Plan For 1,600 Homes In 5 New Towers Met With Anger In Harlem

HARLEM, NY — Central Harlem's community board will oppose a developer-led plan to rezone Lenox Terrace in order to build five high-rise towers containing 1,600 new units on the grounds of the multi-block apartment complex.

The board passed a resolution Wednesday night objecting to the planned development, citing a number of concerns with the project. Chief among the concerns was the size of the rezoning and its potential to bring a new wave of gentrification to Harlem.

The Olnick Organization — which has owned Lenox Terrace since its construction in 1958 — applied to upzone Lenox Terrace's zoning to a C6-2 district, which would allow for the construction of five new 28-story buildings with a mix of residential and retail uses. The sprawling complex — bounded by Lenox Avenue, Fifth Avenue, West 132nd Street and West 135th Street — already contains about 1,700 apartments, many of which are rent-stabilized.

Community Board 10 land use committee chair Lisa Downing rejected the C6-2 zoning as out of scale for Lenox Terrace, and said the board would not support any expansion of Lenox Terrace that asked for the zoning.

Members of community board 10 also voiced concerns that the project would threaten the African-American plurality of Harlem. For decades, Lenox Terrace has been home to a majority of African-American residents, but new market-rate units could bring a shift in demographics. The board also warned that approving an upzoning at Lenox Terrace could encourage private developers to pursue similar projects in the area.

"Development on this block in totality could set a dangerous precedent for multifamily buildings in Harlem built in this era and accelerate the termination of the African-American plurality in the neighborhood forever," Community Board 10's resolution reads.

Other concerns listed by the board include potential health hazards that could arise during the expected eight years of construction on the new towers, displacement of small businesses in favor of destination retailers in the new buildings and the Olnick Organization's failure to maintain and repair the homes of current Lenox Terrace residents.

"We need a lot of things at Lenox Terrace before a rezoning," Dr. Hazel Dukes, a Lenox Terrace resident and Community Board 10 member said Wednesday. "We don't want it destroyed, we don't need a Saks or a Macy's."

The board's resolution passed by a narrow margin of 20 in favor and 15 against. Many board members were dissatisfied with the board's decision to vote "no with conditions," and voted against the resolution in favor of forming a "no without conditions" resolution. By adding conditions to the resolution, the board's action could be perceived as opening a negotiation with developers instead of an outright rejection of the plan, board members said.

Downing, the board's land use chair, said that a resolution with conditions provides the board an opportunity to explain why it opposes Olnick's application for a rezoning. The resolution, which is about 10 pages long, can be more use to the Borough President, City Planning Commission and City Council if it contains a full list of the board's concerns, the committee chair said.

Members of the public who packed the meeting also favored a resolution opposing Olnick's plans without conditions. Residents of Lenox Terrace have previously voiced concerns with the project, claiming that it will tarnish the development's "cultural and historical significance as a center of African-American culture."

Lawyers representing the Lenox Terrace Association of Concerned Tenants have said that current zoning regulations at the site would still allow Olnick to expand the complex, but at a smaller scale. The zoning change developers are proposing would turn the site into an area that resembles Harlem's main commercial stretch of 125th Street more than Lennox Terrace's current residential community.

The Olnick Organization released a statement Wednesday touting its expansion as the "largest private affordable housing initiative in Harlem." Of the 1,600 new apartments planned in the development, a quarter would be offered through the city's Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program.

"The proposal to upgrade Lenox Terrace will result in the construction of hundreds of apartments for people earning the minimum wage and below-average income, and upgrades to hundreds of existing apartments for current residents at no added cost to them," Tom Corsillo, a spokesperson for The Olnick Organization, said in a statement.

Corsillo added that Wednesday night's vote was the first step in a process that will allow Olnick to refine its proposal based off community input.

Olnick's application will go before Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, whose office will have 30 days to hold a public hearing and vote on the proposal.