Sunset Park leader finds treasure trove of historic data
When the owner of a Fifth Avenue commercial building was cleaning his basement last year in preparation of selling the property, he came across cabinets filled with dusty old files and knew exactly what to do with them. He offered them to Sunset Park civic leader Tony Giordano, who jumped at the chance to peruse through the yellowing papers and fraying folders.
A year later, Giordano is still going through the files.
What the property owner, who does not want his name printed, had in his basement was a treasure trove of data about Sunset Park in the 1980s, a time when the crime rate in New York City was high and business and civic leaders were forming organizations to work for safe streets.