125th Street Building To Be Torn Down Amid Safety Issues

HARLEM, NY — Weeks after a developer filed plans to knock down a two-story structure on 125th Street, its neighboring building is now facing the wrecking ball as well, according to plans submitted to the city.

The five-story building at 33 West 125th St. may soon be demolished, according to documents filed Tuesday by owner Kishan Patel, of Parmukh Realty.

Built in 1900 between Fifth Avenue and Malcolm X Boulevard, the building included five apartments as well as a ground-floor storefront home to a family health center led by the physician Hemant Patel.

But safety issues have surfaced in recent years: in late 2015, the Department of Buildings issued a partial vacate order, reporting that the building was "illegally occupied." And as recently as last Friday, a complaint reported that the building's facade was in a "state of disrepair," with visible cracks, displaced bricks and spalling stucco, according to DOB.

News of this teardown came two weeks after demolition plans were filed for the next-door building at 35 West 125th St. by its owner, Mark Irgang. The two demolitions appear unrelated.

If something new is built on the site, it will be the latest in a slew of new developments coming to the 125th Street corridor, including an apartment tower near the Apollo Theater on 126th Street, the Victoria Theater Redevelopment Project on 125th, the future 18-story National Urban League headquarters, and another 12-story building recently proposed at 219 West 125th St.