Page Reader AI | COPING; Not Exactly a Landlord's Dream Tenant - The New York Times


AI Summary Hide AI Generated Summary

Overview

The article focuses on the living conditions of tenants in a Bronx apartment building at 230 East 167th Street. It describes a stark contrast between one tenant, William Russell Moore, and the majority of the building's residents, who are predominantly African- and Caribbean-American women raising children in dilapidated apartments.

Tenant Conditions

The apartments are described as having numerous issues, including rusted stoves, holes in walls and ceilings, exposed wiring, cracked tiles, bubbling paint, and a lack of adequate bathtubs. Rent ranges from $500 to $800 per month for rent-stabilized units.

Fear and Inaction

The article highlights the tenants' fear as a possible reason for their inaction in forming a tenant association or formally complaining about the building's conditions. One tenant, Lizzie Stanley, attributes their silence to fear.

Building Description

The building itself is described as a pre-World War II yellow brick building with 74 apartments, showing signs of disrepair like erratic buzzers and a bare lobby. Despite this, the building shares characteristics with buildings in the South Bronx.

Sign in to unlock more AI features Sign in with Google

WILLIAM RUSSELL MOORE -- tall, broad-shouldered, handsome, pumped with the confident righteousness of those who are raised as beloved children to believe that the system is supposed to work for them -- moved into 230 East 167th Street in the Bronx two years ago. He says he felt he should be part of the community in which he worked. Also, he could walk to his office near Yankee Stadium.

A pre-World War II yellow brick building of 74 apartments, No. 230 is off the Grand Concourse between Sherman Avenue and Grant Avenue. The front buzzers work erratically and the lobby is bare of mirrors and furniture, but it still reminded me of the South Bronx buildings to which my parents dragged me as a kid to visit relatives left behind in the migration to Queens. The only shards of that time are a few painted-over mezuzahs on the brown door frames.

Most of the several dozen tenants I met one evening last week were African- and Caribbean-American women -- nurse's aides, bookkeepers, home health-care workers -- raising children alone in crowded apartments with rusted stoves, holes in the ceiling and walls, exposed wiring, cracked tiles and bubbling paint. Most apartments, which are stabilized, rent for $500 to $800 a month. I did not see a single tub in which I would bathe. Many tenants had been in the building for years. Why didn't they complain, form an association?

''Fear, I guess,'' said Lizzie Stanley, a middle-aged presser who works for a Manhattan dry cleaner.

Was this article displayed correctly? Not happy with what you see?

Tabs Reminder: Tabs piling up in your browser? Set a reminder for them, close them and get notified at the right time.

Try our Chrome extension today!


Share this article with your
friends and colleagues.
Earn points from views and
referrals who sign up.
Learn more

Facebook

Save articles to reading lists
and access them on any device


Share this article with your
friends and colleagues.
Earn points from views and
referrals who sign up.
Learn more

Facebook

Save articles to reading lists
and access them on any device