I spent a good amount of time in Juniata a couple years back. Back then, a lot of Puerto Rican homeowners were talking about leaving because they said the neighborhood was going downhill. A lot of houses were getting sold and put up for rent. A couple people also described Mariano as "sin verguenza" (without shame) and accused him of not caring about fixing problems in Latino areas. Mariano also lived in Juniata, which is kind of irionic.

The area south of Erie Ave already looked pretty run down, and Sedgely's way down at the southernmost tip, so I'm not too surprised that the situation has degenerated to that extent. I'm glad people are speaking out about it.

It's my perception that the city has generally failed miserably at addressing problems in minority neighborhoods.