That photo was taken from the roof of a small commercial building in East Harlem. The annotations are calling out what kind of buildings are nearby:
- “A” buildings are new below-market-rate housing, built within the last ten years or so.
- “B” is a somewhat older example of below-market-rate housing.
- “C” buildings are tenements somewhere around 110-120 years old.
- “D” buildings are rowhouses somewhere around 130 years old.
It’s hard to over-emphasize how much has changed in this neighborhood. Thirty-five years ago, abandoned buildings facing the elevated commuter trains along Park Avenue were given plywood-and-decal fake windows to make them look occupied. There were vacant lots all over, mostly where tenements had burned. The new buildings nearby are infill on some of those vacant lots.
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