HARLEM, NY — A giant truck depot will open in days at the end of One45’s defeated progression in Harlem, the developer said Monday, blaming the deeply unpopular depot at the feet of local lawmakers who helped tear down the 900-meter rezoning apartment.
Patch announced the news of the truck prevention scheduled for September. Now, according to developer Bruce Teitelbaum, concrete has been poured and signage installed, with the first trucks expected to arrive later this week or early next week.
For years, Teitelbaum and his partners had sought to build a pair of towers on the block that would house housing, offices and, at one point, a museum committed to the civil rights movement. In its final form, the proposal would have included 458 affordable homes. apartments, adding housing for the elderly.
But Teitelbaum withdrew the assignment in May because he faced almost certain rejection from the city council, due to opposition from local member Kristin Richardson Jordan. Since it was removed rather than rejected, a rezoning for the site may have been proposed: however, Teitelbaum told Richardson Jordan not to be receptive to further discussions.
“After waiting months and months since the assignment was halted and hearing nothing from [council member] about how we could move forward, we still have no option to pivot and stick to another path for the vacant site,” Teitelbaum said in a statement. “It’s not what we plan to do, but now it’s the only viable option we have. “
The depot will open in the portion of a former fuel station that occupies a central portion of the L-shaped lot, which runs for nearly all of West 145th Street between Lenox Avenue and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard.
It can only accommodate up to two hundred cars depending on their size.
With truck stops notorious for their noise and dirt, many Harlemans reacted to the announcement of the presentation, noting that the community already has above-average pollution rates and formative years.
Lonnie Portis, coordinator of Harlem’s environmental organization WE ACT, condemned the task in an earlier statement this fall, saying neighborhoods like Harlem have been affected by similar “pollution-generating facilities,” such as factories, bus depots and landfills.
“This uneven location has turned those communities into spaces of environmental sacrifice, with the cumulative effects of those pollutant resources exponentially harming their residents, leading to fitness effects such as asthma, lung and central diseases, an accumulation of birth defects and learning disabilities. ” he said Portis. me said.
Teitelbaum, for his part, noted that his rejected development would have been an environmental and economic boon to the neighborhood.
“Our unprecedented plan to build approximately 1,000 new homes, some of which would have been deeply affordable for local residents, was rejected by the councilman,” Teitelbaum said. “Thousands of good-paying jobs in Harlem, New York’s premier geothermal green energy district, and a ton of economic progress has been lost. “
When Richardson Jordan was reached for comment, he did not mention One45 or the truck depot, but noted 4 other affordable housing projects planned in stages of progress in Harlem.
“We have 4 exciting housing projects and REALLY for the network ahead!” said the councilman.
Richardson Jordan opposed the allocation largely out of concern that it would contribute to Harlem’s gentrification and displace black and low-income neighbors. Other conflicting parties included Central Harlem’s Community Board 10, whose members voted unanimously against rezoning.
His defeat, celebrated by many in Harlem, was condemned by others who said One45 would have helped alleviate the city’s desperate housing shortage. Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, who in the past had spoken out against the rezoning, lamented after its removal that “the site will remain indefinitely as it is: a vacant lot, a deserted fuel station and a small number of single-story retail stores. “
Most likely, there will be more in the store for the One45 site. Teitelbaum said it is in “additional talks” with a gym that could open a clinic in one of the block’s now-empty storefronts, while another empty storefront could be donated to an unspecified network group.
In the long term, Teitelbaum said it is possible it will go ahead with plans announced in the past to build market-rate condominiums and a self-storage center, most likely displacing the bloc’s remaining tenants, adding the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action headquarters. The network.
“We haven’t made a final decision on what we’re going to do with the rest of the site,” he said.
Do you have any about the news from Harlem? Contact journalist Nick Garber at nick. garber@patch. com.
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