Well, it IS the Bat Flu market

12 Mountain Wood Drive is back up for sale today at $8.995 million. While it did sell, new, to some chump in 2005 for $8.4, that was its high point: cast again onto the waters in 2006 at $9.750, it finally found a buyer in 2012 for $5.9. I thought that was a generous price at the time, given the street and this home’s particular architecture, but here we are, back at the $9s nine years later.

It could work; we have an expanded new pool of buyers these days, and this could be exactly what they’re looking for.

Home, sweet home

WTF?

Ah, Egypt!

The Suez Canal is still blocked. Check back in two weeks, or so.

It’s a good reminder that our First World economy is still very much reliant on the equally-corrupt, but less efficient practices of the Third World.

The Ever Given, however, remains stuck in the single-lane, older section of the canal. Egyptian officials were reluctant to give anything but an optimistic picture of efforts to refloat the ship, including a video released by the SCA set to dramatic music, intended to portray authorities as in control of the crisis. Initial statements from Admiral Osama Rabie, head of the SCA, that the problem would be solved within days, and other reports that the ship had been partially refloated or moved, proved untrue.

Capt Ranjan Chowdhury, who sailed the Suez canal frequently during his 35-year maritime career, said the canal pilots, mandated by the SCA to steer transiting ships and aid tricky navigation on the waterway, contributed to problems.

“The canal pilots play music inside the bridge, and there’s a lack of AIS-supported backup,” he said, in reference to the tracking system used on ships. “They connect to it with a computer, but the canal pilots are very over-confident when it comes to navigating by sight. Every time they’re eating food, smoking, talking a lot and asking for bribes which keeps them very busy. Navigation is an art, and if you lose concentration for a second while navigating a narrow channel, it should be investigated.”

“We call the Suez canal Marlboro country,” he added. “If we provide them with a big carton of Marlboro cigarettes they’re happy. Not every captain has done their homework before transiting through the Suez canal.”

Chowdhury was equally sceptical about efforts to examine the incident. “The investigation will not be transparent, and it will take a long time due to bureaucracy,” he said. “More importantly, the Suez Canal Authority doesn’t take responsibility, the ship’s captain is the primary individual responsible, which is a loophole compared to the Panama canal.”

Ain’t happening

Not to worry, we're in the best of hands

Wow. What a performance.

pic.twitter.com/ZdoSO8njpC

— Tim Murtaugh (@TimMurtaugh) March 25, 2021

A well advised price cut

75 Fairfield Road dropped to $1.650 today, just 2 weeks after being listed at $1.725. In this market, in this price range, if you’re not getting decent offers in two weeks, you’re too high.

This isn’t a bad house at all, as I remember it. Fairfield is a busy street due to the traffic headed to GHS and Country Day, but the house itself backs up to the small skating pond there, and so there’s some quiet solitude available. It sold for $1.675 in ‘04, a price I thought was a tad dubious at the time, but ‘04 was a hot market. The buyer did a reasonable job updating it and put it back for sale for $2.2 the next year. Alas, the market wasn’t that hot, and it’s been on the rental market ever since.

So I don’t know what shape it’s in after 16 years of being ridden hard and put away wet, but the location’s good, and the house itself could work for you, if you’re looking in this price range and have some extra cash for upgrading.

Insta-sale

Brother Gideon listed 40 Halsey Drive last week for $995,000. It’s an old (1948) Havemeyer original on 0.39 acre in the R-7 zone, with a FAR of 6,000 sq..ft., so he expected builders to come in, but he reports that most of the many prospective buyers who viewed it over the weekend intended to renovate. That speaks, I think, to the lack of inventory in this price range.

Anyway, demand was high, it went to “highest and best offers” Sunday night and multiple bids came in, most of which were above ask. The winner was declared on Monday and signed contracts finalized today.

Of interest, perhaps, is that this house sold for $797,000 in 2003 (and yes, back then, Gideon sold his own listing to his own client, and has now sold it again — this place is an annuity for the kid) and that buyer’s been renting it out ever since. So decent rental income for 17 years, plus depreciation; it worked out well as an investment property.

Justice for all

Under-15-year-old boys soccer team demands equal pay with women’s team

U.S.—Dozens of 15-year-old boys' soccer teams across the country have demanded equal pay to the women's national team, since they are competitive with the women and even beat them from time to time.

"It's only fair," said high-schooler Aiden Benton. "This is a clear case of sexism and age discrimination, that I get paid nothing to play and the women get a decent little paycheck."

"End pay discrimination now!" he added, clapping on each word for emphasis.

"The boy makes a really good point," said CNN reporter Holly Bandersnatch. "He clapped on each word, plus, he claimed sexism. It is only fair that the boys' team get paid the same as the world champions' women's team. You just can't argue with hand claps."

Yes, it’s the Bee, but it’s also true: 9th-grade boys soccer teams have regularly whupped the professional ladies. One example here, and another here, but google it, you’ll find more.

Of course, it’s not just soccer.; here’s a Duke Law Review article discussing the different performances of men and women in track competitions.

Yesterday over at Powerline Paul Mirengoff weighed in on female soccer player Megan Rapinoe’s appearance with Joe Biden to demand equal pay.

If Rapinoe has been “devalued,” it’s not because she’s a woman. Rather, it’s because people just aren’t that interested in women’s soccer. 

It’s easy to understand why. As many Power Line readers know, I’m a rabid soccer fan. But women’s soccer leaves me indifferent.

I’ve probably told the story about attending a soccer doubleheader during the 1996 Olympics. The first game was between the women’s teams of Brazil and Norway, both then among the top five in the world. The second was between South Korea and Ghana, both probably ranked somewhere between 25 and 30 at the time.

Watching the second game, I couldn’t believe how fast Ghana and South Korea were playing. I had never seen anything like it, or so it seemed. 

Then, I realized why the players looked so fast. It was because I had just watched women play for 90 minutes.

And at PJ Media, Stephen Green summed it up in his “Insanity Wrap”:

It is sometimes Insanity Wrap’s unpleasant job to make the obvious plain to the oblivious.

So listen up, Megan Rapinoe.

Your job is not to play soccer.

Soccer is merely the means through which you perform your actual job.

Your actual job is to sell tickets, concessions, branded clothing and trinkets, and most of all, TV commercials.

By that measure, Megan, you aren’t nearly as good at your job as Lionel Messi is at his.

So you make less money because you sell less stuff when you kick the ball around.

Just to show you there are no hard feelings, Megan, Insanity Wrap is in a similar business.

Our job isn’t to write; our job is to sell internet ads. Writing is merely the way we go about it.

Megan, by your logic Insanity Wrap should be paid as much as anyone else who sells internet ads by putting words on a virtual page.

While we would really enjoy making as much money as, say, Google, you also won’t find us making an ass of ourselves on national TV by insisting on it.

Thanks for letting us take a moment of your day, Megan, and we hope this helped.

And it's back

16 Dingletown Road is new to the market today at $6.3 million. Meh — maybe. When it was freshly constructed in 2008 it was priced at $8.995, a price I was skeptical of at the time and it’s a good thing I was, because it sold 1,008 days later in 2012 for $5.6.

Those buyers, apparently thinking they’d scored a bargain, tried reselling it in 2013 for $6.150 before settling for $4.950 that December. That must have hurt, at least a little.

So we’re back to the $6 range. Will it stick this time? It’s certainly not going to win any architectural prizes, and, I don’t know; to my eye, everything between $4.5 and $7.5 these days seems to offer about the same thing, so it depends on what location a buyer is looking for, and his willingness to pay for the indulgence of living exactly where he wants to.

Civic Pride

The Mayor of Charlottesville posts her love for her city, racist Facebook takes it down

Hey, don't look at me, I'm overdue for my nap

new t-shirts are on order

Biden: “I’m putting President Harris in charge of the border mess”

Just a week after Kampalla claimed she hadn’t even briefed on the matter, she’s now taking over the crisis.

As Hot Air’s Ed Morrisey points out,

Biden’s passing the buck to get out of a mess of his own making. His mixed messaging and incompetent policies as directed in executive orders made a tricky situation catastrophic. By passing this off to Harris, Biden can dodge questions about it by referring them to his VP.

And isn’t it an interesting coincidence that this decision comes the day before his first full press conference? The White House clearly expected Biden to get peppered with detailed questions on border policy, questions which might have led to some uncomfortable moments. Now Biden can just pass the questions to Harris, and stick to cheery-but-generic pablum.

Under construction and under contract on Rogues Hill

Artist’s rendering

54 Round Hill Road, $6.880, reports a contract after hitting the market 140 days ago. It’s a black-window design, which a number of readers have questioned as a long-term fashion trend, but the listing’s verbiage is clearly aimed at New Yorkers, and those people like black; seems to have worked here, anyway.

The Newest Luxury Construction in Greenwich is underway! Extraordinary 21st century construction by Hawthorne Development close to town with all the amenities for you to enjoy the Greenwich Lifestyle. This sophisticated six bedroom sits on a private 2.52 acre oasis beautifully sited incorporates pool and covered terraces for maximum indoor/outdoor living and entertainment. A thoughtfully designed floor plan with sun filled interior welcomes you with floating glass staircase and open living spaces. Perfect time to plan your move to Greenwich for the home you've been dreaming of. Come live minutes from Greenwich Avenue shops, restaurants and train to NYC. Completion Fall 2021.