s quite a turnaround for a place that once symbolized urban decay. “Ladies and gentlemen, the Bronx is burning,” sportscaster Howard Cosell famously said during a 1977 Yankees game, as footage aired of a building in flames near the stadium. An epidemic of arson plagued the city at the time.

New York is a different place now, billed as America’s safest big city and attracting a record 46 million tourists last year. Many of those tourists are repeat visitors, and “their appetite for something other than Times Square and the Statue of Liberty is enormous,” said Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion Jr., who got an enthusiastic reception talking up the Bronx at a recent tourism conference in Berlin.

Green spaces only comprise part of the Bronx’s attractions. There is also Italian food on Arthur Avenue, a hip-hop music tour, a bed-and-breakfast called Le Refuge Inn, and saltwater swimming at Orchard Beach. For more information, visit the Bronx Tourism Council website at www.ilovethebronx.com or NYC & Company at www.nycvisit.com/bronx. Meanwhile, here are some highlights.

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The Bronx’s Hidden Treasures: A Fisherman’s Paradise Down By The Riverside

A riverside spot on the campus of SUNY Maritime College, by the Throgs Neck Bridge, is definitely a hidden treasure in the Bronx. Many fishermen stop by to try and reel in some fish.

“Bluefish, striper, porgy — sometimes you catch flounders,” said a fisherman.

The spot is not only known for its fishing, but for wonderful views of the Long Island Sound.
From this point in the Bronx, you can see Queens, Long Island and New Rochelle.

Day by day, more and more people are finding their way to this gem.

“People come here from Connecticut, New Jersey, they come all the way here. There are not many spots like this,” said John Lesnick of the SUNY Police. “I don’t think they are taking over anything, they are just happy to be here.”

Visitors who want to get past campus police need a fishing permit from the college.

“You just have to stop by university police and pick up an application, fill it out and turn it in or mail it in,” said Lesnick. “It is $50 for the season, which is pretty good, considering you just come down here and enjoy the campus.”

People who come out here to fish claim to catch big ones, but there are plenty of times when the fish are not biting. So at those times, they catch a nap or sit back on the riverbank and take it easy.

“It is real relaxing, real good, nice. You see the cars come through the bridge. You see the boats, fishing boats, all kinds of boats,” said a fisherman.

If the fish are not biting in the sound, fisherman can try the lagoon near Orchard Beach. Regulars claim that three-feet long fish can be easily caught there.

And if the fish don’t bite at the lagoon, you better believe the mosquitoes will. So don’t leave home without your bug repellent.

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Bronx Beaches Are Mostly Private

A member of the American Turner Club had the place all to herself last week.

It may not be Miami, San Diego, or even the Rockaways, but the Bronx - yes, the Bronx - has 10 beaches where visitors can enjoy a summer swim.

While most people know about Orchard Beach along the sprawling shoreline of Long Island Sound in Pelham Bay Park, there are several lesser-known and less-crowded spots to take a dip in the waters of the northernmost borough.

Six of the sandy shores are side-by-side private beaches along a stretch of Clarence Ave. from Throgs Neck to Country Club. They accept new members, but require applicants to be sponsored by a current member in good standing.

“It’s a strip of heaven that we try to keep secret,” said Carol Richardson, who has been working at the American Turner Club, the largest club on the strip, for almost 20 years.

“Oh, wow. This is the Bronx?” she said people exclaim when they see the view from their 180-seat dining room, and from the beach for the first time.

The private club’s 200-foot-wide beach has brownish sand, a pier and a small lawn. There are rocks and some cigarette butts in the sand, making it an entryway to the water, not a spot for sunbathing.

All the beaches on the strip look out on City Island, and the smell of salt water makes the borough’s air pollution problems seem like they belong to another, distant place. The Health Department checks the water almost weekly and assures it is healthy for swimming.

The Danish American Beach Club down the street has a bar, dozens of picnic tables and a sun deck. It is only accessible to its 400 members, but the club accepts new members.

“I don’t think anyone realizes there are beach clubs like this. In the summer, you have to watch where you step because there are a million little children running around,” said Matt Curry, 32, the caretaker of the club, who lives on the property and was a member as a child.

Next door, a member of the White Cross Fishing Club said most people do not know about the strip and “that’s the way we like it.”

He said prospective members must be recommended by two members in good standing to join the 100-member club.

“Strictly private, for members only,” says a sign outside.

The Morris Yacht and Beach Club on City Island also has a beach -its waters are tested regularly for swimming - as do Locust Point and the Schuyler Hill Civic Association.

Orchard Beach is the largest Bronx beach, at 1.1 miles, and the only one run by the Parks and Recreation Department.

SOURCE: NYDailyNews.com

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