Listing of the Day: Must Love Iguanas

One bedroom 'Room for Rent,' 187th and Belmont, $600/month

Umm, yeah, you may want to do a few things to spruce the place up.

Today's listing is a sublet in a 3 bedroom apartment in the Heart of Little Italy. Be forewarned, this baby is for the animal lovers out there. The guy who's looking for a roomie is very forthcoming about his situation: he's got two iguanas, three turtles and a dog. Actually, the listing says the dog has his own room. So at least it's one less roomie trying to use the potty I guess.

Here are the details: for $600/month (minus $100 off your first month), you'd get what appears to be a nice sized bedroom at 187th and Belmont Avenues with two windows, two closets and built-in shelving units. You'd be sharing the bathroom and kitchen with "Tony" (and of course the ignuanas, turtles and Fido). Utilities are included.

And here's the scoop on Belmont:

Belmont is very close to the Bronx Zoo and the NY Botanical Garden for fun. Fordham University is also a neighborhood presence with tons of cultural things to offer, and lectures, and lots of goofy white kids in the neighborhood. Another added bonus from Fordham University, on top of stability, beauty and top notch education it brings to the hood, is A-10 division one hoops.

This apartment is right on 187th and near Arthur Avenue, which are both great stretches lined with cafes, restaurants and pastry shops. My favorite 187th restaurant is Tra Di Noi, but to be honest if you lived here you would be REQUIRED to go to Emilia's on Arthur Ave. - simply the best! And try to get a table at Mayor Bloomberg's beloved Roberto's on Crescent Ave. - very good, but in my opinion, a tad overrated. Also, for BBQ-heads, MoGridder's just opened up a few months ago in Roberto's old location.

For those who like to cook at home there's the indoor retail market, Borgatti's for ravioli, the Pasta Factory for stuffed shells and tortellini, Casa Della Mozzarella for, you guessed it, mozzarella, and Canlandra's for general cheese purchases. There are also nice wine stores and great delis like Mike's (in the retail market - don't mind the laminated photo of Mussolini hanging in the back) and Tino's.

The BX12 bus runs down Fordham Rd. to the B/D at Grand Concourse and further to the 4 at Jerome Ave. There is also a Metro-North station at the Fordham stop at Fordham Rd. and Webster Ave. that can get you in to Grand Central in 18 minutes.

FULL LISTING

~ErLu