Lonnie Quinn is the lead weather anchor on WCBS-TV in New York. He appears on the “CBS Evening News,” among other gigs. He was an actor on “All My Children” and “Santa Barbara.”
Lonnie is also a Westport resident, seen most recently on the same Westport Library stage where I interviewed him for our “06880” podcast.
It was a spirited half hour, for sure. Lonnie’s energy is off the charts.
So is his expertise.
I learned a lot — about weather, his life and career, and much more.
Posted onJanuary 3, 2024|Comments Off on Roundup: Real Estate Stats, Marigny Gifts, Early Morning Runs …
With interest rates high, how good (or bad) was the 2023 residential real estate market?
Mary Ann Lindwall of the Riverside Realty Group sends along these statistics, courtesy of SmartMLS.
Average Sales Price: The average sales price for single-family homes in Westport was $2,380,509, a modest increase of 0.6% from 2022.
Closed Sales: 327 homes were sold, a 24.8% drop from the previous year.
Inventory Reduction: The number of homes on sale now is 46, a sharp 40% decrease from the 77 homes available at the start of last year.
Days on Market: The average number of days homes spent on the market — 54 — was unchanged from 2022.
Pending Home Sales: There are 20 homes in Westport awaiting closing dates.
Months’ Supply of Inventory: The months’ supply of inventory in Westport decreased by 22.7% from 2022, ending the year at just 1.7 months. According to the National Association of Realtors, this low supply level indicates that demand for homes is outpacing the available supply, potentially leading to further price increases in 2024.
Impact of Interest Rates: The Riverside Realty Group says, “A significant factor influencing the real estate market in 2023 was the rise in interest rates…. interest rates surpassed 8% in October, reaching their highest level in 23 years.
“Since the beginning of 2022, interest rates have more than doubled. Rising rates have led to buyers being priced out of the market, while sellers are inclined to hold on to properties they purchased at more favorable rates.
“This combination of factors, especially the surge in interest rates, has profoundly impacted the dynamics of the Westport real estate market.”
The most expensive home on the Westport market right now is this 4-bedroom, 5 1/2-bathroom, 8,246-square foot house on 1.35 acres, at 279 Saugatuck Avenue. It’s listed at $13,900,000.
For months, residents of Marigny-le-Lozon gathered Christmas gifts for the children of Lyman, Ukraine.
More than 70 years after Westporters sent gifts to the French village — rebuilding, after the devastation of World II, the town not far from the D-Day beaches was paying it forward.
It was our friends in Marigny who suggested, a year and a half ago, that we and they join together to help another town — this one in war-torn Ukraine.
Ukraine Aid International — a non-profit founded by Westporters Brian and Marshall Mayer — facilitated the sister city partnership. They also ensured that Marigny’s gifts made their way directly to 300 children of Lyman.
Here is one of the many Ukrainian youngsters whose holiday was made brighter. Merci, Marigny.
On the agenda for next Monday’s Planning & Zoning Commission meeting (January 8, 7 p.m., Zoom; www.westportct.gov ): a text and map amendment, and special permit/site plan application, to allow the use of medical offices at 55-57 Greens Farms Road, the office park next to Assumption Cemetery.
Click here for more details, and application materials.
Officials have implemented new town records management system software. In an effort to combat property and mortgage fraud, residents who sign up will receive notification when official documents are recorded on their property.
Town Clerk Jeff Dunkerton says, “Property fraud can occur if someone forges your identity, transfers your property into their name, and records the document. This fraudulent activity can make it appear as if that person owns your home or property, and you may not have any idea that this happened. It is, unfortunately, becoming more prevalent today as cyber criminals exploit every avenue to cause harm and steal from citizens.”
Last year in Fairfield, a homeowner claimed a $1.5 million home was built on his property without his permission after someone fraudulently sold the land to a property developer.
For more information on the RecordHub software, click here.
Westporters took over the WCBS Channel 2 news yesterday — or at least, the weather and sports departments.
Regular chief meteorologist Lonnie Quinn was joined by substitute sports reports Dave Briggs.
Quinn has been with the station for several years. Briggs has been seen on Turner Sports/CNN, NBC Sports, FOX News and Yahoo Finance.
Lonnie Quinn (left) and Dave Briggs, on set.
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Longtime Westporter Maria Teresa Sales Ludovice de Gusmão Sá Couto died early Sunday away after a fierce, prolonged struggle with various health challenges. She was 81.
She was born and raised n Lisbon, Portugal on Nov. Her family says, “with extraordinary courage and resilience, Teresa and her husband Mário Luis Neves Sá Coutomade a home with her family on 4 continents. They lived in Lisbon; Bissau, Guinea; Rio de Janeiro and Westport. She took great joy in, and was deeply dedicated to, raising her children and tending to her grandchildren.”
Teresa is survived by her husband; children, Inês Ludovice de Gusmão SáCouto Curwen (William), Susana Ludovice de Gusmão SáCouto (partner Manuella), and Nuno Pedro Ludovice de Gusmão SáCouto (Carrie); sister Maria Isabel Sales Ludovice de Gusmão; grandchildren Tomas Patrick, Maia Amelia, Daniel Kelly, Madeleine Eve and Max Leo, and extended family in Portugal.
A Mass of Christian Burial for Teresa will be held at St. Luke Church on Friday (January 5, noon).
Jim Hood has seen a lot of things from his home on Soundview Drive.
But never — until this year — did he see kayakers on New Year’s Day.
They were joined by more common denizens of Long Island Sound, which qualifies this as a “Westport … Naturally” feature.
(Photo/Jim Hood)
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And finally … on this date in 1870, work began on the Brooklyn Bridge.
(Westport connection: Johnny Maestro — former lead singer of the Crests, Del-Satins and Brooklyn Bridge — was a frequent performer at, and longtime favorite of, Festival Italiano.)
(The worst that could happen is that no one contributes to “06880.” But you can make sure it never does. Please click here to support your hyper-local blog. Thank you!)
Comments Off on Roundup: Real Estate Stats, Marigny Gifts, Early Morning Runs …
But you’re going to be spending a very short time in the water, right?
Temple Israel and the Jewish Federation of Greater Fairfield County are sponsoring a Polar Plunge today — Monday, January 1, 11 a.m., at Compo Beach.
It’s a fundraiser for the Israel Emergency Fund.
Donations will help pay for evacuation, transport, housing and support for frontline communities; trauma relief and psychosocial support; emergency medical services and health care, volunteers, and much more, for victims of Hamas’ October 7 attacks.
Whether you’re a football fan or not, Westporters should pay attention to today’s national semifinal game between #1 Michigan and #4 Alabama (January 1, 5 p.m., ESPN).
On the roster for the undefeated Wolverines (that’s Michigan, for you non-football fans): Jake Thaw.
A Staples High School Class of 2020 graduate (and football and basketball star), he’s a punt return specialist and wide receiver.
If you invited Nile Rodgers to your New Year’s Eve party, and he said he was already taken: He’s telling the truth.
Our Westport neighbor spent last night in Hollywood. He performed with his band Chic, as part of ABC-TV’s awkwardly named say-goodbye-to-’23 show, the awkwardly named “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest.”
Here’s a screenshot, in case you really need proof:
(Photo/Matthew Mandell)
Not to be outdone, CBS featured another Westporter: Brad Tursi.
The 1997 Staples High graduate (and former soccer star) is lead guitarist and vocalist with Old Dominion, the multiple award-winning country band.
Brad Tursi. (Photo/Matthew Mandell; hat tips, Neil Brickley and Karen Kramer)
If you know of any other local New Year’s Eve entertainers we missed — José Feliciano? Keith Richards? — click “Comments” below.
ENCORE: CBS featured another Westporter last night too: meteorologist Lonnie Quinn.
Our had a busy night on the tube, for sure. And Matthew Mandell managed to catch all of it.
Lonnie Quinn (left). (Photo courtesy of Matthew Mandell)
Like many restaurants, La Plage celebrated New Year’s Eve with a special party.
The staff was ready. Here was the scene, a few hours before midnight:
After a brief break starting today, the Longshore restaurant will reopen January 5 for dinner, with a new winter menu.
Speaking of restaurants: Don’t forget “06880”‘s guide. Click here — or click the “Restaurants” tab at the top of our blog (or the bottom of our iPhone or Android app), for a list of local spots, complete with menu and website links.
Want to ring in the new year with a nice oil painting of Westport?
How about this one by Arnold Knauth. It’s listed on eBay for $595 (or best offer):
Don’t recognize it?
Neither do I.
The listing says “Westport, CT.” It looks more like Westport, VT. (Except there is no such place.)
Mary Gai — who spotted the artwork, and sent the link to “06880” — wonders if it could be the now-flattened hilltop where the Gault development is now.
Seems kind of mountainous for that location.
If readers have any idea where this could be in Westport — or where else it could show — click “Comments” below.
Did you miss this morning’s partial eclipse of the sun?
Franco Fellah didn’t. Here’s what the amateur astronomer saw:
(Photo/Franco Fellah)
A wider view, courtesy of Jay Walshon:
(Photo/Jay Walshon)
Meanwhile, WCBS-TV’s lead weather anchor — and Westporter — Lonnie Quinn set up for his remote shot at Compo Beach. He had a short commute to work today.
Michael Carey — part of NBC Sports’ Sunday Night Football team — was part of the crew awarded the prestigious prize for “Outstanding Live Sports Series.”
Carey — a segment producer — is a 2001 Staples High School graduate. He captained the ’00 boys soccer team.
But the shopping behemoth is taking over Avi Kaner’s parking spots.
Every morning at 8:30, the former Westport 2nd selectman/Board of Finance chair — and, more importantly for this story, an owner of the 16-store Morton Williams grocery store chain in New York — sees trucks part in front of 2 of his Upper East Side markets.
Workers appear. For the next 5 hours, Crains’ New York Business reports, they use hand trucks to deliver groceries to residents who ordered from Amazon online.
“They use it like a warehouse,” Kaner says. “The city is allowing these places to block our business.”
An Amazon spokeswoman described the scene as an “exchange point.”
Kaner notes that Morton Williams’ sales in residential areas are down only 5-15% from pre-COVID levels, but that stores in business districts are still doing just half of their previous numbers. (Click here for the full Crains’ story.)
Avi Kaner in a Morton Williams store. (Photo/Danny Ghitis for the New York Times)
The Westport PAL car show set for June 20 has been postponed to July 17. It’s still 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; still at the railroad station parking lot near Railroad Place and Franklin Street); it still features cool cars, food and raffle prizes.
Tickets are still $15 each. But kids — that is, anyone under 12 — are still free.
And finally … today, people across the Northern Hemisphere can watch an annular (partial eclipse) of the sun. Because no one has recorded a song by that name, this will have to do.
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