Exploring the Co-ops of Riverdale With About $600,000

The Hunt

By Joyce Cohen May 14, 2026

Determined to downsize, two longtime Manhattanites looked north to the Bronx for an apartment with two or three bedrooms, a balcony, and maybe even a pool.

Tracy Ellen Kamens and Jared Skolnick in the Bronx, where they looked for a new apartment after 30 years in Manhattan. James Estrin/The New York Times Tracy Ellen Kamens and Jared Skolnick thought their spacious apartment in Hudson Heights would be their forever home.

The ground-floor unit in the converted St. Elizabeth’s hospital, dating from the late 1920s, had 1,425 square feet, with four bedrooms and two bathrooms — more than enough space for entertaining, hosting overnight guests and working from home. It had a stacked washer-dryer and a broken oven that the couple planned to replace during a kitchen remodel that never happened. They still managed to cook multi-course meals in a large toaster oven, and used their dining table as extra counter space.

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“But who knows what life will throw at you,” Mr. Skolnick said. Covid-19 dealt a blow, costing him his job in tech marketing. Dr. Kamens was self-employed as a business operations consultant. The income reduction spurred them to think about finances and the future, with an eye on lowering their housing expenses.

“We knew downsizing would be a huge cost savings and we wouldn’t be giving up much quality of life,” Mr. Skolnick said.

Dr. Kamens, who has a doctorate in education, also returned to traditional employment with a job in administration at Columbia University.

Riverdale, the Bronx neighborhood with a stock of large postwar co-op buildings, was a few miles north of Hudson Heights. A good friend lived there. And the couple, who are both 55 — they met as high-school classmates in Rockland County — realized they could get plenty of space for a lot less than they were paying in Manhattan.

First, though, they would have to sell the Hudson Heights apartment, and it was slow going. Their building was refinancing its mortgage, making it hard for buyers to obtain their own mortgage. And the ground-floor location didn’t help.

“The way people said it was too dark, you would think we were eating by candlelight all the time,” Dr. Kamens said. So they spent $5,000 on a lighting designer who advised them on bulbs and fixtures.

It took two years, but the unit finally sold for $1.06 million in October 2025. Turning their full attention to the Bronx, they looked for places with two or three bedrooms, a balcony, a gym and even a pool. “Riverdale has more pools than most neighborhoods, so it became something we were interested in,” Mr. Skolnick said.

They figured they wouldn’t get a washer-dryer, but a laundry room would suffice. They avoided units with just one bathroom, and skipped living rooms that were too cramped for their 12-seat dining table.

They ultimately narrowed the finalists to several two-bedroom co-ops in Riverdale and Spuyten Duyvil, the neighborhood’s southernmost section.

Among their options:

No. 1

Two-Bedroom With Converted Office

Douglas Elliman

No. 2

Two-Bedroom With Indoor Pool

Trebach Realty

No. 3

Two-Bedroom With Updated Kitchen

Find out what happened next by answering these two questions:

Which Would You Choose?

21% Two-Bedroom With Converted Office

51% Two-Bedroom With Indoor Pool

28% Two-Bedroom With Updated Kitchen

Which Did They Buy?

16% Two-Bedroom With Converted Office

58% Two-Bedroom With Indoor Pool

26% Two-Bedroom With Updated Kitchen