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Rockviv- here is the DeForest house. It is a part of the Along the Hudson Homeowners Association, but currently owner by the New York University Law School Foundation. I’ve sent two letters to them inquiring about the house, and twice I received no reply.
A Fun Article by Charlotte Livingston Kughler, in the Yonkers Statesman, on October 19, 1966.
Livingston Kughler was very active in the Kingsbridge Historical Society, and a well-respected painter.
Valentine’s Manual of Old New York
No. 7, New Series
1923
Edited By
Henry Collins BrownThe Sage Mansion
The Warren B. Sage Mansion rises directly in the site of old Fort Number Two, just as substantial and
square as the day it was built. The view to the east comprises a glorious vista of the Valley of Kingsbridge.A well-known doctor, an ardent antiquarian, and possessor of many Revolutionary muskets with flash pans,
ancient carbines and fowling-pieces of early date, was hurriedly summoned, one wet night, to this old Sage
home. Rushing in, he found the patient in great pain and distress.Refusing to say a word, he sought to retreat from the old fort faster than the British did. Yielding to the
family’s entreaties, he at last said :
“You may do so and so for him if you will. I will not prescribe for a dog!I believe that the Huntingtons (as in Mary E. Huntington) are related to the McKelvey family. If my memory is correct there are some Huntingtons still living in our area. I have to go back and look at my emails but I think a Huntington may have attended my presentation for the Villa Rosa Bonheur Presentation to CB8.
Nick, Id love to see a presentation at EDGEHILL of Black History in our community. It could include our core neighborhoods, but also Yonkers.
We had a healthy turnout yesterday for the ” Panoramas” open house at EDGEHILL yesterday. One of the visitors, Jerry Kisdlinger, was asking about the origins of ” Hedley Hall” pictured in a photograph of a baseball field. It seems as if it might be (or had been) a Manhattan College building, around 242d Street.
Does anyone know more? Thanks very much.
TEXT:
A battle has broken out in the Bronx over the future of the peaceful acreage where U Thant lived when he headed the United Nations.
A group of neighbors from Riverdale and Spuyten Duyvil has demanded that the city acquire as a public park the 4.75-acre parcel known as the Douglas-U Thant estate, north of 232d Street, between Palisade and Douglas Avenues.
But a local developer, Robert R. Schwartz, has bought the property and plans to build 28 single-family homes. He said the city’s environmental rules, combined with his own ”environmentalist” penchant, would yield a sensitive and responsible development.
Caught in the middle is the Koch administration, which may – or may not – have promised to acquire the land but now seems reluctant to pursue the idea. Potential for a ‘Greenbelt’.
Meanwhile, the estate sits in quiet abandonment under bitternut hickory trees and copper beeches and black oaks. U Thant departed after retiring as Secretary General in 1971. The mansion was demolished in 1974. Now there is dense forest broken by brilliant clearings. Sunlight cascades in milky sheets over the tree crowns and down the woodland walls. Black squirrels are underfoot, blue jays overhead.
”The land speaks for itself,” said one of the advocates of a park, Ron Raz. Irma L. Fleck of the Riverdale Nature Preservancy said the intention was to keep the estate as a natural preserve, not as a spot for picnic benches and playgrounds.
Advocates, including Borough President Fernando Ferrer, also emphasize that there is an opportunity to be seized that will not present itself again: creating a ”greenbelt” by linking Riverdale Park to Seton Park through the estate, which sits between them.
Speaking of the developer, Mr. Ferrer said: ”I don’t blame him. He’s got a prime piece of land. Putting mansions on it makes sense from his economic point of view. I identify a different public purpose.”
The creation of U Thant Park ”is something this community wants very, very much,” Mr. Ferrer continued. ”It preserves a living laboratory for students especially. That’s what excites me about it. I wish it would excite the city the same way.”
Mr. Schwartz, who said he paid $1.65 million for the property, sees an opportunity, too, and for more than economic gain. Developer Indicates Flexibility
”With the proper planning,” he said, ”that piece of property can be visually a delight. It will add real-estate taxes. It will add many jobs while construction goes on and sales taxes when the materials go in. It will add a sense of vitality to the area at night.
”There is no intention to put something there that would not fit into the environment,” Mr. Schwartz added. ”I would, under the proper circumstances, consider the possibility of doing a cluster development in order to leave more of the space green than would be under existing zoning.”
But opponents want the city to use its condemnation powers. Two months ago, they believed they had a commitment from the Koch administration to acquire the land, if the Borough President would pay half the cost from his discretionary capital budget. City Undecided on Purchase
On Sept. 17, however, The Riverdale Press, a community newspaper, announced in a page one story that the city had backed away from acquisition.
As Deputy Mayor Robert Esnard recalled it: ”Frankly, there may have been a misunderstanding. The thing that was clear was that Freddy Ferrer wanted us to acquire the property, and we thought it was a good idea. We said we’d possibly do it.”
Indeed, Mr. Esnard said, ”it is still conceivable that we’ll buy it.”
But that does not seem likely. Nothing has happened yet.
”Not one city official has ever contacted me with regard to this property,” Mr. Schwartz said.
Three things stood in the way of acquisition with city money, Mr. Esnard said.
”We had an alternate possibility to get it acquired through state bond money,” he said. ”We did not know the price – and still don’t. In fact, people are talking about $5 million. And it is protected by a natural-area designation in the zoning ordinance, so there won’t be any immediate threat.”
Because the property lies in a special district, building plans must be reviewed by the City Planning Commission. The natural-area designation is meant to protect botanical, geological and topographical features of the Riverdale terrain and also to control erosion.
A version of this article appears in print on Nov. 16, 1987, Section B, Page 3 of the National edition with the headline: Bronx Residents Fighting Plans Of a Developer.
