'Money is not appropriate right now': owner of 18 houses in Brooklyn temporarily canceled rent

Because of his wide gesture, the homeowner will lose hundreds of thousands of dollars and will have to pay utility bills himself. However, he says that he only worries about one thing: that people are healthy and have food. This is stated in the video of the publication "Voice of America".

Photo: Shutterstock

Cancel rent for April

Two-thirds of all New Yorkers rent apartments. The last month has turned many of their lives upside down: according to preliminary estimates, more than 40% of tenants will not be able to pay the bills for April.

Many people were already ready to contact their homeowner with a request to postpone the payment deadlines. However, unexpectedly on the walls of the porches of some houses in Brooklyn, an ad appeared with the following content: “In view of the pandemic, please note: I am canceling the rent for April. Stay safe. Help your neighbors and wash your hands. ”

This decision was made by Mario Salerno, extending it to all 18 houses that he owns. He said he canceled the payments because many of the residents had lost their jobs. “Some even lost their careers,” Salerno said. “They all started to panic.” I didn't want anyone to be stressed or sick with this terrible virus right now. I'm just worried about them being healthy. I am concerned that each of them will have food on the table.”

Man of a wide soul

For several decades, Mario Salerno has been known in Brooklyn as a man of large scale and wide soul. Every day he runs a car dealership and a gas station, which was opened by his father in 1959. In the 1980s, he began buying land to store damaged cars there for later repairs. In the late 1990s, he built residential buildings on these sites.

Today these houses are home to more than 200 residents. Such a sweeping gesture would cost Salerno hundreds of thousands of dollars. He will also have to pay his own water, sewer and electricity bills. However, he says he is not worried about the financial losses. Because there is no price that could be paid for people’s lives. “Money is irrelevant right now,” Salerno says. “Tenants who were mostly young came to me, and their parents called me, thanking me for becoming something of a father to their children. It really touched me."

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