Owner Of 18 Residential Buildings Forgives The Rent Of His Tenants Due To The Coronavirus Crisis

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

An owner of several apartment buildings in New York decided to forgive the rent for the month of April to all his tenants due to the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Good Samaritan Mario Salerno informed his tenants of the good news on March 30 by hanging papers with a heartfelt message on the front doors of his 18 residential buildings located at different points in Brooklyn, the NBC channel in New York reported.

"Stay safe, help your neighbors and wash your hands," reads part of the message that Salerno shared with between 200 and 300 people living in his 80 apartments, according to the New York Times newspaper.

"My concern is everyone's health," the 59-year-old told the local Green Pointers news site, the first to report the gesture. “Take care of each other; whoever is lucky to work, try to help the person who cannot put food on the table."

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According to reports, the businessman said that he is not interested in collecting rent during the month of April and that he does not care to know the amount of money that he will stop receiving. For him, the most important thing is to ease the burden on his tenants, even those who can work from home.

Salerno was born on Metropolitan Avenue and his father started a service station in 1959 that is still operated by his family. As an adult, he began acquiring vacant lots that he later converted into residential buildings primarily in the Williamsburg, Brooklyn area, where many neighbors know him for other acts of kindness and for being a good landlord.