Urbanities,
Vol. 4
·
No 2
·
November 2014
© 2014
Urbanities
51
After the 125
th
Street Rezoning:
The Gentrification of Harlem’s Main Street in the Bloomberg Years
Alessandro Busà
(Center for Metropolitan Studies of the Technical University, Berlin)
This article investigates the impact of the 2008 rezoning plan for 125
th
Street in Harlem on long-time residents
and independent local businesses. It starts with a brief history of development at 125
th
Street from its beginnings
as a popular commercial corridor in the 1910s and 1920s through the decay of the neighbourhood during the
Great Depression and in the post-WWII years, to its renaissance in the late 1990s and 2000s. The paper then
focuses on the Bloomberg years, and on the contentious decision-making process that led to the approval of a
rezoning plan for 125
th
Street corridor in 2008. The plan is analysed in detail, followed by an assessment of its
impact on neighbourhood character, on local retail and on housing affordability. I use data from the 2000-2010
Census, along with figures on rental values, business openings and closings, to illustrate the process of
residential and commercial gentrification of the area during the years of Bloomberg. I demonstrate how,
although the sweeping gentrification of the areas surrounding 125
th
Street had begun in the late 1990s, the pace
of these transformations has accelerated tremendously after the 2008 rezoning.
Keywords:
Rezoning, New York City, Gentrification, Displacement, Harlem, Michael Bloomberg, Amanda
Burden, Harlem Renaissance.
Introduction
In April 2013, the Real Estate Board of New York launched a
‘Harlem Open House Expo’ in
partnership with CHASE Manhattan, an event geared at ‘potential buyers looking to get a
peek at the hot Harlem real estate’ (Real Estate Board of New York 2013; from now on,
REBNY). Brokers from major real estate firms operating in Harlem hosted exclusive
viewings of co-ops, condos and townhouses for sale. The listings included a brownstone at
West 126th Street selling for 2.5 million US dollars and a 2-bedroom apartment at East 126th
Street for 805 thousand US dollars. ‘Harlem is Booming’ was the title of an 8-page
advertising supplement which appeared in the New York Times in 2010; it depicted Harlem
as a hip and sophisticated neighbourhood for well-off newcomers, and enlisted the numerous
luxury development projects taking place in the neighbourhood. These included a luxury
condominium building with prices ranging from 509 thousand to 1.889 million US dollars,
and luxury condos with panoramic rooftop terraces, bars and fitness centres. Sponsored by the
largest realtors with ventures in the district, the NYT supplement celebrated the new wave of
luxury development in Harlem, asking the readers, ‘Are we witnessing a second Harlem
Renaissance?’ The answer was of course a sound yes, although the supplement gave the
rather clear impression that what drove this renaissance, rather than a cultural and artistic
awakening, was a wave of luxury real estate.
The neighbourhood that middle-class residents were fleeing in the 1960s and 1970s
has emerged by the mid-2000s as one of New York City’s real estate hotspots. Over the last
decade, the swift pace of development has changed the face of the area around 125
th
Street,
where luxury condos now dot a renewed landscape, while small businesses that had been
around for decades have gradually surrendered to large corporate retailers. Although the
commercial and residential gentrification of the areas surrounding 125
th
Street had been set in
