New York’s housing disaster has quickly gentrified neighborhoods citywide, particularly in traditionally Black communities like Harlem and East Harlem. Because the state strikes ahead with housing growth, Harlem electeds are banding collectively to demand extra affordability.
“It’s gut-wrenching to see that Harlem, which has outlined Black tradition for over a century, is not reasonably priced to its residents,” mentioned Senator Cordell Cleare in a press release. “I’m stopped in every single place in my district by residents going through housing insecurity and those that had been pressured to maneuver elsewhere within the metropolis as a result of they can not afford Harlem anymore.”
On Feb. 25, Cleare hosted a rally with Assemblymember Eddie Gibbs and Councilmember Yusef Salaam in entrance of the vacant former Lincoln Correctional facility to demand the state’s $90 million-plus redevelopment plan for the location — now known as “the Seneca mission” — be halted till elevated affordability for the housing items is included as “promised.” The electeds had been joined by group members.
The Seneca mission is run by the Empire State Improvement (ESD) and is a part of Governor Kathy Hochul’s jail redevelopment rollout from 2022. In December 2023, ESD chosen Infinite Horizons, L+M Improvement Companions, Urbane Improvement Group, and Lemor Improvement Group to finish the mission.
Plans name for demolition of the present correctional facility on West one hundred and tenth Road close to Central Park North, and building of a brand new 22-story residential constructing with ground-floor group areas. The anticipated unit combine can be as much as 38 one-bedroom, 52 two-bedroom, and 20 three-bedroom flats. At the moment, the constructing has eight tales and 10,000 sq. ft. The mission’s housing plans additionally state that 105 co-op fashion items can be priced at 80% and 100% of the realm median earnings (AMI) to make sure affordability.
Nevertheless, electeds mentioned that the real-world housing prices are nonetheless out of attain for many Black and Brown residents locally. A two-bedroom residence would nonetheless price $3,000 {dollars} a month for these underneath 80% AMI and $3,700 a month for these underneath 100% AMI, mentioned Cleare.
“I strongly help efforts to deliver extra reasonably priced housing to our metropolis, particularly in areas the place the necessity is so nice,” mentioned Salaam in a press release. “We should acknowledge that the present plans for this growth fall wanting actually addressing the affordability disaster that a lot of our long-term residents face. I’m deeply involved that, with out making certain housing that’s actually reasonably priced, we threat pushing out the very individuals who have constructed and sustained this group for generations.”
In response to the newest Census knowledge for the location’s ZIP code, which incorporates central Harlem between 110 and a hundred and twentieth Streets, the median family earnings for the realm is about $74,140 and the median gross lease is about $1,546. For Black households in the identical space, the median earnings for 2023 was $53,666.
Instantly surrounding the location is a public college, New York Metropolis Housing Authority (NYCHA) housing, and a number of other lease -regulated buildings. The electeds maintained that residents must earn greater than double the quantity of the median earnings to not stay “rent-burdened” within the present housing plan.
“We have to be sure that reasonably priced housing stays a cornerstone of our district, offering a way of safety and belonging for long-time residents,” mentioned Gibbs. “The Lincoln mission is our likelihood to redefine what growth seems like in our neighborhood, with affordability at its core. We should reject the failed insurance policies of the previous, the place $1 transfers turned get-rich-quick schemes for builders, and as a substitute construct a mannequin that uplifts our group and preserves its affordability for all. This isn’t nearly bricks and mortar — it’s in regards to the soul of Harlem.”
The dialog in regards to the displacement of Black New Yorkers in Harlem, after all, isn’t new. The identical situation arose with the years-long marketing campaign to develop the One45 website on West 145th Road.
“This growth (at these charges) will mark the tip of Harlem. Harlem just isn’t obligated to make sure a return on funding to builders,” mentioned Pastor Dedrick Blue, vice chair of the Interfaith Fee for Housing Equality, on the rally. “The group should not help developments that present for a modicum of reasonably priced items on the consequence of hovering rents and mass displacement. Letting this growth undergo would set a nasty precedent for the One45 and Lenox Terrace initiatives and future Harlem developments.”
The developer’s perspective is that “[t]he transformation of the previous Lincoln Correctional Facility will increase reasonably priced homeownership in Harlem, with 105 items for working New Yorkers, creating alternatives for working households to construct intergenerational wealth,” mentioned ESD Downstate Communications Director Emily Mijatovic. “ESD, in partnership with its growth associate, stays dedicated to working with native leaders and to ensur[ing] this mission serves the group and its wants.”
The present construction was in-built 1914 and used for the New York Younger Girls’s Hebrew Affiliation (YWHA) in 1920, a spot for troopers throughout World Warfare II, the New Lincoln Faculty in 1950, and at last the Lincoln Correctional Facility, which closed in 2019. In 2023 and early 2024, it was a short lived shelter for asylum seekers.
Along with issues about affordability of the proposed housing, there could also be environmental points on the constructing website.
In response to the ESD’s December 2024 report, the location had spills from not less than two aboveground storage tanks (AST), one gasoline tank, and two closed petroleum containers throughout these years, which can have affected the subsurface and groundwater.
The proposed mission has to endure environmental evaluate underneath the State Environmental High quality Overview Act, after which be introduced to the general public earlier than it could actually obtain closing approval. That’s anticipated to be accomplished in 2028.
Mijatovic mentioned ESD ready an environmental evaluation and decided “the Venture, applied in accordance with the GPP, will end in no important antagonistic impacts to the surroundings.”
