This building is a very nice building dedicated to Mr. Balton which is a very nice gesture. Although the many people who can afford to live there are not from the neighborhood and are not black. This building was built to accmodate the so called gentrification in Harlem. The locals do not live in the perfectly newly built apartment buildings with roof top patios and all of the great amenities.... [more]
This building is a very nice building dedicated to Mr. Balton which is a very nice gesture. Although the many people who can afford to live there are not from the neighborhood and are not black. This building was built to accmodate the so called gentrification in Harlem. The locals do not live in the perfectly newly built apartment buildings with roof top patios and all of the great amenities. They live in projects with chipped paint and asbestos or in broken down walk-up apartments owned by people who are considered slum lords or who simply cannot afford to get the needed loans to fix up they're property. People who live in Projects are subject to simply being outcasted because of where they live. Even thougth some tenants pay upward to over 2,000 a month it dosen't matter. The money goes directly to the City of New York. Tenants do not get needed timely repairs usually have to come out of they're own pockets for the repairs of the NYCHA apartments they live in. Having no equity in they're apartments they still have to pay for they're own repairs if they are able too. If not they are forced to live in Sub-Human conditions. The Balton has made the rent over what even some low to middle income can afford by a mere couple of hundred dollars. Some tenants have lived in the NYCHA apartments for decades and have paid the city millions and do not own there apartments. I don't believe for a second that this building the Balton is what Mr. Balton really wanted for his Harlem community. It sounds more feasable to think that he would have wanted his nice new building built to house people to get them out of the New York City Housing Authority. The New York City Housing Authority is used to make its tenant's a part of the Prison Industrial Complex System.
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