Bronx’s most expensive units are not in Riverdale

Apartments are getting cheaper in Highbridge and Morris Heights, but more expensive in Riverdale as the borough’s average rent crept up from $2,012 in April to $2,026 last month.

That’s all according to the latest data provided by MNS Real Estate.

Two-bedroom apartments in Riverdale were up nearly 5 percent to $2,916, according to the report, while studio prices grew 4.5 percent to $1,914.

One-bedroom units were also more expensive in Riverdale, but only by 2.6 percent, at $2,148.

Yet average apartment rates still are not the highest in the Bronx. That title goes to Mott Haven, where both studios and one-bedrooms are just slightly more than its northwest neighbor. Its two-bedroom apartments, however, are not as popular, averaging $2,756 in May.

The cheapest apartments found by MNS was in Concourse/Highbridge where studios averaged $1,477. But when it came to one- and two-bedrooms, the winners were Morris Heights and University Heights at $1,527 and $1,928 respectively.

Year-over-year, Mott Haven reported the highest rent increases at 12.3 percent, with Riverdale coming in just under 10 percent. The reverse was true in Highbridge and Morris Heights, where renters found themselves paying as much as 10 percent less than they did in 2020.

Dr. Magbag retires ... to volunteer

After spending 37 years at the Hebrew Home at Riverdale, Dr. Rebecca Magbag decided to retire in April.

But don’t think she’s leaving the Palisade Avenue facility anytime soon. In fact, she’ll stay on as a volunteer — one who is 80 years old.

Magbag, who specialized in internal medicine during her career, graduated from the University of The Philippines in 1972, according to an online bio. She joined the Hebrew Home staff in 1984 several years after completing her residency at Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan’s Murray Hill.

Just a demolition, or is it more?

A single-family home built a century ago is coming down in Van Cortlandt Village — if it’s not razed already — but it’s not clear what might take its place.

Both a two-story house and a single-story garage at 3991 Saxon Ave., behind St. Patrick’s Home Rehabilitation and Health Care are scheduled for a full demolition on a lot where it’s possible to build multifamily housing.

If that’s what’s planned for this particular home, nothing has been filed with the city’s buildings department.

Online listings describe the home as a three-bedroom, one-bathroom structure beginning a line of single-family homes in the shadow of the Amalgamated.

The property was sold in January 2020 to S&N Saxon LLC for $722,500, which according to demolition paperwork, lists its owner as Leunard Vushaj.

Also set for demolition is a small row of garages built in the late 1940s at 215 W. Kingsbridge Road near West 225th Street. That property was purchased by a Scarsdale company owned by Paulin Drugaj last year as well for just under $774,000.

No plans have been filed there.

Originally published June 10, 2021