As the much-touted redevelopment of Harlem's iconic main street fizzles, at least 14 projects on a 10-block stretch of 125th Street (Martin Luther King Boulevard) are dead or on life-support.Where new office and retail towers, an all sports TV station, high-rise hotels and a cooking school were to be built, there are empty stores and vacant lots.
The neighborhood mom-and-pops, like Bobby's Happy House, M&G Diner and Manna's Soul Food -- were preemptively evicted to make room for development that never happened.
The vacancy rate on one 5-block section of 125th Street is 16%.
Said one store owner, "All they know is corporate America, and corporate America is kaput now. It's us little guys that got kicked out, that are unique and specialized, that bring people to New York."
How many times will this message have to be repeated before it's heard?
The article from the New York Post:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/04052009/news/regionalnews/harlem_is_losing_a_bit_of_its_oul_162969.htm
