Thinking of going to Greenwich Hospital? Run for your life

Greenwich Time has republished a several-months-old report that grades hospitals,  but the fact remains: if you care about your own health, or that of a loved one, stay far, far away from our local institution.

Our hospital rates a "C" grade: Norwich, Ct's is one of the few that rates an "A". The significant difference, I suspect, is that Norwich lacks a head who's paid over $2 million a year, no player piano in the lobby, and doesn't serve Starbuck's coffee to its patients.

My own experience with our local slaughter house has not been positive: the doctors there removed a perfectly healthy appendix from Pal Nancy when, in fact, she had a blood infection. My mother was in there for three weeks, slowly dying, and while she was declining I was being lectured by her treating physician that old age was "like an unraveling sweater: one strand goes, then it all unravels". Younger brother Anthony took it upon himself to record all 15 drugs they had her on and Googled them: turns out, five of them were explicitly not to be combined with the other ten. At his  insistence, those five were discontinued, she recovered, left the hospital three days later, and enjoyed ten more years of life.

Overpaid, overcharging buffoons.

Riverside (real) waterfront continues to command a premium

10 Pilot Rock Road (foot of Indian Head), has sold for $11.250 million, after starting off in 2015 at $14.5. That might seem like a long time on the market, and I suppose it is, but buyers in this price range are pretty rare, so a three-year wait isn't too surprising. Nice house, and now I regret not snapping it up for myself back when it originally hit the market. I suppose it was Harbor Point residents' delight in suing each other that put me off; I retired from lawyering for a reason, and have no desire to get dragged back into it.

And there's the small matter of being shy eleven-million, of course.

Not every house in OG has held its price, apparently

7 Little Cove Place, which sold for $6.5 million in 2012, which was pretty much the bottom of the post-2008 crash, started off this time in 2016 at $6.5 million, but had to drop to $5.295 before it found a buyer. And that's just its last asking price; it's reported today s under contract, so presumably it's selling for even less.

The listing describes it as "direct waterfront", which is technically true, but barely

And we're back!

207 Byram Shore Road

I took what I  expected to be a 2-3 day break from blogging while I attended to the last days of the spring turkey hunt season and Memorial Day weekend, but blogger burn-out set in, and I couldn't find it in me to resume blogging, for a while. But shall we continue?

Harvey Weinstein'sbrother's house at 207 Byram Shore Road has closed for $17 million. Brother Bob's troubles are as nothing compared to Harvey's, who's wearing  an ankle bracelet while awaiting trial for rape, but he did pay $16.4 for this place in 2000, and put many, many millions of dollars into restoring it. It hit the market in 2014 at $32 million, but that, obviously, wasn't the magic number.

And the Russian balloon continues to deflate

Jared Kushner cleared of Russian conspiracy ties, regains top security clearance.

WASHINGTON - Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser, was notified Wednesday that he has been granted a permanent security clearance to view top-secret material - an indication that he may no longer be under scrutiny by the special counsel, who had been investigating his foreign contacts and other activities.

Last month, Kushner sat for about six hours of questioning by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team on a wide range of topics, including his meetings with foreign officials during Trump's transition and Trump's firing of FBI Director James Comey, according to Abbe Lowell, Kushner's attorney.

The interview - his second session with the special counsel - came nearly a year after The Washington Post reported that investigators were examining contacts Kushner had with high-level Russians during the presidential transition.

Kushner's permanent clearance was granted by career White House and intelligence officials after the completion of his FBI background check, according to a person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation. This person confirmed that Kushner was granted a top-secret clearance, a level he had previously held on an interim basis.

Jews for bobsledders

My very, very close friend, Louis Van Leeuwen, is hosting, again, a fundraiser at the Riverside Yacht Club June 2nd for the Jamaican bobsledding team. Luigi's parents, with my pal Lou precariously tucked in his mother's womb, escaped Hitler by walking from Holland, through France, and across the Pyrenees into Spain, where they discovered that the only country willing to offer refuge was Jamaica (which will always be a black mark on our own country), so that's where the parents sailed to, and that's  where our boy was born.

The family eventually made its way here and, due almost entirely to my own efforts on his behalf, Luigi made good, and has acquired quite a reputation as a custom builder, among other enterprises. Tickets to this fest aren't cheap: they start at fifty-bucks, but even allowing for a certain slippage into the host's pockets, and more for the food and music, some of that money is bound to find its way to a worthy cause. And you'll have a blast.

An armed society is a polite society

You talkin' to me?

A Fox Network conservative commenter is assaulted at restaurant, water thrown on her, while crowd chants "fuck that white bitch!". I'm not suggesting that a .45 Long Colt between the eyes is an appropriate response to this sort of attack (although I'm not suggesting otherwise, either), but had she been carrying, I doubt the coward who went after her would have dared.

Closed chapter

44 Close Road, a foreclosure property that was never occupied since it was built back in 2002 has sold for $3,849,880 million. Custom built for Tommy Hilfiger, he changed his plans (and his wife) and sold it to Steven Braverman in 2005 for $9.5 million. Braverman, in turn, tried for $13.995 in 2007, before finally losing it to Mellon Bank. 

The bank listed this for $4.770 back in February and I lost a client, and a friend, when I lost my temper with him for demanding that I submit a bid of $3 million (I did submit the bid — as his agent, I was required to, but we parted ways thereafter). My bad: $3 million wasn't going to do it, especially when the listing was just two-days old, but some patience on my part might have pulled this deal off. Again, my error.

Old homes continue to unimpress

5 Knollwood Drive, asking $2.650 million, has found a buyer after almost a year on the market. It's a beautiful, 1926 home, updated and close to town, but its slow sales history points out, to me at least, where the market's trending.

It sold for $2.850 million in 2007; that buyer renovated it, put it back on the market for $3.995,and finally sold it to these owners for $2.730 in 2014. And now they're taking a hit, too.

Nothing at all wrong with this house, to my taste, but the market seems to differ. Active buyers might want to look at older homes, because they're apparently going at a discount compared to their more modern competition. Just as "brown furniture" pieces — hand made, gorgeous antiques —  are currently a drag on the market, vintage homes also offer a comparative bargain. Tastes change, and prices for antiques and classics may recover. If not, at least you'll have enjoyed them during your ownership.

Why the agent failed to go full-zebra puzzles me, though. the cow never works (even with an extension cord beneath it)

Pending on Maple Avenue

96 Maple, down to an asking price of $2.950 after its preposterous 2015 start of $7.2 million, reports a pending sale. Sadly, it's been marketed "as is", and suitable for three-unit multi-family, so the house may not be long for this world.

Then again, at this last price, someone might be planning to restore it and live there happily ever after; I hope that's the case.