Harlem's Long-Empty 'Mart 125' May Stir Back To Life, City Says

HARLEM, NY — A long-delayed plan to revitalize a long-vacant public market on 125th Street is stirring back to life after years of setbacks and a pandemic pause.

Mart 125, built in 1986 as an open-air vendors' market across from the Apollo Theater, has sat mostly empty for 20 years. Though heralded when it first opened, the market soon fell into disrepair, and financial squabbles resulted in the city evicting all 50 merchants starting in 1998.

Multiple proposals for the site have fallen through since then, from a museum of jazz in 2010 to a digital media venture in 2014 to a nonprofit-led coworking space and film production office in 2019.

But last week, officials with the city's Economic Development Corporation told Community Board 10 that they were making progress on a study of the space's current conditions as they look once again to "revitalize and redevelop" the dormant market.

The end product could be a reopened market with food and other retail on the ground floor and some arts or cultural component on the mezzanine, EDC said in a separate board visit in June.

The feasibility study, kicked off earlier this year, found that the market was in generally good condition despite its age, though its roof has shown signs of "wear and tear and water infiltration," EDC representative Olivia Arnow said.

In recent months, workers cleaned up the market's interior, removing debris and dismantling a rusty metal beam that once spanned the facade above the front entrance, which was deemed a safety hazard.

About $13.5 million in funding has been earmarked for the project, though the exact cost will be determined by the ongoing study, according to EDC. Requests for proposals would be issued to pick the cultural organization and a manager for the retail space.

Sometime this week, EDC plans to send out a community survey asking Harlemites for feedback about "what kind of uses and what kind of programming they would like to see in this space," EDC representative Fernando Ortiz said.

Sometime next spring, EDC will present findings from the survey and the completed feasibility study.

In the recent meetings, some board members expressed cautious optimism about the project — though years of failed attempts may discourage too much confidence.

"That space has been vacant and not utilized in this community for a long time," board member Karen Dixon said in June. "Although it may not have landmark status, it is a center point in this community."