Harlem Public Housing May Get New Retail Space

Parkings lots and lawns around three public housing projects in Manhattan’s East Harlem neighborhood might eventually be covered with up to a total of 489,000 square feet of new retail space, according to a proposed zoning change now being considered by the New York City Planning Department.

The idea is to line a quiet stretch of Park Avenue from East 113th Street to East 115th Street with shops that would be an amenity for public housing residents and the neighborhood — and would also bring in extra money for the housing authority. “Residents [now] need to walk long, inactive blocks to shop and fulfill their daily needs,” a City Planning spokeswoman said in a statement to Crains’ New York Business.

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