After disappearing off the market for a week, the Langston Hughes House at 20 East 127th Street is apparently back on the market as of September 22nd. Today's DNAinfo reports that the property (currently listed on the DOB site as SRO restricted and a C5 walk-up apartment) resolved the high tax issue at hand which was around $17,000 per year. Anything categorized with more than 4 units are basically a rooming house, SRO or apartment complex and taxed exponentially more than a typical brownstone. Somehow the classification must have been changed recently. The article also reveals that Mr. Hughes was not a renter at the house but actually bought the property with friends back in 1947. Read more in DNAinfo:
LINK. Check out our various past posts on this famous property:
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I stand corrected. I didn't know that the property taxes were so high for an SRO, thats amazing. I remember a few years ago an arts group was using the house for artistic events like poetry readings, etc. and there was a conflict with the owner of the house-a physician, and the artist had to leave.
ReplyDeleteIts amazing Langston had the funds to purchase the house along with the Harpers as he often didn't have 2 nickles to rub together, so I guess 1947 was a good year for him. Uhm
1947 was the year that he wrote the lyrics for the "Street Scene" Broadway musical. As far as I know, that's the only year he had any cash to speak of.
ReplyDeleteGuess he knew the money wouldn't last forever.
@Christopher, my guess is he bought it as an investment, intending to sell in 2006, at the height of the bubble. Solid strategy if he hadn't died in '67.
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