BIRTHPLACE OF HIP-HOP IN BRONX GETS NEW LANDLORD
BY DANIEL BEEKMAN (NYDN)
The birthplace of hip-hop has a new lease on life.
The Bronx apartment building where DJ Kool Herc emceed the world’s first hip-hop party was sold at foreclosure auction last Monday to a reputable investment group backed by the city.
Workforce Housing Advisors has vowed to fix up 1520 Sedgwick Ave. in Morris Heights, keep it affordable and build an arts and culture center in the recreation room where Herc famously pioneered the “break beat.”
The graying deejay returned to 1520 Sedgwick Ave. last Thursday with John Crotty and John Fitzgerald of Workforce to reopen the rec room and celebrate.
The room was locked and used for storage under the old landlord Mark Karasick, who bought the 102-unit building in 2008 and then went bust.
Now tenant power, government pressure and music history have saved the Bronx landmark.
