It was the rhythm of the real estate boom: As apartment rents throughout the city soared, more New Yorkers flooded East Harlem, formerly dominated by Italian and Hispanic residents, looking for affordable apartments. Soon developers eager to cash in on East Harlem’s revival followed, building thousands of new apartments. Then small-business owners like Andre Mauro, 27, and his brother, Matthew, 23, profited as they rented out more of the neighborhood’s old and new spaces.
Now the Mauro brothers — along with the developers they worked for and the tenants they rented to — are feeling the pinch of the recession. Andre Mauro described how the neighborhood where they live and work is suffering.
