City searches for Citarella replacement
As one grocery store leaves West Harlem, the city is preparing to review proposals for its replacement.
At a meeting Tuesday night, city officials said that plans for replacing the upscale grocery store, which is being evicted from its complex on 125th and 126th streets, are progressing.
Alejandro Baquero, assistant vice president of development at the city’s Economic Development Corporation—the agency handling the new developer search—said that responses from developers are due by 5 p.m. on Wednesday. His office has not received any yet, he said.
“The process depends on the size of the pool and the strength of the applications,” Baquero said. “We’ll see what the market says.”
Citarella’s eviction is the result of a State Supreme Court ruling in June 2009, which asserted that its developer failed to fulfill a promise to fill office and retail space in its building, the former Taystee Bakery Complex. The city has been searching for a new developer since November.
Baquero said that litigation is still ongoing and he could not comment about his expectations for the proposals, though he has received a number of calls.
The meeting, hosted by West Harlem’s Community Board 9, brought the EDC and the board’s Land Use and Zoning Committee together to discuss health and business issues in Harlem.
Local residents had an array of suggestions for the building’s future use, including a fruit and vegetable market or an expansion of the Tuck-It-Away storage facility. Baquero maintained that whatever they decide, the building will adhere to the area’s mixed-use policy outlined in the West Harlem rezoning plan last month—meaning it would mix different types of commercial and residential space.
“For us, it was very clear that in the event of a redevelopment of that area this site has to attract jobs, jobs, jobs,” Baquero said.
Larry English, chair of Community Board 9, agreed.
“We’re looking for a proposal that fits outside of the box and creates jobs. … I’m not prepared to say what goes there, but we told EDC to be a partner in the project. We need the right kind of economic development and that is up for debate for what that is,” English said.
Many attendees left the meeting before the Citarella building was even mentioned, since that development was only discussed after a long presentation by the city’s Department of Small Business.
“None of the issues in the meeting today should have been discussed,” said Savona Bailey-McClain, a CB9 member and West Harlem resident.
“Everyone involved in this meeting is aware of what is going on, and this meeting was to benefit people who are not involved,” she said, citing the presentations before the discussion of Citarella. “West Harlem needs energy, transportation, technical, and creative business. Not supermarkets,” she added.