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Volume XX • Number 2 • January 10 - 16, 2013 •
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300 units of senior housing planned for Retreat site By MIAWLING LAM The Hebrew Home at Riverdale plans to construct a new 300-unit independent living senior residence complex on the 14-acre plot they purchased from the Passionist Fathers of Riverdale. When built, the facility will be the first in New York City to offer a continuing care retirement community. Officials from the geriatric center unveiled their preliminary design and development plans for the sprawling site at Monday night’s Community Board 8 land use committee meeting. It is the first time the facility’s authorities have spoken publicly about their vision for the land, which they acquired from the Passionists for $16 million in November 2011. Hebrew Home president and CEO Daniel Reingold said the 300 units will be a combination of one- and two-bedroom apartments. The residences will be divided into four mid-rise towers ranging from four to eight stories. “The main philosophy of the concepts that we’re developing have to do with what the older adults want today, which is more independent living with supported services available as needed, rather than an institutionalized environment,” he said. Under the plan, the Hebrew Home will add another three stories to the existing Goldfein Building, convert 150 nursing beds currently there and create 75 assisted
living apartments. A new below-grade parking structure will also be constructed to house around 340 cars underneath the new residential tower. Currently, the campus boasts 390 surface parking spaces and 88 underground spaces. The new plan states the number of surface parking spaces will be reduced to 228, with 477 spaces underground. Reingold said the proposed revolutionary continuing care retirement community model would offer patients guaranteed, lifelong care. A similar facility dubbed Kendal on Hudson is currently under construction further north in Sleepy Hollow, New York. “Generally, the way a CCRC works is that people buy into the project with an upfront payment and then pay a monthly fee which allows them to be guaranteed care for the rest of their life,” Reingold said. “At the end of their life, depending on the model that we choose, the estate would get back 50, 70 or 90 percent of the upfront payment.” Reingold estimated that the initial upfront payment would be at least $500,000. “This is a middle-income, upper middle-income private paying market for people who have sold their house or apartment and want to remain independent and want to know that they don’t have to worry about selling off their assets and getting on Medicaid,” he said. The 300-unit residential facility would be supple-
mented with a host of common areas and amenities, including fitness and wellness centers, spiritual enrichment areas, dining areas, concierge services and cultural opportunities. The plan is required to go through the uniform land use review procedure (ULURP), which requires months of public review and community involvement. CB8 land use committee chairman Charles Moerdler said he was impressed with the draft plan but predicted a host of issues, particularly relating to traffic, would arise as further details emerge. “It’s a wonderful new idea for taking care of the elderly, but the question is, how can it deal with the people?” he said. “The people who live in and around that area say to me, ‘the quality of life is already under challenge, and this is going to make it worse.’ It may be great for the city, but if it’s something that the neighbors can’t deal with, I have a problem.” Due to the lengthy and complicated ULURP process, Moerdler predicted that the soonest construction could begin would be the end of 2015, with 2016 being a more realistic estimate. Hebrew Home officials said they settled on the plan after perusing 20 different options. They said they engaged and interviewed architectural firms across the country before ultimately settling on Perkins Eastman. Continued on Page 15
Live grenade removed from Riverdale apartment building
By MIAWLING LAM Members of the NYPD’s bomb squad removed a live hand grenade from the basement of the Majestic building in Riverdale—more than five years after it was placed there. Commanding officer of the 50th Precinct Deputy Inspector Kevin Burke said police were called to the 87-unit building located at 3660 Waldo Avenue just after 1 p.m. last Friday. He said detectives were led to the improvised explosive device, reportedly a small pineapple grenade, after gathering intelligence from a man currently in custody and charged with murder. Authorities said the grenade was discovered during a drug search and is part of an ongoing investigation by a task force comprised of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents and NYPD officers. “He was very specific with where it was,” Deputy Inspector Burke said. “It was found in a common area in the basement and on top of a venting heating system that runs alongside the top of the wall. “You needed a step stool to retrieve it. We suspect it had been there for several years, maybe five to seven years.”
The triggering pin on the grenade was still intact, according to Burke. A police spokesman said the device was filled with a lowgrade explosive. It was soon rendered safe, placed in a large plastic container and removed from the scene for further examination. When asked whether the grenade and the ongoing drug investigation were related, Burke said it was a possibility. When the Riverdale Review arrived at the scene last Friday, members of the NYPD’s bomb squad, emergency service unit and disorder control unit were all present. An explosive-sniffing dog was also deployed to sweep the building and ensure no other devices were present. Firefighters from two units, including Ladder 52, reported to the scene and temporarily blocked traffic along West 238th Street but were called off around 3:14 p.m. The Majestic has developed a seedy reputation in recent years, with residents claiming that prostitution is rife and that the building is a drug den. Deputy Inspector Burke confirmed the building has been on the police radar.
“We have had a lot of complaints from the neighborhood about the various activities going on in that building,” he said. The latest brush with authorities, he said, occurred on August 29, 2012, when a male resident was nabbed with a large number of prescription painkillers. He has
since been charged with possession of a controlled substance and intent to sell. News of the grenade initially lit up on social media sites after rumors abounded that the explosive device was connected to terrorism. According to a tweet posted by
NYScanner at 3:13 p.m., the FDNY originally reported that a bomb was found at the location and that it was possibly terrorist-related. However, both NYPD and FDNY officials were quick to emphasize that the grenade was not a bomb, nor was it linked in any way with terrorism.
The NYPD bomb squad removes a live grenade from the Majestic apartment building on Friday. Police said the explosive device had remained untouched in the basement for five years.