Renovation Coming to Long-Troubled Harlem Tenements

"Like so many other unwanted apartments of that generation, they were taken over in the 1970s by the city and turned into public housing. Attempts at upkeep have been made over the years, but the upkeep never was really, well, kept up. The buildings have deteriorated to such a state that only 109 of their 452 units are occupied, but the city cannot afford to fix them.

To finally fix the Randolph Houses, the city's Housing Authority and Department of Housing Preservation and Development are partnering with a private developer to retrofit the properties into modern, low-income housing. A request for proposals was released last week, and the winning developer will be charged with transforming the buildings into a mix of 140 public housing units and at least 155 affordable housing units."

But due to many of the units' high level of disrepair, the renovation will only be able to target some of the apartments.