Residents of one Harlem neighborhood feel like they’ve been given a migrant bait-and-switch.
A building development that was marketed as a plush condominium complex on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. is instead going to be turned — with taxpayer money — into a homeless shelter that could potentially house migrants.
The unexpected change of use has left some in the area outraged.
“There was no discussion, no conversation about this plan with the community. This building has been empty for so long,” CB 10 chairman Marquis Harrison said.
The 35-unit complex at 2201 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd near 130th Street was billed as a lux living space where residents would pay market rates to enjoy an indoor swimming pool and apartments with marble bathrooms.
But after the developer ran into money problems that forced foreclosure, and now the site is being leased to a non-profit that is working with the city Department of Social Services/Homeless Services as a shelter for either migrants or the Big Apple’s native homeless population.
City officials confirmed to Community Board 10 that it was contracting to run a shelter there after neighborhood residents saw workers bringing bed frames and mattresses into the building.
“We are in the process of determining whether to use this site for long-term New Yorkers or newly-arriving migrants based on need,” a DSS spokesperson said.
Harlem residents complain working class people are being forced out of the uptown neighborhood because of a dearth of affordable housing and rising prices, and wonder why converting the abandoned luxury apartment complex into lower-cost apartments is not being considered.
“There’s a need for housing for community members as well,” CB 10 chairman Marquis Harrison said.
A community forum on the use of the building is being hosted Thursday night by the St. Nicholas House Resident Association, in concert with the youth advocacy group Silent Voices United.
A flyer announcing the meeting questioned the use of scarce housing resources in Harlem for a “sanctuary” shelter for migrants instead of apartments and blasted the secrecy surrounding the project
“Why are the residents with Section 8 vouchers struggling to find affordable housing while new accommodations are readily available for others,” the flyer from the groups said.
Residents also complained of criminal activity taking place around the building.
“We demand transparency, Mr. MAYOR [Eric Adams]. The high-crime, drug prevention surrounding 2201 demands your attention. Before introducing new complexities like an asylum seekers shelter, we urge a comprehensive plan to improve existing conditions.” the flyer said.
New York City and other urban centers have been grappling with the arrival of unrelenting waves of migrants triggered by the crisis at the southern border with Mexico.
More than 170,000 migrants have arrived in the Big Apple over the past year and a half — including 66,000 that are still in the city-run shelter system — with the crisis expected to cost $10.6 billion through the 2025 fiscal year.
The city has opened more than 210 emergency shelter sites to shelter them as the border crisis enters its third year.
It’s quite a turnound for the Harlem property, once marketed as WA Condominiums.
“WA Condominiums is one of the newest condominiums in the storied neighborhood of Central Harlem. This modern luxury building is surrounded by the jazz clubs, theaters, and ethnic cuisine the area is known for,” a still active website says.
“All rooms include granite countertops, marble bathrooms……. For the physically active, WA features an indoor pool, a state-of-the-art fitness center and a rooftop running track.”
But it wasn’t to be.
A bank filed a lawsuit to foreclose on the WA Condominiums in 2010 after the developers allegedly defaulted on $13.2 million in loans, and the project was abandoned.
