Harlem Comes Together to Talk Housing, Community and the Future of 145th Street

Story by Bennie Randall - Editor In Chief - Vonoi Magazine / Photos by Vonoi Media

Harlem has never been afraid to have a conversation about its future, and that spirit was on full display at a recent community town hall focused on the One45 development and the future of Harlem. Residents, community leaders, business owners, elected officials, developers, advocates and longtime Harlem residents gathered to talk openly about housing, affordability, jobs, development, small businesses and what it really means to keep Harlem a place where the people who built the community can continue to live, work and thrive.

The meeting was about much more than a real estate project. At its heart was a larger question that Harlem has been wrestling with for years. How does a community grow without losing the people, culture and history that made it special in the first place?  That question brought emotion, passion and some difficult conversations into the room. It also created something important that every community needs, an opportunity for people with different perspectives to sit in the same room and actually talk.

The One45 project, located at West 145th Street and Lenox Avenue, has been debated for years. The currently approved plan calls for approximately 1,000 residential units across three buildings, including 338 affordable units. The plan includes 126 affordable units at an average of 60 percent of Area Median Income, 122 units at an average of 80 percent AMI, and a third building planned as 100 percent affordable senior housing with 90 units.

One of the strongest themes of the evening was the idea that housing cannot simply be measured by the number of apartments created. Housing is about families. It is about seniors. It is about working people. It is about young people trying to establish themselves. It is about longtime residents who do not want to be forced out of the neighborhood they have called home for decades. It is also about creating opportunities for people to participate in the economic activity that comes with development.

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That was one of the most powerful messages throughout the evening. Harlem residents want development, but they also want development that creates opportunities for Harlem residents. They want jobs. They want training. They want businesses from the community to have an opportunity to participate. They want young people to see construction and development not simply as something happening around them, but as an opportunity to build careers and create economic stability for themselves and their families.

The Community Benefits Agreement connected many of those ideas. The project includes plans for a 23,000 square foot technology center with community rooms, along with approximately 30,000 square feet of commercial, retail and community space. The agreement also includes provisions intended to create opportunities for Harlem businesses and minority and women owned businesses. Public information released by the City Council also identifies job training, employment and other community investments connected to the project.

That part of the conversation deserves attention because economic development is about more than putting up buildings. If a new building comes into a neighborhood but the people who live there do not have access to the jobs, businesses, contracts, training and opportunities connected to that investment, the community is left asking an important question, Who is the development really for?

The town hall also highlighted the importance of Harlem's history. One of the speakers spoke passionately about the generations of families, churches, mosques, synagogues, entrepreneurs, activists and community organizations that helped build Harlem. Harlem's history is not simply a collection of buildings and streets. It is a history of people who created institutions, fought for dignity, built businesses and protected their community during difficult periods.

That history was particularly important when Dr. Malcolm Punter of Harlem Congregations for Community Improvement spoke about HCCI's role in Harlem. HCCI describes itself as a community organization focused on housing and economic development and says it has produced nearly 3,000 units of affordable housing for the Harlem community.

Punter also made an important distinction during the discussion. He explained that HCCI's role as a community benefits administrator requires neutrality in evaluating whether the commitments associated with the agreement are being fulfilled. That distinction matters because community organizations involved in these agreements have to maintain credibility with residents while also working with developers, government agencies and other partners.

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Perhaps one of the most meaningful parts of the evening was the willingness of residents to ask hard questions. People asked about affordability. They asked about displacement. They asked about construction jobs. They asked about small businesses. They asked about environmental concerns. They asked about seniors. They asked about residents who may not fit neatly into the income categories established for the apartments. They asked about construction impacts, including concerns about rodents and environmental testing. They asked what would happen to surrounding businesses and cultural institutions as the neighborhood changes.
Those questions demonstrated something important about Harlem. Residents are paying attention.

They are not simply looking at a rendering and deciding whether they like the architecture. They are thinking about what happens after the ribbon cutting. They are thinking about whether their children will be able to afford to stay. They are thinking about whether the neighborhood's small businesses will survive. They are thinking about whether young people will have access to meaningful employment. They are thinking about seniors who have lived in Harlem for generations. They are thinking about people who may earn too much to qualify for some affordable housing programs but not enough to comfortably afford market rate housing.

The discussion about small businesses was especially important. Harlem's identity has always been connected to its entrepreneurs, restaurants, shops, cultural institutions, churches and locally owned businesses. New development can bring additional customers and investment, but it can also create pressure on surrounding commercial corridors. The town hall brought that issue directly into the conversation, with residents asking how local businesses would be supported as development moves forward.

Another major theme was workforce development. The conversation made it clear that residents want more than temporary construction jobs. They want pathways into careers. The Community Benefits Agreement includes workforce initiatives involving job readiness, specialized training, workplace safety and trade skills. The goal discussed at the meeting was to give Harlem residents the preparation necessary to qualify for opportunities connected to the project and potentially build careers beyond a single development. That is an important distinction. A job can help someone today. A skill can continue paying someone tomorrow.

The developers also provided an update on the project timeline, explaining that site preparation and demolition were underway and that construction would follow the necessary approvals and permitting process. The development team described plans for the two larger buildings to move forward together, with the senior housing building tied to the future availability of the third site. Public reporting has likewise documented the project's progression toward construction following City Council approval.

Council Member Yusef Salaam's message throughout the meeting centered on the idea that no single development can solve every housing problem facing Harlem. That point became especially relevant as residents raised concerns that go beyond One45 itself. The discussion made clear that Harlem's housing challenges involve both creating new housing and preserving existing housing.

That may have been one of the most important takeaways from the entire evening.
The conversation should not be reduced to simply being for or against one development. Harlem's housing situation is much bigger than one property. There are longtime residents struggling with rising costs. There are aging buildings that require investment. There are seniors who need accessible housing. There are working families caught between income levels. There are young people who want to remain in the community where they were raised. There are small businesses trying to survive rising expenses.

There is also a generation of Harlem residents who want to participate in the economic future of their own neighborhood. That is where the idea of collective economics came into the conversation. The message was simple, Harlem has always survived through community. People pooling resources, supporting one another, creating institutions and building businesses has been part of Harlem's story for generations.

Development should create opportunities for that tradition to continue. The evening was not without disagreement. In fact, the disagreement was one of the most important parts of the town hall. Residents voiced concerns about the number of affordable units, income requirements and whether the project would do enough for longtime Harlem residents. Kai from Defend Harlem presented a statement calling for additional affordability and more deeply affordable units, along with a meeting with city officials and project representatives to discuss potential changes.

The response from the organizers was equally important. Rather than pretending everyone agreed, speakers acknowledged that disagreement is part of community life. The message was that residents have every right to hold elected officials, developers and community organizations accountable, but those conversations should be grounded in facts and conducted respectfully. That is what a town hall is supposed to do. It is supposed to create a space where people can question decisions, explain their concerns, hear information directly from the people responsible for making or implementing those decisions, and continue the conversation after the microphones are turned off.

The One45 conversation is ultimately a conversation about what Harlem becomes next. The neighborhood has changed before. It will continue to change. The question is how that change happens and who gets an opportunity to participate in it. Harlem deserves investment. Harlem deserves quality housing. Harlem deserves jobs and workforce training. Harlem deserves strong small businesses. Harlem deserves opportunities for young people. Harlem deserves housing options for seniors. Harlem also deserves to protect the cultural institutions, families and businesses that have carried this community through generations.

The most powerful part of the town hall was not that everyone walked away agreeing. They did not. The powerful part was that people showed up. They asked questions. They challenged assumptions. They shared personal experiences. They talked about their families. They talked about their businesses. They talked about housing. They talked about history. They talked about the future.
That is how communities remain communities.

The future of Harlem cannot be decided by one developer, one elected official, one organization or one project. It will continue to be shaped by the people who live here, work here, build here, invest here and care enough to show up and speak.
One45 is one chapter in that much larger Harlem story. The town hall reminded everyone in the room that the story is still being written.

​Vonoi Magazine