The Harlem Neighborhood Block Association

Neighbors united to improve the quality of life in Harlem

Tag: Park Avenue

Affordable Apartments

Posted on by Harlem Shill

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

NY+Harlem Railroad

Posted on by Harlem Shill

The railroad that would head up 4th Avenue – Park Avenue – and eventually become Metro-North, started off at the New York and Harlem Railroad. Looking at the image below of the depot at Park and 26th Street, you’d be forgiven for thinking this is an image of a western frontier town. You almost expect to see sagebrush and men in Stetsons.

It’s for sale on Ebay

As Seen In Harlem

1880 Birthplace

Posted on by Harlem Shill

When Harlem’s identity shifted from village-outside-New-York, to suburb of New York in the late 1800’s, the ethnic makeup of its residents displayed striking patterns.

Looking at the map below you immediately notice the blue lines following avenues (more likely to have commercial space below with business owners or employees living above). These blue dots represent people who told the US Census that their birthplace was Germany. We don’t know if they were ethnically Jewish, Polish, or other minority groups living in the German lands, however.

Lastly it’s important to note that the buildings built along Avenues tended to be larger, and more likely to hold more people. We see this today walking around Harlem. While 3 story brownstones are typically found on streets. Brownstones on Avenues can reach 4 or even 5 stories tall.

There is some green scattered about (indicating a birthplace in England), but the pink dots (birthplace in Ireland) really stand out on the streets.

Zooming in a bit, you can see the pattern/s for 1880 birthplaces more clearly:

People Power

A great mural found on Park Avenue, just south of 116th Street.

The Harlem Dispensary

Posted on by Harlem Shill

In the early 19th century, a kind of health clinic – the Harlem Dispensary – was located on Fourth (or Park) Avenue between 124th and 125th Streets.

You can read more about the make-up of the board who ran this medical facility in what was a rural village well outside the City of New York, here:

https://archive.org/details/manualofcorpora1870newy/page/378/mode/2up?view=theater

Here is the view, today:

EH in PS1

Posted on by Harlem Shill

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:
From Harlem to Sugar Hill in Historic Postcards 1890-1920

The Road to Manhattanville, From Central Park

Posted on by Harlem Shill

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

5 Remnants of the 19th century West Side village 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. 

View-of-Massing-from-Park-AvenueDownload
Elevation-View-from-126th-StreetDownload

Kristin Richardson Jordan Represents Harlem

Posted on by Harlem Shill

Kristin Jordan replaces Bill Perkins as Harlem’s New City Council member.

New Building Coming to 120/Park

YIMBY reports that a new residential tower will be built on a vacant lot at the corner of 120/Park with 57 residences:

Permits Filed for 18-Story Tower at 104 East 120th Street in East Harlem, Manhattan

Mass Transit – 1837

Posted on by Harlem Shill

The New York and Harlem Railroad was the first public streetcar service – mass transit – in New York City. The first line of horse-drawn carriages traveled from Prince Street to the Harlem Bridge on 4th Avenue (Park Avenue), reaching Harlem in 1837.

Below is an image of the early depot that serviced the horse-drawn streetcars.

Among the company’s founders was John Mason, a wealthy banker and president of Chemical Bank who was among the largest landowners in New York City. They decided to build their railroad on the eastern side of Manhattan Island, convinced that it would never be able to compete with steamboat traffic on the Hudson River.

The New York and Harlem Railroad eventually became the New York Central Railroad and then the Metro North we know today.

A train at about 103rd Street, headed south and about to go into the Park Avenue tunnel. You can just make out Marcus Garvey Park in the haze, above the last cars of the train.

4th Avenue (Park Avenue) presented a challenge with the drop from Yorkville down to East Harlem, so initially a trestle was built of wood – eventually to be replaced by the masonry structure we know today (98th Street to 111th Street). Beyond that is an increasingly fragile iron and steel structure that extends to the Harlem River (Metro North) Bridge.

You can see the 1950 film, here:

that shows a train coming into New York City, crossing the Harlem River, then going through East Harlem, and eventually entering the Park Avenue Tunnel.

New York Health and Hospitals Wants Your Feedback

The Harlem Community Advisory Board’s 2022 Annual Public Meeting

Wednesday, January 19, 2022

5:00pm Live via Webex

All are welcome to join. For more information, please call (212) 939-1369

Saint Cecilia’s

Posted on by Harlem Shill

Landmarks East Harlem and the Urban Archive have a great piece on St. Cecilia’s Church on East 106th Street between Park/Lexington:

https://www.urbanarchive.org/stories/YXyVct8Ucm7

Here is the church in the 19th Century:

By the 1940’s the area had built up (note the white hospital complex on 5th Avenue and Central Park in the distance, above the Metro North train viaduct):

Today, the bright red brick facade highlights St. Cecilia in the center, under the pediment.

Spooky Stories

Spooky Stories. You and your little ones are invited to Jackie Robinson Park Wed Oct 27th 2pm to hear Spooky Stories read by NYC nannies!!!

Ballot Initiatives

When you vote on November 2, you’ll be asked about ballot initiatives. Gothamist breaks them down for you, here:

https://gothamist.com/news/five-ballot-proposals-breakdown-november-2021?