Hawaii – the Jamaica of the Pacific

Hawaiians assault whites with impunity, while Democrats push to increase discrimination through passage of the Hawaiian Native Rights bill which will create a separate government, exempt from the Constitution, in our fiftieth state.  This is all the dream of those teachers of my kids who debunked the idea of America was a melting pot and was, instead, a boiling cauldron of sdistinct races, ethnicities and cultures, all with grievances against the white man.

You’d be an idiot to visit Jamaica and leave the guarded confines of your hotel (alright, you’d be an idiot to visit Jamaica, period). St. Croix is no place for a white man. And now Hawaii holds no welcome for all non-native tourists or residents, be they white, Asian or black. This is considered progress.

When will Obama take over running the government?

So far, he’s done nothing in nine months but wring his hands and blame that Ol’ Debbil Bush. Yes, he increased the deficit from $400 billion to $4 trillion, but Bush made him do it! Sure, Afghanistan is a deteriorating mess, but it’s all Bush’s fault! The Messiah may be able to coast for a few more months on the residual antipathy towards Bush but soon he’s going to have everyone except his nut jobs on the extreme left wondering what exactly he’s doing in office. And it’s already happening. Even the Philadelphia Enquirer, as liberal a paper as you’ll find this side of the New York Times, looks at Obama’s record of non-feasance and advices him to “Get a Grip”.

What? There’s still a profitable industry in the country? Tax it!

Democrats and AFL-CIO eye taxing Wall Street trade transactions. They won’t rest until they control everything. Did you notice the TeddyKare supporter in the picture below? Her government approved and issued sign says “Thank You”. The goal is to make us all entirely dependent on the whim and good will of politicians and their favorites, like labor unions, and to feel gratitude when they bestow a benefit on us. This is appalling. And scary, because I think they’re winning.

Hot time at the Himes Town Hall meeting tonight

Himes is speaking at Town Hall right now (6:45) and being broadcast by WGCH – who knew that station was still in business? – I couldn’t get in because, when I arrived at 6, I was told by a very polite policeman that seating/standing capacity was 200 and it was already filled. Turns out the Dems sent out emails urging TeddyKare supporters to show up at 4:30 and take all the seats. Those of us with jobs – non Democrats, in other words, were to be shut out. I’m told by someone listening to the broadcast that, judging from the noise, the Dems missed some seats but what the heck, should be fun.

Update: They let in a reporter from Greenwich Time. Maybe I should have tried to crash the party as a blogging reporter?

Long way from home

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No room at the inn

Even in the dead of summer, Riverside waterfront sells

21 Willowmere Circle, a spectacular piece of land (0.89 acre), direct waterfront when the tide’s in, dock, pool and a great neighborhood, came on May 29th at $7.450, quickly dropped to $6.850 and is reported under contract today. Given the relatively short time that’s expired, I’d guess that the agreed upon price is well into the $6s. I’d thought this would go in the 5s because, to my eye, someone would want to tear the existing house down and build new. I don’t know the plans of the buyer but obviously the dated condition of the house didn’t deter him. Ann Simpson listing, and good for her.

By George he’s got it – I think he’s got it!

My brother Anthony’s been thinking – he’s good at that – and proposes the following real estate enhancer:

They make up new neighborhoods in Manhattan all the time: Soho, Hoho, TriBeCa, Nolita, Hudson Heights are all inventions of the past thirty or so years) so why not for this area? After consulting a map of the area I humbly suggest “West Harbour;” “harbour ” spelled the British way in order to give it extra, extra class.

You take that, add NoPo for the north of Post Road area, “North Mianus” for Cat Rock Road East (Fudrucker points out that plain old “Mianus” would be open for misinterpretation) and we’re on our way to an entire revaluation of real estate in our less desireable neighborhoods. Probably too late to do anything for Chickahomany and byram, but this blog is open to suggestions.

Well finally, some good news about global warming!

Man eating, ferocious polar bears getting smaller and more cuddly. Will this work on Musslemen terrorists, I wonder?

For those French readers crying out for more bathroom humor on this site

A toilet-themed restaurant.

Another casualty of the Wall Street meltdown

What do you mean, my card's been refused?

Cocaine deliveries in the canyons are way down. This calls for a stimulus program!

18 Bowman Drive short sale

This poor builder tried selling his new construction for $2.695 back in 2007 and has lost the race with his lenders. Today it’s available via short sale for $1.4 million (a previous attempt at auctioning it failed). If you want to know why it never sold, check out the birds eye view of the place. Pay no attention to the house labeled with an arrow – this is the lot behind it, under the shadow of the water tower, with a graveyard just beyond that. It’s hard to believe that anyone, no matter how strong the market, thought he could get almost $3 million for this location but this builder is not alone in his lunacy. It’ll probably be ten years before we see their kind again but trust me, we will.

Cos Cob fans, here’s how to put your money where your mouths are

28 sachem Road

This goregous 1850 house still sat on 2 acres when the current owner paid $4 million for it a few years ago (yes, of course he was from out of town). He split up the land into three lots and has been trying to sell them off piecemeal. This one, on just 0.7 acres now, was asking $3.4 million but today came down to $2.7. It seems to me that this house has little value for those who would otherwise appreciate its splendour if it’s crammed in next to two new houses. On the other hand, with spec house funding dried up, the original lot is still as it was. I know nothing about the seller’s financial condition but this might be a good time to bid $2.5 for the whole thing, and reunite the original lot. If Stanwich hadn’t gone soft and moved to Riverside, I’d have pitched this idea to him. As it is, I’m just tossing it out for all Cos Cob patriots to act on.

UPDATE: Never mind! Frankie Futticker has just informed me that Sachem is in Greenwich, not Cos Cob! Why is this? Turns out the old postal route used to have the Greenwich carrier deliver on this street before heading up Stanwich, and that’s how the (imaginary) line was drawn. Still a nice house, but you’d have to move from Cos Cob to enjoy it.

Who is Bruce Rose and Carrington Capital?

Word that this guy and his Greenwich hedge fund are pals of Chris Dodd made me curious to learn more about them. No friends other that Dodd, it would seem, but then, Dodd’has always been willing to be your friend as long as your mommy pays  him to do so.

Seeking Alpha has bad things to say.

ZeroHedge says they’re liquidating

One group is suing them for racketeering

While the state of Ohio is just plain old suing them.

This all sounds like trouble so it’s no surprise that Bruce Rose would want the help of the Chairman of the Banking Committee. I’ll bet Dodd doesn’t come cheap in emergencies like this but obviously it was money well spent. Odd thing about Rose: he’s shown as the owner of 22 Carrington Drive (there’s a coincidence) but it’s either raw land or he’s content to live in a squatter’s shack. The total value is assessed at just $1.5 million and all but $50,000 of that is land. So where does Dodd’s constituent and benefactor actually live?

Dodd, champion of the little guy, took the time to help out a little Greenwich hedge fund last month

What a guy! Beset with reelection woes, worried sick about his pal Kennedy’s impending death and busy as all hell holding press conferences announcing his crackdown on those who used to lobby him, Connecticut’s own Chris Dodd found it in his heart to send a letter to the FDIC August 7th demanding special treatment for mortgage servicer Carrington Mortgage Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of a Greenwich hedge fund. Carrington Capital.

“You see?” Dodd crowed, ‘this just proves that my door is open to anyone, rich and poor alike. In this case, rich, but hey – shit happens.”

From Forbes:

“The officials were surprised by the senator’s Aug. 7 letter because it followed an eight-month lobbying campaign by a handful of mortgage servicers and benefited one firm more than any other: Carrington Mortgage.”

In March, the Fed expanded the TALF lending program to include bonds backed by money owed to servicers. With this change, servicers can issue new debt using the money they will collect down the road once they get reimbursed. This helps servicers cheaply refinance their existing bank credit lines.

But of America’s independent servicers seeking help through TALF, only Carrington was failing to gain traction.

Forbes says that the letter comes on the heels of Carrington’s CEO Bruce Rose trip to DC to plead his case.

This is all made more controversial because Carrinton is accused of refusing to do reasonable loan modification and providing really crappy service to customers. Last month, Ohio Attorney General Michael Cordray sued Carrington –the first lawsuit of its kind- saying the servicer refused to offer reasonable loan modifications to eligible borrowers and provided incompetent, inadequate and inefficient customer service in connection with its servicing of Ohio mortgage loans.

At the time, Cordray said: “This lawsuit makes it clear that we have reached zero tolerance for this kind of behavior from loan servicers. We’ve tried to work with them, but now we must take action. I am determined to see that mortgage servicers step up, take responsibility and start making it right with Ohioans. No more excuses.”

But sometimes being friends with Chris Dodd means you don’t even have to make excuses.

Just in time to welcome private school students, Greenwich public schools are in the crapper

The publisher of Greenwich Time takes a look at the test scores for our schools today qand is not impressed. I can see why. Of particular note  is the decline in Old Greenwich and Riverside elementary schools because the School Board has always hinted that the reason our town-wide scores are so low is because of the presence of “ethnics” – the poor dears just isen’t of the same caliber as our white kids and isn’t it great that Greenwich is so diverse and good hearted enough to take in these unwashed masses and prepare them for a career at MacDonalds? This lie is exposed by the failures at Riverside and Old Greenwich where the student body is 100% white and Asian (Asians don’t count as disadvantaged minorities in the liberal head counting scheme) with a parent population that is fanatical about education. If there’s a problem here, and there is, it’s not because we have some public assistance kids among us.

The high school? Good lord. I’m glad we have a new superintendent but it’s too bad the republican and Democrat parties in Greenwich refuse to allow a choice of school board candidates. Seems as though it’s time for a thorough washing of the stables.

Holy bat s…, Andres, this should make you worry

Miami woman has a hit man knock off her (now deceased) boyfriend for just $200 bucks!   I don’t know that the hitman was Colombian, guy, but if the going rate is that low (plus maybe airfare to Westchester County Airport), and I’d recently scammed my fellow countrymen of a few billion bucks, I’d be on the first yacht I could find and headed for the Adriatic, pronto. Walt, you might want to take some precautions too: from what I hear about these people, they like to make retribution an extended family affair.

Bond buyers vs. stock bulls – the battle is on

As we’ve been discussing, there’ are currently two diametrically opposed vies of the future of our economy and the fight’s being waged down on the Street by pessimistic bond traders and  giddy stock market bulls. Take your pick, but I’m with the bears. They see nothing good out emerging from our record deficits while the bulls are happy, happy happy. Hey -ya pays ya money, ya takes ya chances.

It’s not just cops: Congresswoman has constituent arrested for failure to show her due respect

Ooh, things are getting warm out there. A constituent of Congresswoman Shay Porter (?) was arrested at her request when he questioned the presence of out-of-town union goons disrupting the meeting.

Jim Himes, fresh from attending his Lawrenceville Prep reunion, is conducting a similar meeting at Greenwich Town Hall at 6:30 tonight. I’ve already received an invitation from ObamaCareTeddyCare headquarters, together with a printable flyer of support so that I can show I’m not, you know, one of those “Astro-turf” protesters sent into town by a vast right wing conspiracy. Uh uh – I’m a genuine citizen,moved only for my compassion for the poor and a desire to see my government prosper.

Shhh! Don’t show this to the builder of 5 Dialstone.

147 Hendrie Ave.

This Riverside house, new construction by York and overlooking Binney Park, started off in the spring asking $4.250, an agressive price for any market, let alone this year’s. Down today to $3.475, which is perhaps where it should have begun.

And just to demonstrate that waiting for your price doesn’t always pay off, 38 Lockwood Lane, a nicely renovated house with some highway noise issues, started at $2.995 back in 2006 and now, three years later, has been chopped to $1.995. Sometimes, all good things come to those who price their house right in the first place, not to those that wait.

Town and gown – more private school kids going public

The figures are coming in and, as wondered about here and elsewhere last fall (and denied vehemently by certain private school administrators), the Wall Street whacking is having an effect on public school enrollment. Not necessarily ch ildren pulled wailing from the arms of their friends at Brunswick, say, but a lot of kids (100) entering high  school and who would have switched to private this year are staying put. And the surge in elementary school enrollment (25, so far) suggests that many younger students won’t be joining their siblings at Greenwich Academy.

All of which may lead to more crowded classrooms and higher expenses for taxpayers, but I think it’s a positive development, all in all. With the exception of bright, lazy dullards like this writer, smart kids from homes where the parents value education will enhance our classrooms, not burden them.

Antares sits pretty at 100 West Putnam Avenue

Journalist and writer Teri Buhl has put together an incredibly detailed look at Antares and the hedge funds who so recklessly rushed to rent in 100 W. Putnam Avenue (whose picture temporarily graces this blog’s masthead) for Dealbreaker.com. Duff Associates may be gone from the 4th floor penthouse it never occupied, but the money paid to get out of its lease lingers on. Similarly, Strategic Value Partners ($103 persquare foot) and Plainfield Asset Management ($122 per square foot) are still on as tenants – Plainfield finally moved in last week) even though they’re running those assets at negative rates of return.

After all the bad press Antares has received, including here, give them this: their sweetheart deal with Credit Suisse for the $160 million used to buy this building from UST is on such generous terms that they can afford to hold on and wait for a return of the commercial market. That assumes that there will be a return of that market, of course, but for now, with the rest of their projects in shambles and lost to creditors and angry investors, the Antares Boyz must be sleeping a little easier up in their side-by-side, liened and attached mansions on Mooreland Road.

UPDATE: This article in today’sWSJ on the impending disaster in commercial real estate raises a question I hadn’t focused on: what happens when its time to refinance the Credit Suisse bonds? As the article points out, even properties that are leased and bubbling along are going to have a hard time refinancing if the underlying value of the property has sunk. I’ll go back to those loan documents and if I find out when the notes are due, will report here.