Owner of Rat Island in Bronx harbor dreams of opening eco-friendly hotel

It may the last privately-owned island in New York City

Renderings of Rat Island (Credit: Jendretzki Design + Archipx via New York Post)
Renderings of Rat Island (Credit: Jendretzki Design + Archipx via New York Post)

Would you book a relaxing overnight retreat on…Rat Island?

A Bronx man hopes investors will see the potential in an eco-friendly hotel on a tiny, private island in the middle of City Island Harbor.

City Island resident Alex Schibli bought the two-and-a-half acre island for $176,000 in an auction in 2011, and has mainly used it for family outings, the New York Post reported. But Schibli has dreams of turning the island, located in the harbor between City Island and Hart Island, into a hotel.

He’s teamed up with architect Pablo Jendretski to design an eco-friendly “camp” of ten solar-powered individual cabins.

“We designed the pods with no windows on the side for privacy, but then you have the magnificent views to the front and back,” Jendretski told the Post.

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They imagine using rain-water harvesting to power showers and toilets on the island, where there is currently no running water.

While the pair do not currently having any funding for their ambitious project, they hope the designs will attract investors.

The Wall Street Journal reported in 2011 that Ivanka Trump had interest in buying the island. [NYP] – Decca Muldowney