The Gentrification of Harlem

In the 1980s Harlem symbolized decades of neglect. Ignored by both private and public sectors, Harlem became the best-known slum in the United States. Seventy-five years of concentrated poverty and failed public policy caused this once affluent suburb of New York City to rot.

Harlem was ripe for renewal. By the early 1970s sixty per cent of the housing stock in Central Harlem was city-owned, operated or assisted because of non-payment of taxes. A quarter of the housing was abandoned and the remaining stock was in disrepair. Storefronts, apartments and brownstones were boarded and cement-blocked up. Harlem’s choicest real estate in proximity to downtown was still attractive to speculators. Even as Harlem sat idle those with an eye for real estate had Harlem on their minds.

The revitalization of Harlem took form in the late 1970s. Invisible to casual observers, Harlem underwent a transformation that changed the landscapes and streetscapes into pockets of stable middle-class communities.

Beginning with legislation and recommendations from the Harlem Task Force, established in 1982 under the auspices of the Koch administration, public policies forged private-public partnerships to restore brownstones, tenements and apartment buildings. The city also offered tax abatements, grants and no-interest loans to developers. Additionally, legislation called for attracting upscale retail establishments and replacing vacant lots with new retail and residential construction, while concurrently shifting the social and economic demographics of Harlem.

New construction and renovation began on the edges of Harlem above 96th Street on the east side. It continued on to the west side in Morningside Heights, a white enclave that has been protected for most of the twentieth century by Columbia University’s early renewal policies and gentrification efforts.

Forging alliances with the private sector, the city turned over city-owned properties, lots, and buildings to developers to rehabilitate and then sell to moderate and middle-income families, preferably to Harlem residents who lived in areas served by Community Boards 9 and 10. To insure fairness and integrity, auctions were held under the watchful eye of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), a city agency responsible for all of New York City’s housing stock since the 1960s.

The first auctions were held in 1982. Initially 140 townhomes were sold. The city received more than 1200 bids. The winners paid between $2000 and $163,000 for the properties. The average auction price was $50,000 and 98 of the winners came from Community District 10 in central Harlem.

As more properties were rehabbed and sold, areas that once stood vacant saw new life. More anchor projects like the Towers on the Park condominiums that were planned in the early 1980s, broke ground in October 1985 and were completed in 1988, changed the landscape. Located on West 110th Street and Central Park West, Towers on the Park served as a catalyst for further development into Harlem. Earmarked for moderate-income buyers, the Towers offered families with incomes between $34,000 and $48,000 the opportunity to become first-time homebuyers. To make market-rate housing affordable to middle-income families, public and private partner- ships combined with federally subsidized grants went directly to homebuyers.

By 1992 landmark districts that once stood for prosperity were reclaimed. Neighborhoods in Harlem including Mount Morris Park, Hamilton Heights, and Sugar Hill became gentrified as the middle class settled in.

Gentrification is a process of symbolic change in the social class and physical structure of the housing stock. It is clear Harlem’s gentrification is in full swing.

The fear of gentrification is real. Proponents believe that once more middle and upper class residents invade Harlem, long-time residents could be forced out. While some deny displacement, Harlem’s escalating rents and property values imply something else. Priced out, many long-time residents are now looking for housing out of state or in the outer boroughs, leaving behind a community called home for decades.

Throughout Harlem tenants are organizing and fighting displacement. Advocates have proposed keeping city owned properties in public ownership and developing them for those with moderate incomes. Alternatives to displacement and gentrification are turning more city-owned properties into cooperative apartments like Riverbend and Esplanade Gardens.