Mayor Zohran Mamdani joined the Feb. 18 groundbreaking for a mixed-use development in East Harlem, where an NYPD parking lot will be transformed into hundreds of affordable homes and a vibrant arts hub.
The future 20-story Timbale Terrace on East 119th and Lexington Ave. will include 341 affordable units for residents earning $30,000 to $130,000 per year, 97 supportive units for formerly homeless New Yorkers and the new Casa Belongó Music and Arts Center on the ground floor and cellar.
The center will total 21,000 square feet of space for performances, music lessons, community events and programming, a café and more.
Casa Belongó’s space in the building will be rent-free for 60 years, “fortifying their place in the community for generations to come,” said Emanuel Kokinakis of development firm Mega Group.
Also joining Mamdani for the groundbreaking were Council Members Yusef Salaam and Elsie Encarnacion, and Assembly Member Eddie Gibbs; the onsite provider of supportive services, Lantern Organization; the financing side, including Goldman Sachs, which financed over $200 million for the project; and Casa Belongó’s executive director, Marietta Ulacia.
The event kicked off with a song composed for the occasion by six-time GRAMMY winner Arturo O’Farrill and the Casa Belongó ensemble, which Mamdani called “apparently New York’s first-ever mayoral mambo.”
Mamdani recounted the strong legacy of arts in East Harlem, which was the birthplace of legendary Puerto Rican jazz musician Tito Puente. At Timbale Terrace, generations of people will carry on that legacy, Mamdani said.
East Harlem’s cultural flourishing “did not happen by accident. It happened because generations of New Yorkers could afford to live here,” establishing “a foundation for lives of joy and creativity,” he said.
The mayor promised more projects like Timbale Terrace “as we pursue a housing agenda that balances new production with tenant protections.”
Other speakers reflected on the fight to bring the project to fruition and make better use of the prime site, which is close to public transit in the heart of East Harlem.
Comptroller Mark Levine, who previously served as Manhattan Borough President, said Timbale Terrace was once the site of run-down tenements that were demolished under “so-called urban renewal” efforts that promised new and better housing.
However, “Part two of that plan never happened. This remained vacant for decades,” Levine said.
Given the city’s housing crisis, Levine said it was “unacceptable” for the lot to be used for parking, though 75 NYPD parking spaces will be restored.
Levine said that Timbale Terrace was one of the most difficult housing fights in his tenure — “It was not a foregone conclusion that we would be standing here today” — but now that it’s done, the demand for the apartments is sure to be staggering, reflecting the urgent need for more.
Based on past Housing Connect lotteries, the city can expect tens of thousands, maybe nearly 100,000 applications, for Timbale Terrace, he said.
“This incredible success, we need to replicate hundreds of more times all over New York City,” Levine said.
The need for more housing
Timbale Terrace was envisioned in the 2016 East Harlem rezoning plan, which came under controversy among some individuals and organizations concerned that adding housing would lead to gentrification and displacement. But the wide range of accepted incomes, plus homes and supportive services for formerly homeless individuals, are meant to address those concerns.
Mamdani said he spoke with one New Yorker who lived in the airport for five months, underscoring the need for many more deeply affordable housing units.
Though Timbale Terrace will likely be life-changing for hundreds of New Yorkers, housing advocates decried the process that took more than 10 years to even reach the groundbreaking stage.
Annemarie Gray, executive director of the advocacy organization Open New York, said in a statement that it was “unconscionable” for the project to take so long.
Open New York said that after the development was proposed in 2016, it took five years for a developer to be selected, plus another five years to complete the processes of environmental review, the land use (ULURP) application and financing.
Gray said ten years represented “an incredibly slow pace that’s not appropriate to the urgency of this crisis” and applauded changes approved by voters in November that will likely shorten the timeline for future projects.
“Time is of the essence in this extreme housing shortage,” she said.
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
