From the Daily News: “The fire that gutted the Crown Heights brownstone next to mine Saturday morning could easily have killed me and my family… more than just the smoke stinks. Yesterday, a Fire Department spokesman told me the burning of 600 St. Marks Ave. has been classified as arson.”
“… the house changed hands three times in less than two years, each time for considerably more than the place was plausibly worth. In February 2004, a longtime owner named Gloria Moore sold the house for $640,000 to a woman named Francillia Ryan, who in turn sold the house to Janet Howard in December 2004 for $790,000… A few weeks ago, on Dec. 19, the house changed hands yet again, bought by someone named Crispin Booker for $850,000.”
“No one on the block thought the building was worth anywhere near that much… Neighbors tell me that an ominous warning was allegedly made to the building’s residents the night before the fire to quit the place or else.” Read more in the Daily News
From the Prospect Heights Message Boards:
“Am I the only one that noticed that Tony Soprano was pulling this scam, like, 3 seasons ago?”