City Approves 125th St. Rezoning
Furious community fears continued gentrification, dislocation

Yesterday, at one of the most boisterous meetings of the City Planning Commission in recent memory, the commission approved a rezoning proposal for 125th Street that was met with catcalls and jeers from angry Harlemites in the audience. The protesters vowed to fight by any means necessary a plan now headed to a favorable City Council that, if passed, would reshape Harlem’s so-called Main Street for generations to come.

While the real estate market may finally be cooling off in the city, many neighborhood remain tense about the encroachments of genrtrication, and perhaps none more so than Harlem. In recent years, as million dollar condos began to rise north of 110th Street, the unemployment rate for African American males has remained around 50 percent, a favorite statistic of local activists weary of the city’s intentions. These critics believe that the city has not done enough with the latest in a long line of rezonings the Bloomberg administration has used to reshape the city.

“This is a smoke-and-mirrors situation,” said Craig Schley, the executive director of VOTE People, a group founded to oppose the rezoning. “In our opinion, it is the city’s attempt to write one more line on Harlem’s eviction notice.” Schley said that he had little faith in local elected officials, the majority of whom support the rezoning, to help defeat it, though this does not mean his group will not continue to pressure them.

“Everything is on the table, and we mean that—everything is on the table,” Schley said. “Now the fight begins because it is on the shoulders of people are who responsible to the community.” Should the issue reach the courts, VOTE People has contracted renowned civil rights attorney Norman Siegel to argue the group’s case. Schley speculated that with the plan drawing attention even from Britain, the community could call on a wide base of support.

The commission, which approved the rezoning by a vote of 11-2, maintained, as it had at a handful of tense hearings before the community, that the department’s proposal by-and-large benefited the community. “Today is a major milestone in moving this extremely significant initiative forward towards final adoption,” commission chair Amanda Burden said in her opening remarks. “This rezoning will reinforce the 125th Street Corridor as an important regional business district and bolster its historic role as an arts, entertainment and retail corridor.”

Though the plan remains largely unchanged, the city did make some modifications to the proposal, largely in line with Community Board 10’s concerns. These include moving residential entrances off 125th Street and onto 124th or 126th streets where possible; extending the arts bonus, which provides density bonuses to developers who dedicate 5 percent of their projects to arts uses, to include rehearsal and below ground space; and strengthening enforcement mechanism to ensure long-term use by “bono-fide not-for-profit organizations.”

On the occasion of the two “no” votes, the audience exploded in cheers in the commission chambers packed with activists, reporters, and half-a-dozen TV cameras. But when three of the black commissioners cast their votes in the affirmative, some turned to vicious heckling, crying out “Uncle Tom traitor!” or “Aunt Jemima traitor!”

Matt Chaban

Comment: Client 9’s Hefty Tab
03.11.08

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