Stories that might have left you in the lurch

Tulfan Terrace 

It has been nearly a decade since eight single-family homes were razed on Tulfan Terrace to make way for a big development, yet the project remains unfinished.

Construction of the 30-unit apartment building, off of Oxford Avenue just north of West 236th Street, has been bogged down in scandal and delays since work began in 2004. 

Last February, The Riverdale Press reported that Tulfan Terrace could be completed as early as January 2013. But that date has been pushed back again.  

Construction ceased in 2006 when James Murray, the project’s chief financier, was taken down on fraud and embezzlement charges related to another Riverdale development project — the Cambridge Mews — located at 3536 Cambridge Ave. His partners were left without enough capital to complete the Tulfan Terrace project and the building fell into foreclosure. 

Ox-3620 LLC bought the unfinished tower out of foreclosure in 2010. Michael Goldberg, one of the Ox-3620 LLC’s owners, says the interior will be complete in about three months and that he hopes to have apartments available for rent or sale by May. 

The open area above the parking garage, he said, will be turned into a park-like setting that could include amenities such as a swing set and a grassy surface. 

He still doesn’t know whether the units will be for sale, for rent or a mix. However, he said the LLC is preparing a condo book so that regardless of what’s on offer, there will be no further delays once construction is complete. He said he hopes to have an apartment to show by March. 

In the wake of Sandy

Now that the lights are back on, residents and politicians have become vocal about minimizing the potential for future blackouts. 

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz held a press conference on Nov. 30, calling for Con Edison to bury the electric lines that serve Spuyten Duyvil, where the lights go out far more often in the worst of storms, he said.