A Tiny Strip of New York That Feels Like the Suburbs

On a narrow sliver of land between the gabled mansions of Westchester County and the wild brambles of Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx, 35 lucky homeowners live on the literal divide between city and country, with the advantages of both and the disadvantages of neither.

This urban-suburban demilitarized zone is technically in the Bronx, so its inhabitants pay modest property taxes, thousands less than their Westchester neighbors. And they meet the residency requirements for certain judicial and political jobs in New York City.

But their children go to Pelham schools under the terms of a contract that dates back half a century. And they enjoy the serenity and safety of suburbia, plus the snob appeal of a Pelham Manor zip code and telephone exchange.

This 250-foot-wide strip between Long Island Sound and the Hutchinson River is a no man's land where geographic and political boundaries do not coincide. No one lived here when the Bronx-Westchester county line was drawn in the 1890's. But now they do, and their fondness for the area demonstrates the delight city people take in beating the system and the preoccupation suburbanites have with taxes and schools.

The favored few who live here can be snappish and defensive, sure that any inquiry about their address is an accusation. Unless, of course, their house is on the market. Then bargain-basement taxes, award-winning schools and well-connected neighbors become something to boast about.

That is the case with Henry Tolosi, who owns a Mount Vernon nightclub. His split-level house, on the market for $597,000, sits at the dead end of Beech Tree Lane, with a 2,764-acre city park for a backyard and the 13th hole of the Pelham Bay golf course a chip shot away. In advertising his house, one of the few to come on the market in years, Mr. Tolosi trumpets the advantages: ''Low, low N.Y.C. taxes (under $4200),'' the advertisement reads. ''Pelham schools.'' It also describes the location as ''Politicians' Row.''

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