A Long Life in Harlem, Made Possible by an Affordable Apartment

Owen Levy moved into his Harlem apartment just north of Central Park in the summer of 1979. “I never imagined that I would live here for 46 years,” he said. “That’s more than half my life.”

He found the place after responding to an advertisement in The New York Times. The rent-stabilized unit was cheap — $325 a month — and, more important, the landlord was kind.

“Her name was Ms. Brown and before I opened my mouth, she said, ‘You have the apartment — it’s yours.’ I guess I was in a suit and tie and she figured, ‘This is a good bet.’”

Ms. Brown was so kind, in fact, she reduced the rent. “She gave me a discount because I was going to do the renovations of the apartment,” he said. “She knocked off $25 so it was only $300.”

Mr. Levy’s early childhood was spent in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, where his enterprising mother was a soda fountain attendant.

“We were one of the first interracial families on the block, and that was in the mid-fifties,” he recalled. “We brought down the neighborhood values, because we’re people of color. Back then when they were redlining the neighbors, because my mother was white, she was able to get a mortgage.”