When the graffiti-covered building at 58 East 126th Street is demolished in Harlem, it will look like a gap-toothed vacancy in the otherwise handsome row of brownstones that line the street. Its destruction won't be for a lack of effort on the part of neighbors, who tried to contact the absentee owners of the building with increasing urgency in recent years, as the structure began to fall apart. A few neighbors even got together with the idea of purchasing the brownstone, just to stem the dereliction on their street. Repeated certified letters received no reply, neighbor Derrick Taitt told the Times. "The owner doesn’t want to talk." The City ordered that the building be demolished for safety reasons and work is scheduled to begin in the next few weeks. The owner will be billed for the demolition work. Once the space is vacant, the owner will be free to put up something anomalous to the rest of the block.
· On Block in Harlem, Neighbors’ Push for Restoration Will End in Demolition [NYT]
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