I remember when I was about seven (7) or eight (8) years old going with my father (Harry) to an apartment house he owned in Harlem, New York. He inherited the building from his father. He would lock me in the car and “try†to collect rents from the people living in the building. He had a lot of aggravation from the house. I remember people calling all the time complaining about problems with the building. My father would complaint about the people living in the building – – how they wrested the apartments and threw garbage out the window instead of bringing it down to the garbage cans.
Once in awhile, my dad took me to the basement of the building where he would give milk to dozens and dozens of cats that lived there. He told me the cats were there to catch the rats that roamed the building. My father tried to sell the building but never could – since it was so run down. Finally, the city took possession of it and he was happy to receive a small amount of money for it (maybe $20,000.00). If he only held on to it, it would probably be worth in the millions.
My father’s father (Sam) came over from Russia and was a Taylor by trade in the Bronx, New York. Why he brought the apartment building in Harlem I have no idea?!!
by Jerry Leitman
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