Big-Rig Truck Depot Officially Opens In Harlem At Proposed One45 Site

HARLEM, NY — A large controversial truck depot officially will open Wednesday morning on a Harlem block once slated to hold a massive and equally contentious residential development, developer Bruce Teitelbaum told Patch.

The first trucks are slated to come rolling into the pit-stop on West 145th Street between Lenox Avenue and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard — the proposed site of the ill-fated One45 rezoning project — about 10:30 a.m., the developer said.

"Today, instead of celebrating the construction of 917 units of desperately needed housing in Harlem and NYC's first ever Geo-Thermal Green Energy District, which would have drastically reduced carbon emissions in the community, we are reluctantly commencing with Plan B that starts with a truck depot," Teitelbaum told Patch in a statement.

"Unfortunately, our other as-of-right-now options that make business sense are extremely limited and, until the site is vacant, even those plans are not practical," he added. "This is why we have to start with the truck on the vacant portion of the site as we continue to plan for the future."

The truck stop can hold up to 200 vehicles depending on their size.

Teitelbaum first broke the news to Patch in September that "a rental depot for big-rigs and trucks" would be installed in the former Speedway gas station that has sat empty and fenced off since 2016.

"Given the proximity to several nearby highways and roads, we think it’s the perfect spot for them and we have received a lot of interest in this regard," Teitelbaum said at the time.

In the months since, multiple people have condemned the truck stop project, including Lonnie Portis, a coordinator for the Harlem environmental group WE ACT.

"This inequitable siting has turned these communities into environmental sacrifice zones, with the cumulative impacts of these multiple sources of pollution exponentially harming their residents, causing health impacts such as asthma, lung and heart disease, increased birth defects, and learning impairments," Portis said.

Harlem already has above-average rates of childhood asthma and pollution when compared to other areas of the city.

Teitelbaum responded by pointing to his rejected housing development, which he said would have been an environmental and economic boon to the neighborhood.

"Our unprecedented plan to build about 1,000 new homes, half of which would have been deeply affordable to local residents," he said.

The developer also laid blame into Harlem Council Member Kristin Richardson Jordan for her "inexplicably" rejecting the original One45 plan, and that she "never once reached out to discuss a viable alternative," Teitelbaum said in his statement Wednesday morning.

Richardson Jordan denied to Patch that she never reached out to him.

Richardson Jordan said multiple times that she opposed the One45 project on the grounds it would contribute to gentrification, displace Black and low-income residents, and not include enough affordable housing.

It is unclear how permanent the truck stop will be.

Since Teitelbaum voluntarily withdrew the rezoning rather than have it be rejected by the Council, he still has the ability to propose other zoning changes for the site, which spans nearly all of the 145th Street and runs around the corner of Lenox Avenue toward West 144th Street.

He mentioned in his statement Wednesday that he is still considering "suitable and permissible options" for the site that include a self-storage facility, market rate rentals or luxury condominiums.

Please reach out to gus.saltonstall@patch.com if you live near the truck depot and have any opinions or concerns you would like to share.