5 of 7

Write now Article Tools

Michael Ebserstadt is the owner of Slice of Harlem pizzeria on 125th Street. Last year he was forced to shut down his restaurant. "We developed a very loyal local clientele," he says. "There just weren't enough of them." Recently local entrepreneurs have been forced to close down for the same reason: a lack of customers. This means even more empty storefronts on a street that has been in decline for a long time. Most agree that new developments in Harlem are necessary to reduce unemployment.

Now 125th Avenue is facing the most sweeping zoning change since 1961. The rezoning hopes to to promote housing and commercial development. The New York City Department of City Planning wants to rezone 24 blocks along 125th Street. Support for the revitalization started in 2004 based on input from the public Advisory Committee meetings. The rezoning promises to transform Harlem's Main Street from a low-rise boulevard once considered the heart of black cultural life into a business hub; complete with office towers as high as twenty-nine stories. Will 125th street become the next Manhattan Main Street?

No other street in Harlem carries with it the history of 125th Street. WEB DuBois had an office at 139 West 125th Ave. Malcolm X gave speeches at the corner of 125th and 7th. Langston Hughes set up the Harlem Suitcase theater in 1937 right above Frank's Restaurant on 125th Street. Ralph Waldo Ellison penned The Invisible Man on 125th Street. Bobby Robinsons shop which was bought in August 1946 was the first black owned business on 125th Street, and the Apollo theater opened there in 1934.

In October 2007 Mayor Bloomberg decided to expand the business districts in all five boroughs. To date there has already been major rezoning in almost 6,000 of the cities blocks. The rezoning proposal has many supporters from businesses, artists, even labor groups-all hoping that the expansion will result in new investment potential.
Currently most of the 125th corridor is zoned either as C4-4 that allows for medium-density commercial and residential development, or C4-7 which allows high-density mixed use development. Some portions of 125th are zoned as C4-5, C4-4A, and R7-2. The zoning has been place since the early sixties and according to some-no longer supports newer trends along the corridor.

The Department of City planning proposes zoning text to establish the Special 125th Street District that covers the 125th street corridor from Broadway to Second Avenue. This Special District will include

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• next page >>

Add your voice

Know something about Rezoning Harlem's Main Street?
We want to hear your view. Write now!