Lest I'm understood to be a complete Eeyore, here's a nice sale on Keofferam

9 Keofferam Road, Old Greenwich, new construction, $4.099 million, is under contract. Quick sale, too — we still have buyers out looking, thank heaven.

Long lost law school friend weighs in

I’m honored: smartest kid in our class, I had no idea he was reading this blog. Regarding the Sound Beach Avenue apartment project, he points out:

You could advise your readers that if it is a settlement it still will need to go to Superior Court for approval under state statutes. Neighbors  could go object then and decry lack of notice of settlement before P&Z last Tuesday.  Not sure what court does with it but  if they hit right judge they might get a hearing at least. 

There’s a least one lawyer I know of who lives on the adjacent street, and I’m sure he’s fired up, but for sure, we haven’t heard the end of this. Mind you, I don’t necessarily think that a modest apartment building on the lot is a bad thing, but the process by which it was approved seems dark.

Riverside plugs along

25 Druid Lane, $3.195 million, is under contract after just 23 days. Take away house inspections and subsequent lawyer to-and-fros, and I’d guess that the buyer surfaced, and bit, the first week this house appeared.

Seller paid $2,932,100 when it was new in 20012, so appreciation will be nil, but calculating rental value, I’d say he made out very well.

Hell of “mud room: to greet the kids,

Greenwich Boys Club employee "raped boys hundreds of times"? Good Lord

That’s what the law suit claims, and given what’s turning out to be true these days, it’s probably fair to suspect the worst.

I’m surely not the only older man (65) who, missing a grandchild, would like to mentor a young boy or girl; take them fishing, hunting, even accompany them to the library and help them select a book. But there’s no way on earth that’s possible these days, and I blame these perverts for that.

Sad.

Seems dubious, to me, but let's see what the buyers say

174 Shore Road, Old Greenwich, $3.7 million. Converted carriage house, landlocked, half-acre. They tried it at $3.950 last year, now, new broker, new price, but I’m not convinced.

What I've missed from failing to follow mainstream media the past couple of decades. Lawrence Tribe's descent into crazed senility

This guy was a respected constitutional scholar back in the 1980s, but now he’s just a whacked-out conspiracy spouter. I haven’t read Newsweek since, I’d guess, college in the 70s, so I was astonished, when Duck Ducking Lawrence Tribe, to discover that he’s a regular contributor to the magazine (surprised to learn that it still exists, actually), and he seems to have a rabid following. I’d thought I was keeping up, sort of, with modern culture by prowling the Internet, but I’ve obviously been missing a huge portion of the crazies out there.

Here, he claims that Trump will stage some sort of coup and remain in office if he loses in 2020.

Last week, he claimed that we’ll be going to war with Iran so as to benefit Trump’s son-in-law.

The top link to a Daily Caller article cites many crazed accusations, all later disproved, about conspiracies involving Saudis, Russians, Mike Pence’s impending indictment, etc. What shocks me, though, are the comments to the Newsweek articles I’ve lined to: there is apparently an audience of readers who believe this stuff, and, I suddenly realize, probably comprise half the nation.

Whoo, boy, are we in for a fun time.

I've rarely read an opinion piece that says so exactly what I believe

Every time Democrats speak, I want to vote for Trump twice

I am a middle-of-the-road Republican who voted for Trump with the utmost reluctance in 2016. He sure wasn’t perfect. He was no Cicero, either––though he can give a decent speech when the chips are down. He had a few extra skeletons rattling in his closet, especially compared to colorless non-entities like Jeb. So yeah, I was queasy about voting for an ex-registered-Democrat-from-New-York-and-possible-liberal-now-turned-Republican.

Was I worried? Hell, yeah! Was I depressed? You bet. But, really, what options were there? Hillary? Jill Stein? Seriously? Trump wasn’t my first choice or my second choice or my third choice, but by the time November 2016 rolled around, Trump was the only choice on the menu. So I swallowed hard, took a leap of faith, and pulled the lever for the Donald.

Stormy Daniels and Michael Cohen Are Non-Issues For Me

And let me tell ya, every time one of these newly minted Democratic “stars” opens their mouth, the same thought goes through my mind: Thank God for Trump. Trump is my last line of defense. Trump is the only thing that stands between me and these hallucinogenic socialist nut jobs. Trump is what’s keeping chaos and left-wing insanity at bay.

Maybe I am not a gettable voter for the Democrats. Certainly not easily gettable, but had Trump turned out to be a closet Nelson Rockefeller, and the Democrats were to nominate a genuine centrist, who knows what could’ve happened? Isn’t that what politicians running for president are supposed to do––spend a few months promoting themselves as the reasonable choice, and the other guy as unacceptable?

But today, every single Democrat I can name is working overtime to make damn certain that I will pull the lever for Trump again, and with both hands this time. Trump need not worry about locking down my vote––the Democrats are doing all the heavy lifting.

Every time the Democrats and their media allies peddle yet another “end of the Trump presidency bombshell,” I laugh hysterically. If I laughed any harder, people would think I was having an epileptic seizure.

I can’t even keep track of half the revelations that were supposed to bring Trump to an ignominious end. Even the Democrats forget most of them within days. Remember Papadopoulos? Flynn? Gates? Roger Stone? Some 77-year-old guy I’ve never heard of, getting a handjob at a Florida massage parlor?

Say what? This is a Trump scandal because apparently the former massage parlor owner posed with Trump and various Republicans who know or have spoken to Trump. Who? What? Huh? Democrats don’t just own crazy anymore; Democrats left crazy in their rearview mirror months ago.

Stormy Daniels? Right. Who gives two shits about Trump’s sex life 12 years ago? But, but, “Trump paid her off! It was hush money!” you say? Yeah, okay. He probably did. Oh, hell, who are we kidding here? I am certain that he did. And I care about all this why? I can see why Melania would care, but why do I care?

Heck, I’ll go even further––it wouldn’t surprise me if Trump paid off a bunch of other women over the years. In fact, and here I am really going out on a limb, there was some reason to suspect, even before the election, that Trump hasn’t always been a faithful husband to his various wives. But, dear Democrats: I just checked my Vanguard and Fidelity account balances, and I just don’t give a squat about Trump’s sex life or his ex-mistresses or how much they cost him.

Michael who, you say? Michael Cohen? Oh, yeah, the sleazeball who took Trump’s money for years and years, and then, once his taxicab schemes and assorted other shenanigans fell apart and prison time loomed, suddenly had an epiphany about Trump?  The guy who plead guilty to lying to Congress? The guy who begged Trump for a pardon? That Michael Cohen? If Democrats think Michael Cohen’s pathetic drooling before some congressional committee will change my mind, they are beyond delusional.

Sundry Scandals Don’t Bother Me Either

Trump Organization, you say? Something about possible non-compliance with New York State health insurance purchasing regulations? Congress will investigate, you say? Uh huh. I am fatigued out with these investigations. You want me to vote for some Democrat because Andrew Cuomo says Trump didn’t follow his insurance regulations? Are you people for real?

What’s that? Russia? Mueller? Collusion? I am sick of Russia and I am sick of Mueller. I am sick of Comey, Rosenstein, Ohr, McCabe, Yates, Strzok, Page, Baker, and the rest of the gang. I am beyond sick of them. I am vomit-inducingly sick of them. (And, for the record, I was born in Russia, so I know Russia like these Democrat clowns can’t even imagine.) After years of nonstop investigations, all they actually have on the collusion front is Manafort’s tax evasion from 10 years ago. That’s it?

Remember that New York Times monster 15,000-word article about Trump’s inheritance taxes 30 years ago? Ask me if I care. Jared Kushner? Next! Ivanka’s shoe line? Whatever. Trump Hotel in DC? Yawn. The Emoluments Clause? Puuuuhhhhlease. Obstruction? Here, I agree. Trump made a mistake. He should have fired Comey’s ass on day one instead of waiting two months to do it.

But then, this is all yesterday’s news. Who needs last year’s bombshells when we have today’s contestants!  The Donkey Party has a new leader: someone called Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Every time her bright red lips form a sentence, I hear a clarion call: Must Vote For Trump! Unlike AOC, I actually know firsthand what socialism is. I don’t need to imagine the future that AOC is trying to shove down my throat––I lived in that future and I pray I’ll never have to live in that future again.

Every time AOC proposes to build trains to Europe, or wants butt plugs for cows to control their flatulence, or wants to spend $93 trillion on fairyland, I really, reallywant to vote for Trump. So make Ocasio-Cortez more visible! Make Ocasio-Cortez speaker of the House! Make her the keynote speaker at the convention!

All the CNN talking heads agree that Trump is an idiot? Maybe, but at least he isn’t planning to ban my car. Trump lies? Maybe, but with Trump, we’ll still have airplanes (and my 401(k) plan has been doing great since his election).

Presidential Contenders and Congressional Nutjobs

This gets us to the next installment of “Friday the 13th,” a.k.a. the Democratic presidential candidates. Kamala Harris, you say? You seriously want me to vote for Kamala Harris? And you say that Cory “Spartacus” Booker is just like Kamala, only better and balder? Are you kidding me? Pete Buttigieg? Ask me again when I stop laughing.

Bernie? Really? This grumpy near-octogenarian “public service” millionaire with three mansions is running for the presidency of the wrong country. All his best ideas have already been put into practice––in Venezuela.

This is a guy who pseudo-honeymooned in the USSR (two years before it collapsed!), and didn’t notice that people were waiting in mile-long lines for literallyeverything. This is a guy who has never met a paleo-Stalinist dictator he couldn’t be best pals with. Bernie doesn’t need to pretend he is a complete crank; he is a complete crank.

I will personally call every one of my friends, neighbors, and acquaintances, and beg them to vote for Trump. I will even offer to come and wash their cars while in the nude, if only they’d vote for Trump.

Did someone say Warren? Warren, the first Cherokee candidate — that Warren? Doesn’t she now want reparations not just for African-Americans, but also for Native Americans? Where, oh where, is that lever to pull for Trump?

Biden? The creepy old guy who likes to massage women and 13-year-old girls in public? That guy? I have a 19-year-old daughter, and I sure hope he never goes anywhere near her. But I do hope he runs. It feels like he’s been running for president in every election since Eisenhower. Can he lurch far enough to the left this time, to satisfy the woke police? I doubt it, but it will be fun to watch him try.

Ilhan Omar? Maybe she should run for president too. Nancy suggests that Omar is a good person who is simply too ignorant to understand what her words mean. I disagree. Omar is only saying what all the other Democrats are thinking. Yes, she is an anti-Semite. Yes, she is totally mainstream within the Democratic Party.

Throw that toxic Tlaib person into the mix, and we’ve got the triumvirate that truly runs the Democratic Party now––Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, and Tlaib. I see this nutterfest, and let me tell you, dear Democrats: I am motivated as hell. If ever given a choice (in this election or in other ones) between Ocasio-Cortez, Omar, Tlaib, Pelosi, Warren, Harris, Booker, Biden, Sanders, or Trump, I will take Trump any day of the week.

I am a highly motivated Trump voter because the Democrats have motivated me up to my eyeballs. I have never been more motivated in my life, because the Democrats are terrifying me. I am locked, cocked, and ready to rock in that voting booth. I just wish I didn’t have to wait 20 months.

George S. Bardmesser is an attorney in private practice in the Washington, DC area.

She may want Elizabeth Warren to represent her

High cheek bones

Connecticut resident sues Harvard, claiming that a photograph in its possession is that of her ancestor.

NORWICH — When her mother died in 2010, Tamara Lanier embarked on a quest to investigate stories her mother told about her ancestors.

Lanier lives in Norwich and retired in October as chief probation officer at Norwich court. She believes that one of her ancestors was an African-born slave named Renty, whose photo, taken in 1850 on a South Carolina plantation, has become world famous as a symbol of racism.

The photo was one of a series commissioned by Swiss-born scientist Louis Agassiz, then a professor at Harvard University, in an attempt to prove his theory — soon debunked by Charles Darwin’s 1859 theory of evolution — that Africans were inferior to Europeans and that they originated as a separate species.

Renty’s photo and those of 16 other slaves taken as part of Agassiz’s study were rediscovered in an attic at Harvard’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology in 1976 by staff member Elinor Reichlin and remain there today.

“The daguerreotypes (an early type of photo) are in our collection,” Pamela Gerardi, the museum’s director of external relations, said last week. “They’re extremely delicate, and they’re well cared for. We anticipate they will remain here in perpetuity. That’s what museums do.”

The striking photo of Renty, showing an unsmiling middle-aged man naked from waist up, was put on the cover of the program for a March 2017 conference Harvard held exploring U.S. universities’ past relationship with slavery. The photo also was projected on a giant screen behind the speakers at the conference.

Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Dean Lizabeth Cohen wrote in the program: “While Agassiz earned acclaim, Renty returned to invisibility.”

Lanier attended that conference. She strongly disagrees that the life of Renty, called “Papa Renty” in her mother’s stories, is a mystery apart from the photo. 

Lanier writes about the conference in an unpublished manuscript about her research. “As my daughter Shonrael (Lanier) and I walked into the auditorium, we were both gripped by the larger than life picture of Papa Renty defiantly staring down the audience as they hustled to their seats. Ta-Nehisi Coates and Drew Faust opened the conference, discussing the debt owed to slaves for their servitude. Looking at the image of Papa Renty that filled the room, I could not help but feel his indignation. As Coates and Faust discussed atonement, in my heart I felt that a good first step would be to turn to the defiant image that filled the room and offer a heartfelt and sincere apology for once again exploiting him.”

Lanier said she started on her quest to explore the stories her mother told her about their ancestors. Mattye Lanier, who was born in Alabama, died in 2010 in Norwich, where she moved in 1949. “I always give my mother credit for remembering the little things,” Lanier said, such as that Papa Renty was called the African. “I think my mother was one who listened very intently and told me and my children.”

Lanier worked with Boston genealogist Chris Child, who also traced the ancestors of Barack Obama, to trace her lineage. She believes she has succeeded in connecting her great-grandfather, named Renty Taylor and then Renty Thompson, to a plantation near Columbia, S.C., owned by Benjamin Franklin Taylor. The photographs of Renty and his daughter Delia, also a slave, are known to have been taken there.

“I can put my family on the Taylor plantation,” Lanier said last week. “That to me is definite proof.”

“Definite proof” seems a little shaky.

The fix was in

Old Greenwich apartment complex slipped onto the P&Z agenda without notice, and settlement approved.

GREENWICH — A previously denied apartment project in Old Greenwich roared back to life Tuesday night as the Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved a development for 143 Sound Beach Ave.

The commission denied the project, which drew a large public outcry, in November 2017 because of concerns that it lacked adequate parking and posed a life safety hazard. The project developers then sued the town.

And on Tuesday night, the commission approved a significantly scaled-down version of the project as part of a settlement between the town and developers.

“We have a pretty good compromise here,” commission member Nick Macri said before the vote, which was taken without any additional debate among the commissioners.

The number of apartment units was cut from the originally proposed 60 to 34, three of which will be set aside as moderate-income housing and an additional one as affordable housing.

The three-story apartment building, called Station House, will be constructed on the site of a business office complex, which will be torn down.

The commission said the revised design — with fewer units but the same planned 49 parking spaces —met with its approval. The changes also satisfied the previous concerns of the Greenwich Fire Department that the fire evacuation routes were inadequate and that there was not enough first responder access to the development.

…. The plan was cut from four floors to three, and the design was modified from a contemporary look to a more traditional design a “traditional brick style,” Macri said. He compared the apartment building design to that of the nearby Sound Beach fire house, Old Greenwich School and the Perrot Memorial Library.

…. Because the development includes affordable housing, the developers applied for approval under the 8-30g state law, which aims to increase affordable housing in Connecticut. The commission was limited in its denial under the law, which says denial can only come due to reasons of health, safety and other concerns deemed to be of greater importance than adding additional affordable housing to a community.

“The applicant filed the lawsuit, but at the same time the applicant offered to address the fire safety issues and therefore the commission agreed to enter into negotiations for a settlement and not proceed with the lawsuit,” the commission’s Acting Chair Margarita Alban said.

When the project first came forward in 2017, there was significant pushback from the community. But when it was approved Tuesday, only a few neighbors were present and they said few residents knew the item was on the commission’s agenda.

It was not on the original agenda, but it was listed as the first item on the revised agenda that was posted before the meeting on the town’s website.

Peter Orbanowski, who with his wife is the owner of the nearby Old Greenwich Tennis Academy, said they learned that the project was on the agenda only an hour before the meeting. He called it “a railroad job” because the agreement had been made as part of the settlement before the meeting even happened.

“No one in the public knew what was going on here,” he said. “Whether or not we agree with this, I have no idea because I really have no idea what this agreement is.”

WTF??!!!

Quick sale near Milbrook

16 Anderson Road, new construction asking $4.295 million, is reported as pending. It started in November at $4.695, but still, this seems like a pretty short time on the market for this price and this neighborhood. Good for the builder.