El Barrio – There’s good news, and then there’s bad news. Of course, I’m finding it hard to tell, which is good, which is bad, and which is simply the inevitable. I’ve waited, I’ve watched, and I’ve seen – East Harlem is changing, perhaps irreversibly, much like Alphabet City did in the 1980’s and early ‘90’s, before it simply became known as the East Village. The Village Voice reports this week on the death of Avenue B – how long will it be before someone has to write a similar piece on 116^th Street?

If you’re not aware, the plans are still creaking along for a big-box development on the site of the old Washburn Wire Factory, on the FDR drive, between 116^th and 119^th Streets. Quiet neighborhood, this. Folks are concerned. No one really began discussing it in any length until the developer began threatening existing businesses with displacement. And we watched the sparks begin to fly. Turns out, it does, that the FDR will need to be moved a little to make room for this monstrosity, this East River Plaza thing. That’s not so simple. Easier said than done, etc.

J.A. Lobbia of the Voice, in this week’s Towers and Tenements column, reports this: turns out, City Planning Commissioner Joe Rose "abruptly closed" a public hearing on plans for the eyesore, saying:

"We've got scale, traffic interaction, and aesthetic issues here that are significant enough to warrant some considerable discussion and reworking. Each of these issues has not been addressed acceptably . . . and it's not possible . . . to have a high degree of comfort that this is a project that . . . can work." Hmm. I smell a roadblock.

This is good, and it’s bad. As we’ve said before, the neighborhood could use some help. However, is this the kind of help it needs? Why can’t we get a grocery store over here? Sure, Costco is fine, but a grocery store, like one people can shop at on a regular basis. We don’t need a five gallon-drum of mayonaise at 5 in the morning. How about an 24-hr Pathmark? A decent laundromat? 

Lobbia reports further that the supposed 2000 jobs that will be created may be at the expense of almost 850 existing ones, jobs that may be lost due to displacement, or dwindling profits should the developer, ESD, have their way with the property.

And don't even think about renting an apartment in the beautiful new walk-up building being renovated currently, on the NW corner of 116th at Pleasant. All those beautiful new windows and lots of light are going to do no one any good if they end up staring at a concrete wall or a big orange, Home Depot sign (remember the Kenny Rogers Roasters episode of Seinfeld? It won't seem so funny when it's you.) Truth be told, we hear that the developer wants to do away with this building as well.

Another thing -- a word to the neighborhood boosters behind this project. Do any of you live on the block? I guarantee you'd think twice before getting excited about an eight story parking garage dwarfing your building, not to mention emitting intolerable amounts of exhaust. If you think i'm exaggerating, take a look at the project web-site. If you've ever seen this corner that they're talking about, you'll be dumb struck by the size of this beast. (East River Plaza). Commissioner Rose is absolutely right to say that he does not have a high degree of comfort about the logistics of this project. One would think that anyone with a pulse whould be smart enough to feel that way as well. 

And it goes without saying, that truck traffic in the neighborhood would be nigh unbearable, as the FDR does not allow commercial traffic. The corner of First Avenue and 116^th Street would be absolutely insufferable, to put it mildly. And don’t even think about Pleasant Avenue – that lovely quiet street, home to many elderly tenants – I can just see trucks barrelling down there, avoiding the First/116^th intersection. This is not good.

Once again. We're not saying the area does not need an economic jump start. But how emphatic can we possibly be in our feeling that this project is not, most definitely not the answer.

Excuse me if i'm getting a little excited, but honestly - can this neighborhood bear up under the weight of a commercial development of such epic proportions? Continue to cross your fingers, and in the meantime, keep your ears to the ground.