A. Ready

StuyTown residents woke up this morning to a rather amazing letter posted in their lobbies from city council member and co-resident Dan Garodnick. "While this seems like a never-ending saga," he writes, "[w]e have reason to be hopeful." 

There were plenty of interesting messages. A few highlights:

Last week, New York became the last state in the nation to adopt some form of no-fault divorce. With some family law attorneys predicting a quick uptick in the local divorce rate, what might that do for real estate?   Only good things, we presume, as two households will be needed where there previously was one.

Will apartment dwellers in windy far-west Midtown have to choose between walking and the cross-town bus forever? Crain's New York reported yesterday that real estate industry types have agreed to put up $250,000 to win a $3 million federal grant toward extending the No.

Here's a backdoor route to lower property taxes: Gothamist reports that New York City "is rolling out an online submission form for New Yorkers to offer their suggestions on how NYC can save money."  The form notes "[y]our ideas will be reviewed by staff at the Mayor's Office for creativity and potential savings."  Ideas anyone? As its website notes, NYC.gov is always open. (Gothamist, NYC.gov)

With the proliferation of Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Fairway and even your corner fruit and vegetable vendor, deciding where to buy your mangos and artichokes has become a complicated issue. On StreetEasy, Whole Foods elicits the usual pocketbook complaints, with one commenter grousing, "Whole Foods is cray-zee overpriced. Off the charts, and off my radar." Most posters, though, seem to agree that each venue has some good value items.

Recently the Wall Street Journal reported that some Park Slope homeowners may find that they no longer live in one of the most desirable school zones in the area—a school that, according to the story, gives zoned homes a $6-$19-per-square-foot median price boost over dwellings in neighboring school zones.

So if a preferred school zone is worth $6 to $19 per square foot in Park Slope, what's it worth in Manhattan?

Quite a bit more.