Seeds of Change: 7625 North Bosworth.
I remember the day the shiny black, tinted windowed Mercedes SUV nonchalantly parked in front of the hydrant at 7625 North Bosworth last summer on a hot Saturday morning. Of course, the immediate assumption after months of such vehicles stopping anywhere near The Northpoint drug bazaar across the street, was that another customer had arrived. I happened to be out on the sidewalk looking at the 7625 North Bosworth building for a management sign with a phone number on it. My neighbors and I had just spent another sleepless night after spending months of sleepless nights because of the noise coming from the tenants of 7625. I was not in a good mood.
The door of the SUV opened and just as casually as she had blocked the hydrant without a second thought, a woman with short blond hair stepped over the piles of garbage on the parkway which she didn't notice since she was busy fumbling with a large bunch of keys she seemed unfamiliar with. Head down, she headed straight for the front gate of 7625 Bosworth. I didn't recognize her and I knew she didn't live there, so I asked if she was the owner. The question bothered her but she reluctantly said she was after I asked again.
Well, for the next hour she got an earful. She was told about the drug dealing in front and alley side of her building, about the 23 hour a day drinking, drugging, cursing and partying that occured all day and practically all night in the rear porch. She barely registered a raised eyebrow when she found out that a young girl who lived with a group we assumed was her family on the first floor, would enter cars all night that would drive up and honk their horns to announce their arrival. Her eyebrows raised in mock disbelief when she was told that one of her tenants was supplying drugs to the street mechants across the street at The Northpoint.
"Are you sure?.They seemed like such an awfully nice family."
In a word, she could care less and she was in a hurry to leave. But after finally finding the person responsible for turning a once stable, quiet and well maintained building into another neighborhood crime magnet in a matter of a few months, I was not about to let her go without getting some contact information. By this time, other neighbors had joined the conversation and in no time flat she realized she had no choice but to give us her office and cell number.
We were then all treated to her tale of woe as she recited the difficulties of making her monthly mortgage with tenants who wouldn't pay rent. And trying as she was to turn the building into a condominium on a retired teachers' pension, she rented whatever empty apartments there were to whoever showed up to apply. This statement was met with immediate condemnation from our group because the three apartments she rented were, of course, the three new problem tenants.
Realizing that she had put herself in a corner, she announced she was selling the building and the closing was taking place the following month. I guess she figured that would take the heat off her and it did for a minute, until we asked who the new owner was.
Not convincingly she said, "Oh, it's some neighborhood group, Good News something or other. They help poor people."
Our little impromptu group thought that no one could be worse than this uncaring , absentee owner and for a moment, we were somewhat optimistic and thought that maybe this was some much needed good news. Our optimism did not last very long.
A longtime neighbor who had been quiet up to this point asked, "Good News Church? Please tell me that's NOT who you sold the building to! "
When she sheepishly nodded in the affirmative, this neighbor let out a moan that could be heard for blocks.
The woman suddenly realized that her announcement did not have the desired effect. She all but forgot what she originally came for and before the moan even subsided, headed straight for the Mercedes. The tires screeched as she drove away. We never saw her again.
The phone numbers we were given were never answered and subsequently changed.
Gary Fuschi
I remember the day the shiny black, tinted windowed Mercedes SUV nonchalantly parked in front of the hydrant at 7625 North Bosworth last summer on a hot Saturday morning. Of course, the immediate assumption after months of such vehicles stopping anywhere near The Northpoint drug bazaar across the street, was that another customer had arrived. I happened to be out on the sidewalk looking at the 7625 North Bosworth building for a management sign with a phone number on it. My neighbors and I had just spent another sleepless night after spending months of sleepless nights because of the noise coming from the tenants of 7625. I was not in a good mood.
The door of the SUV opened and just as casually as she had blocked the hydrant without a second thought, a woman with short blond hair stepped over the piles of garbage on the parkway which she didn't notice since she was busy fumbling with a large bunch of keys she seemed unfamiliar with. Head down, she headed straight for the front gate of 7625 Bosworth. I didn't recognize her and I knew she didn't live there, so I asked if she was the owner. The question bothered her but she reluctantly said she was after I asked again.Well, for the next hour she got an earful. She was told about the drug dealing in front and alley side of her building, about the 23 hour a day drinking, drugging, cursing and partying that occured all day and practically all night in the rear porch. She barely registered a raised eyebrow when she found out that a young girl who lived with a group we assumed was her family on the first floor, would enter cars all night that would drive up and honk their horns to announce their arrival. Her eyebrows raised in mock disbelief when she was told that one of her tenants was supplying drugs to the street mechants across the street at The Northpoint.
"Are you sure?.They seemed like such an awfully nice family."
In a word, she could care less and she was in a hurry to leave. But after finally finding the person responsible for turning a once stable, quiet and well maintained building into another neighborhood crime magnet in a matter of a few months, I was not about to let her go without getting some contact information. By this time, other neighbors had joined the conversation and in no time flat she realized she had no choice but to give us her office and cell number.
We were then all treated to her tale of woe as she recited the difficulties of making her monthly mortgage with tenants who wouldn't pay rent. And trying as she was to turn the building into a condominium on a retired teachers' pension, she rented whatever empty apartments there were to whoever showed up to apply. This statement was met with immediate condemnation from our group because the three apartments she rented were, of course, the three new problem tenants.
Realizing that she had put herself in a corner, she announced she was selling the building and the closing was taking place the following month. I guess she figured that would take the heat off her and it did for a minute, until we asked who the new owner was.
Not convincingly she said, "Oh, it's some neighborhood group, Good News something or other. They help poor people."
Our little impromptu group thought that no one could be worse than this uncaring , absentee owner and for a moment, we were somewhat optimistic and thought that maybe this was some much needed good news. Our optimism did not last very long.
A longtime neighbor who had been quiet up to this point asked, "Good News Church? Please tell me that's NOT who you sold the building to! "
When she sheepishly nodded in the affirmative, this neighbor let out a moan that could be heard for blocks.
The woman suddenly realized that her announcement did not have the desired effect. She all but forgot what she originally came for and before the moan even subsided, headed straight for the Mercedes. The tires screeched as she drove away. We never saw her again.
The phone numbers we were given were never answered and subsequently changed.
Gary Fuschi
posted by gf at 5:00 AM
1 Comments:
thanx paradise-
she was completely, emotionally detatched from the effect her decisions and her tenants were having on our already troubled block. we were plenty upset after our impromptu meeting realizing that our situation seemed as though it was going from bad to worse. we didn't really think that was possible.
but stay tuned....and thanx again.
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