Today, with a half-dozen Starbucks, an Urban Outfitters, and architects like Robert A.M. Stern remaking old apartment buildings like the Belnord, it’s hard to imagine the area in need of gentrification. But when I moved into my West 105th Street apartment, I’d go out every morning and clean up crack vials from the backyard. The quantity suggested more than one user, which meant that some nearby apartment hosted a crack house—just like the ones that were a staple on Law & Order at the time.
