Halstead Property

Real Estate Observes A Law Even Higher

By Steven Kurutz

To be a real estate agent in Riverdale, the leafy enclave in the northwest Bronx, is to be mindful of not only the rules of property ownership but also the rules of the Torah. The neighborhood is home to an ever-growing number of Conservative and Orthodox Jews, and when hunting for houses or apartments, they tend to follow a stricter course than the typical New York talismans of hardwood floors and sweeping views.

“Let me start with kitchens,” Bradford Trebach, a broker at Trebach Realty, said the other day. A kosher-friendly kitchen, he explained, has two separate stainless-steel sinks to keep meat and dairy apart and a two-tray, stainless-steel dishwasher for the same reason. “The ideal is to have duplicate areas for preparation, cooking and cleanup,” said Mr. Trebach, who is Jewish, though not Orthodox, and has the air of someone who has spent years pointing out patios that are ideal for building sukkahs.

In Riverdale, as on the rest of the planet, the most important factor in real estate is location, but in this neighborhood location is narrowly defined. Since observant Jews are forbidden…

...Finding apartments is also tough. The number of city apartments with enough bedrooms to house a growing family – in many Orthodox families, four or five children is the norm – is limited. In addition, unlike the many New Yorkers who desire to live atop soaring towers, observant Jews often prefer lower floors so they can use the stairs instead of the elevator on the Sabbath (pushing the button is forbidden).

The housing boom in Riverdale isn’t limited to the Orthodox community, as evidenced by the dozen residential towers under construction and by the branch of Halstead, the Manhattan realty, that opened on Johnson Avenue in October. But the Orthodox community, which the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale estimates at 10,000, is driving the market. On the desks of all 10 Halstead agents is a map of the eruv, the ordained border surrounding Riverdale that allows Jews to carry items on the Sabbath without breaking Jewish law forbidding work on that day.

Sunday, December 11, 2005