That icon of suburbia known as the mall will make its debut in East Harlem next month. All the papers are reporting on the opening date of November 12th for the East River Plaza. The funny thing about mall mentality is that, in the past, either folks moved to the suburbs to live their mall culture lives or folks who started in the suburbs fled to the city to get away from them. The New York Times is quick to point out that, since it took about two decades to finish, the idea of the need for a big mall to attract big box retailers is looking a bit archaic since the concept to construct it was hatched in the 1990's. Retailers such as Home Depot have since retro-fitted themselves into existing Manhattan buildings and are doing well while adapting to the city. In today's greener way of thinking, a potential automobile-clogging super-structure would not have been conceived since it's now been proven that they are not needed for retailers to do well in Manhattan.
Instead, should Harlem focus on a new Main Street? You bet. It's called 125th Street, one of the most famous streets in the world. Developers and the government could focus on truly maximizing the pedestrian-friendly potential of this thoroughfare, revitalizing former department store buildings and bringing new life to the empty lots dotting the corridor.
To understand the impact of the East River Plaza on its immediate surroundings, we will have block per block photos posted later on tonight. The top photos are of the parking lot side of East 116th Street, between Pleasant Avenue and the FDR Drive. The original aluminum mesh encasing the entire structure idea was scrapped by the city, and brick has been added on the exterior. This side of the street actually looks okay now since it's in scale with the side buildings, and they covered up what started out as your typical horizontal strips of garage ramps. Read more in the Times article: LINK. Photos by Ulysses
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