Affordable Apartments

The new building on Park Avenue between 126 and 127th Streets is coming together. The building’s address is 88 East 127th Street and will be a 19-story mixed-use building. Artimus Construction is the developer and 160 residences are set to open with 40 units for residents at 40 to 130 percent of the area median income (AMI), ranging in eligible income from $29,109 to $198,250.

Amenities include a 19th floor residential lounge with a landscaped terrace, a third floor residential lounge with a landscaped terrace, game room, fitness center, library/co-working space, a pet spa, bike storage, shared laundry room, common area wifi, and a virtual doorman.

Residences come with dishwashers, name-brand kitchen countertops and finishes, energy-efficient appliances, air conditioning, and smart controls for heating and cooling. Tenants are responsible for electricity.

Note that the view (below) from the developer, will never be seen, as the Metro North tracks on Park Avenue which rise to the 2nd or 3rd floor, are nowhere to be seen. Still, it’s great looking building, with amazing subway/bus/MetroNorth access.

Wine Tasting Fundraiser for MMPCIA

Come sip, enjoy, and support MMPCIA’s efforts to preserve Mt. Morris Park Historic District’s beautiful architecture, landmark buildings, and rich cultural and social advocacy efforts.
Last year, we had a wonderful time and looking forward to seeing everyone again.
A wine tasting is the best way to discover what you enjoy. A Black wine expert will be on hand to help wine beginners and enthusiasts. Amazing Black Wine Makers will be featured throughout the night.
Contribution Levels: $25, $50, and $100. One Community, One Purpose: Preservation.
Space is limited and spots are sure to fill quickly. 
Bonus: Surprise door prizes!
Registration is required for all attendees on a first come, first serve basis. Register early to avoid disappointment.
We can’t wait to see you.
Madlyn StokesPresident, MMPCIA
Register Here

Spraying for Mosquitoes, Starting Tonight

Young People On The Move

The census has a great site, Migration Patterns – https://migrationpatterns.org/ – that looks at where young people moving to New York and moving out of New York, are coming/going from/to.

First of all, where are young people who leave NYC going?

While 79% of young people stayed in NYC, the rest headed to the counties shown on the map above.

As for the young people who came to NYC, the map below shows where they came from, and the map is strikingly similar, with young people moving to/from a limited set of places – typically ones with large urban centers. Note (below) how young people from the Washington to Boston corridor (plus Detroit, Miami, Chicago, and Los Angeles in particular) moved to NYC:

There are also interesting racial differences in the data. While young Black and Hispanic New Yorkers are overwhelmingly from New York City (born and raised):

White and Asian young people in NYC are more likely to have grown up elsewhere, and moved here:

In the end, young New Yorkers have come here from more than 200 miles on average:

Artimus’s Project on E. 127/Park Rises

If you’ve been by Park/127, you will likely notice that this project is now a number of floors taller than when this photo was taken!

Free Music on Monday

Music Monday featuring the Sing Harlem! Choir
Usher in the holiday season to the sounds of the Sing Harlem! choir. The choral ensemble—which is affiliated with the Mama Foundation for the Arts—will host a concert as part of The Forum’s Music Monday series. The event is free and open to the public. Monday, Nov. 21, 6:00 pm

EH in PS1

The current show at MOMA’s PS1 – Greater New York – has a number of Harlem artists/images on display. One particularly great collection is a wall of photos from Hiram Maristany, who filmed the unrest and revolution in East Harlem during the Young Lords Era of 1969-70.

Maristany was born in East Harlem and became the official photographer of the Young Lords Party (founded in 1969). His photos of dental clinics, TB testing trucks, the Garbage Offensive, and the takeover of the United Methodist Church (Lex/111), have become the images of this period that captured the frustration, anger, spirit, and pride of the Puerto Rican residents of East Harlem.

The work will be up (in LIC, Queens) until April.

New Building – Park Avenue between 126/127

If you’ve been on Park Avenue above Metro-North you may have seen excavation underway for a new residential building. The building will be 18 stories, face Park Avenue, and have a couple of floors of commercial space below. Artimus is the general contractor.

Harlem and Sugar Hill as Seen Through Postcards

Join the Municipal Art Society on Thursday for a talk about Harlem and Sugar Hill as seen through the lens of turn of the 20th century postcards:

The Road to Manhattanville, From Central Park

Ephemeral New York has a great piece on the history and charm of Manhattanville:

The print of activity along the road from Central Park to Manhattanville is great – if for no other reason than it depicts goats hanging out in Harlem:

127th Street Contstruction

Artimus, the developers who are building the new commercial+residential on Park Avenue between East 126th and East 127th Streets, came to our February HNBA meeting and discussed their plans for the new building. As a follow-up, some additional questions were posed. Below are the questions and the answers, along with two different views of the building.

– Re: the blank wall facing the E. 126th Street side – it would be nice to apply a wall treatment that adds an enhanced architectural design to the wall – i.e. – a waterfall running down that wall (doesn’t have to be the full height) and have it lit with uplighting to make for an attractive look to the facade.  Close off the lot with a nice iron fence could be quite appealing.  It will be a brick façade with windows, and will have a design as per the attached elevation.  As far as the HPD area, we also believe there will need to be something done to make sure that space is properly taken care of.

– Will there (or can there) be cameras all around the building? Especially the facing out towards the vacant lot.  There will be 200+ cameras in the building between inside and outside and they will have full coverage of inside and outside including the vacant area.

– Please no billboards or painted murals on that wall – We don’t have any intention of doing a mural at this point. 

– What type of landscaping will be incorporated? i.e. are you planting any trees?  We will be planting trees wherever the city Parks Dept allows it. 

– Will there be a 24-hour doorman? There will not be a doorman.

– Can you provide 360 degree renderings of the building?  The renderings shown at the meeting really didn’t give us a clear view of the building. Include aerial views, too. Those we presented are the final renderings, but we have some elevations attached here to give better perspective.

– Lastly, do you know who owns the parking lot across the street from the building? Would love to reach out to the owner regarding upkeep.  I do not know the owner across, we built the Corn Exchange, but are not working with the parking lot owner.