The Troubled History of 3119 4th Street North

Photo by John Hoff

A few days ago a resident told me all about 3119 4th Street North, and what she had endured from that place for so many years, and I jotted it all down...

I've written before about how Shirley Guevara let both of her apartments slip into a state of anarchy, and things got pretty bad, but according to this resident (who I will dub "Patty Cake" because she's good with children) things were actually worse when 3119 4th Street North was owned by Lin S. Chao, prior to 2000 when the building was sold to Shirley Guevara for $170,000. (Info confirmed with property records)

There were many Hmong at the place, and they had chickens in the apartment building which Patty believes were used in cock fighting. The chickens would get lose and fly into Patty Cake's yard or the yard of the Polish woman. An older woman at the property was terminally ill and was always smoking some awful-smelling stuff to make her feel better.

The precise nature of the stuff the old woman smoked was unknown, but she was quite ill and in pain, so perhaps it was opium. The smoke smell wasn't the only issue: sewage was always backing up in the building, filling the structure with an odor so strong the children would get sick from smelling it. Patty gave the residents some fans to blow out the smell, so the kids wouldn't grow ill. Unfortunately, that blew more of the smell toward Patty.

Sometimes little children would be in the yard in the winter, not adequately dressed, and Patty would take it on herself to get involved.

Some of the young Hmong in the building were involved with gangs, and drive-by shootings took place. Shells would be out in the street and members of the Minneapolis police department would come by and kindly pick up the shells. Once they retrieved a gun from the bushes.

Now the building sits vacant, and there is relative peace and quiet. But there is a FOR SALE sign out front, (knocked down and leaning over the fence) and the question is who will get the building?

Will it be somebody like the city or the county? Or will it be yet another slumlord?