A Brooklyn landlord has made an incredibly kind and generous gesture in the midst of the current world health crisis: he’s decided to cancel April rent payments for all 200 tenants that live in his roughly 80 New York properties to help them battle financial insecurity. If that’s not welcome news, I don’t know what is!
- Mario Salerno is an incredible landlord. The 59-year-old, who owns the apartments in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint and Williamsburg neighborhoods, put up a sign at the front of his 18 buildings on March 30 announcing that April rent payments have been waived for the month of April. For those struggling to make ends meet and facing financial uncertainty, this is the biggest blessing.
- The note was unexpectedly good news. The notice posted at the front of all of Salerno’s buildings read, “Please note I am waiving rent for the month of April 2020. Stay safe, help your neighbors and wash your hands!!!”
- Salerno is known for being a pillar of the Brooklyn community. Salerno, who also owns his own auto mechanic business, has been described as “truly one of the kindest people I’ve ever met” by one person. His willingness to cancel rent payments as a landlord, which will likely put him very much out of pocket, is just one example of that kindness.
- He doesn’t care about anything but the well-being of his tenants. Talking to NBC New York, Salerno said he’s not worried about losing money at the moment. Instead, he’d rather focus on the health and welfare of the people who live in his apartments. “I want everybody to be healthy. That’s the whole thing,” he said. “For me, it was more important for people’s health and worrying about who could put food on whose table. I say don’t worry about paying me, worry about your neighbor and worry about your family.”
- Salerno’s tenants were touched but not necessarily surprised. While the landlord’s gesture is no doubt appreciated by the tenants who live in his apartments, his decision to cancel rent wasn’t necessarily unexpected. As 28-year-old Paul Gentile, who lost his job at a law firm in March, told the New York Times, having a bit of a reprieve from rent has been a complete relief. “You don’t see that, especially in a landlord-tenant relationship in New York City,” Gentile said. “He’s amazing. It has alleviated a huge amount of stress that I have been having with the unemployment system in the state.”
- Hopefully other landlords follow suit. Times are hard and people need help now more than ever. If a landlord can afford to cancel rent, even for a month, that would be amazing.
