... Parlato project

Frank Parlato Jr., the Hindu-inspired housing advocate for the poor, is staging a going-out-of-business sale among East Side landlords.
The phones at Parlato's Neighbors Inc. have been ringing off the hook in the three weeks since he offered to buy houses from absentee landlords.
Property owners, ranging from well-known slumlords to good folks
discouraged by the rental business, have offered to sell 500 East Side houses on more than 100 streets.
Some are so anxious they're offering to turn their properties over for as little as $ 1 or for a promise to pay back taxes.
"I can't believe the response," Parlato says. "It's been a steady slew of calls."
Neighbors Inc. plans to buy and repair houses and then sell them to owner occupants. More than 150 prospective buyers have called to find out how they qualify.
That number, by the way, is 885-5463.

Off Main Street is written by Phil Fairbanks with contributions by Jerry Zremski, Tom Dolan, Rick Stouffer, Farah Safiuddin and Jim Heaney.