The birthplace of hip-hop is in crisis. The New York Times reports that things aren't looking good at the Bronx's 1520 Sedgwick Avenue, where D.J. Kool Herc held hip-hop parties in the early 1970s. The building was sold in 2008 to new owners who planned the usual: paying off the mortgage, leaving the Mitchell-Lama program, and then being able to force tenants out and raise building rents. Instead, the number of violations has skyrocketed from 82 to 598 and residents are filing lawsuits against the building owners. The building's management firm says 1520 Sedgwick is "immaculate," while tenants complain about broken locks, holes in the walls, and drug dealers setting up shop. Will no one show hip-hop's birthplace some respect?
· Woes Mount at Bronx Building, 1520 Sedgwick Ave., Bought in Bubble [NYT]
· 1520 Sedgwick Avenue [Curbed]
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