Photo credit: RD/flickr
Earlier this month we celebrated and lamented the approval of the 125th Rezoning Plan. Well, now it’s official. The Council has voted to pass the plan by a vote of 47 to 2. This decision will have a major impact on the old, gritty, grimy 125th Street that some people have grown to know and love over the years. Could this be the beginning of the end? What impact does this vote have on the lawsuit filed by VOICE? These questions and more are sure to stir up more (anti)gentrification debate as the battle rages on for the streets of Harlem.
Filed under: Politics, Real Estate | Tagged: 125th Street, Gentrification, harlem
Stumble It!
125th St. should look like 14th St. river to river, plain and simple. Nostalgic notions of keeping communities locked in time might be fine for a village hamlet, however not Manhattan & NYC (a place of noise, congestion, hustle & bustle and yes, _change_). Transition is part of what is a city is, and it cuts both ways.
NYC should not be allowed to continue to use West Harlem as a depot of City buses and their pollution and asthma contributing existence. That is real estate fit for a better use and the bus depot should be relocated outside of Manhattan.
It’s time for change in Harlem from the rooter to the tooter with NO SACRED COWS. No wrapping yourself in heritage, or any cultural entitlement of any kind. This is Manhattan, that means money. The new color of Harlem is GREEN.
If you don’t like that, go, move, a city and this specific city is not for you. Ever been to Hong Kong?, Tokyo? World Cities are not for the lazy, people that want things to stay the same, any of that.
If you don’t want to work your ass off…..there is New Jersey, Penn, etc. lots of lovely places where you can live an sit on the porch and watch the grass grow. NYC is for hustlers, go getters, it’s not necessarily healthy or better, in fact you might need a therapist and become an alcoholic while you are a rat in this race. NYC is not everyone’s cup of tea. However and still, it’s time for change, especially in Harlem.
The battle is over and the Harlem residents who supported the rezoning can rejoice. Harlem will no longer be know for drugs and crime but for PROGRESS!!!! ……Besides the city needs this newly established business hub to generate sorely needed revenue.
In spite of whatever economic progress will be made by the rezoning, there is still something homey and pleasant about low-rise Harlem. One look at the new 5th on the Park on 120th already is good evidence of the bulky ugliness of highrises among brownstones. Sad to say that even though 125th is not the most beautiful of streets architecturally, it’s not going to get any better with bulk.
I remember my first visit to Harlem, nearly 20 years ago, I was struck by the amount of visible sky. Maybe 125th should be bigger and more commercial but the endless browntone blocks from north to south Harlem are an architectural historic treasure trove to be preserved.
The rezoning won’t impact the brownstones outside of the footprint…..so the rezoning clearly preserves the beautiful Harlem brownstones. Also, I would much rather gaze at a large building as opposed to a vacant lot. REZONE & REBUILD!!!!!!
You’re wrong, b, the rezoning will affect the entire immediate neighborhood. When the length and breadth of 125th is lined with 20 story buildings, the skyline will change dramatically, putting up a massive visual barrier between north and south Harlem. You might rather gaze at a large building than a vacant lot, but that lot could have been a park or garden.
What about the street vendors on 125th? That is what I want to know? This is the heart of the independent publishing industry, good oils and ‘cents, and much more. Is there a provision in this that keeps them from selling?
I hope not.