A New York man who has watched a Bronx neighborhood fall into despair over decades is hoping to help un-blight the troubled area.
Harry De Rienzo is trying to rehabilitate some of the city's worst buildings to provide more housing for a troubled neighborhood.
"In the feverish real estate speculation of the past decade, buildings like these were passed back and forth among landlords and banks. But since the bubble burst, the properties have fallen into financial limbo; many owners cannot keep up on mortgage payments, much less repairs.
'This is a real big problem,' said Mr. De Rienzo, 57, a plain-spoken, streetwise New Yorker who is now chief executive of Banana Kelly. 'They thought they could always cash out their equity and flip the property. But when the recession hit, that kind of predatory investing stopped - and the tenants got stuck.'"
Read the full story: In the South Bronx, Blight Returns to a Rehabilitated Block
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
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In Texas, data centers are swallowing promised parkland
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FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
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Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
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One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
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