Unfortunately, many of them appear to be in Switzer's enforcement area. In the backyard of an eyesore on East 121st Street, Switzer steps lightly between discarded liquor bottles and planks of rotted wood with two-inch nails sticking out from them. He does not linger outside the doorway of a sickly green house. There is no door. He pushes forward into the dark hallway.
Wires protrude from the wall.
Windows are boarded up, and the floor has worn away in places. It's been this way for about a year, Switzer says. The owner tried to fix it, then ran out of money. It's condemned, but someone still may buy it. Structurally, it remains sound.