Harlem One45 development still in limbo after public hearing
NEW YORK - A heated meeting happened Tuesday between the New York City Council's subcommittee on zoning and the developers of a proposed high-rise complex in Harlem. The fate of the One45 project is still undecided.
The One45 project has faced criticism from neighbors, most notably City Council member Kristin Richardson Jordan (D-Harlem). They are upset there are only 90 very low-income units among the proposed 915 apartments.
"It is unacceptable to have something so massive without community input and with so much community disapproval," Jordan said during the meeting.
Developers recently dropped a civil rights museum from the proposal to add more below-market-rate apartments to the site, bringing the number to 370, or 40 percent, of the proposed total.
The developers are also receiving support from members of 32BJ SEIU who rallied outside City Hall on Tuesday morning, eager to live in the 70 apartments designated just for union workers in the new development.
But other neighbors held firm during the public hearing portion of the virtual meeting.
"We keep saying the word affordable, affordable, affordable, yet everyone on this call understands that low-income and affordable are two very separate and different things," said June Moses, who serves as tenant president of the W 135th Street Apartments ten blocks south.
"It's nerve wracking," said One45 developer Bruce Teitelbaum. "You know, we've invested a lot of time and effort in the project. We believe in it strongly. We think we're doing something that's really great for the city and right the community, but now it's in other people's hands."
The subcommittee did not make a final decision after Tuesday's lengthy hearing. They are expected to vote on the project in June.
