The New York Neighborhood That’s Privately Owned

The northwest Bronx community of Fieldston, one of the few privately owned neighborhoods in New York City, is a bit of suburbia on the cusp of the city that’s known for its large single-family estates and streets shaded with canopies of century-old trees. Fieldston is one of the more expensive, if not the most expensive, neighborhoods in the Bronx. Single-family homes that need rehab start at $1 million, while mint-condition homes can go for over $4 million. Luxurious and exclusive, Fieldston is one of the Bronx’s hidden gems, offering a variety of amenities, including private parking and security. The neighborhood is close to the subway, which makes access to Manhattan a quick trip. There are no major grocery chains in Fieldston, so residents tend to head to neighboring Riverdale. The streets and common areas of Fieldston are owned by the Fieldston Property Owners' Association, Inc. which plows the streets, handles street and sewer repairs, cares for the trees, and runs a security patrol as well as other functions that are normally handled by the city. Annual dues are paid by the 250 homeowners who make up the Association to maintain the area. Once a year, the streets are closed to non-residents to legally qualify the streets as privately owned.

 

 

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Would You Pay $50,000 to Clone Your Pet?

NFL superstar Tom Brady has revealed the strange reason his new dog looks similar to his previous pooch. The 7-time Super Bowl winner says the uncanny likeness is because his puppy Junie (above right) is a clone of his pit bull mix Lua (above left), who passed away two years ago. Lua was cloned by the biotech firm Colossal Bioscience, which is most famous for its attempts to bring the woolly mammoth out of extinction. However, experts say that cloning your family pet might not be worth the eye-watering $50,000 price tag. Scientists say that even though a cloned animal may look similar, it will never be identical to the original. That’s because an animal's traits are not 100% determined by the genes it's born with. More worrying, experts say, is that cloned dogs are more susceptible to disease and a shortened lifespan. Fans of Brady have taken to social media to express their opinions, and most of them have been extremely critical.

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Mom-to-Be Stunned to See Ultrasound of Her Baby Looks Exactly Like Her Dog

Ines Egner was stunned to see an ultrasound scan of her baby that looks almost exactly like her dog. The 26-year-old shared the image on social media, along with a photo her dog Goulash. She said she couldn’t help but laugh at the image. Egner went on to say that she and her best friend were skimming through the scans, admiring the little hands, the little nose……”until we came across the picture and my friend said, ‘Wait, doesn’t the baby look just like Goulash?’” Ines continued, “My husband and I instantly started laughing because we could see it too!” Ines said she immediately sent the photos to her family, and her father responded, “The baby looks like Goulash.” She admitted that she doesn’t mind that her baby’s scan looks so odd, because their dog is a family member too. “It was just a fun time overall,” said Ines. Goulash the dog is set to turn 5 in December. Egner rescued him when he was just 7 months old and they’ve been inseparable ever since. He loves to cuddle and is very gentle, so she has no doubt that he’ll do great with her new baby.

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New York “Street Snitches” Are Earning 6-Figure Salaries Tattling on Truck Drivers

For years, a group of determined New Yorkers has quietly cashed in on a old anti-idling law, collecting 6-figure payouts by reporting trucks that have been left with their engines idling. The lucrative practice dates back to a 1971 law that prohibits non-emergency vehicles from idling for more than three minutes, aiming to curb pollution and noise. Enforcing the law had proven to be a challenge for decades, until residents became armed with smartphones capable of recording video. The city’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) rolled out the Citizens Air Complaint Program in 2019, which allows members of the public to send video evidence to the city of idling trucks. If a ticket is issued, the person who reported it is entitled to up to 25% of the ticket’s value. The reward jumps up to 50% of the fine if the reporter pursues the case through Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings without the city issuing a summons. Patrick Schnell, a Brooklyn pediatrician, has made more than $580,000 doing this since 2019. He says he reports idling trucks because breathing in polluted air can lead to serious conditions such as asthma, lung cancer, pneumonia, ischemic heart disease and strokes. Ernest Weide, a Manhattan resident, has earned a staggering $895,737 reporting idling trucks, which equates to more than $100,000 a year, and that’s on top of his full-time job as an environmental attorney. Another top earner is Michael Streeter, a Brooklyn Heights resident who has racked in $709,975 so far. Streeter revealed that there are about 20-30 people who literally make a living reporting idling trucks. Elsewhere, Lower East Side residents Wanfang Wu and Ephraim Rosenbaum are also among the top earners in this unusual field, making $748,825 and $725,025, respectively. Critics of the citizen program say that the air pollution vigilantes don't realize that truck engines sometimes need to idle in order to power refrigeration systems, power systems, computers and lift-gates. Queens City councilman James Gennaro introduced a bill last year that would cut the payouts in half for residents who report illegal idlers.

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