Catholic order sells Riverdale site for $16.2M

The Passionist Fathers of Riverdale, a Catholic order, is selling a 14-acre plot in the Riverdale part the Bronx to the Hebrew Home for the Aged for $16.2
million, the New York Daily News reported. The property includes a 116-year-old mansion with views of the New Jersey Palisades and a retreat
house at 5801 Palisade Ave. The Hebrew Home, which is located next to the Passionists, will
likely build new housing on the site or use it for
parking, according to Charles Moerdler, land use committee chairman of
Community Board 6. But he said that local homeowners may object
because the area is already a traffic and parking “nightmare.”

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The
Passionists bought the property from a wealthy local family in
1927, but in January the group closed down its Riverdale ministry
due to increasing expenses, fewer retreat guests and lower numbers new
recruits. The order has been hit by changing values and the sex abuse
scandals in the Catholic Church, said Rev. Paul Fagan, director of the
Riverdale ministry. The property sale will allow the Riverdale
Passionists to pay off debts totaling $191,762, according to court
papers. [NYDN]