. >> howard cosell is on the air. suddenly, you see a tongue of flame licking up into the sky.r saw, ladies and gentlemen, the bronx is burning. the old image of the bronx as middle class, healthy area had survived up until 1977. this shattered it. >> the bronx was burning like the story, and that stuck. politicians make the bronx a poster child for what was wrong, would always be wrong, would never, we were told, get any better. >> so you now have a slum lord, essentially, snapping up large numbers of buildings? >> yes, first of all he takes out a huge fire insurance policy. so he goes to the judges and says you see that apartment complex, i'm going to turn my back. you take all the lead pipes in there. but i have one request, please. before you leave, turn on the water? and the water comes down driving everybody else out. they then hire an arsonist. he sets fire to the building. they collect all the money and they leave. >> i remember it well. it was bad. are things getting better? >> is the bronx better? absolutely. there is more home ownership in the south bronx than ever e