The Department of Housing Preservation and Development wants to acquire a property in East Harlem, identified as Block 1790, Lot 12, under the long-running Harlem East Harlem Urban Renewal Plan. A public hearing by phone is set for Monday, Nov. 23, at 10 a.m.
A city notice published Oct. 21 lays out the proposal under the state General Municipal Law and the City Charter.
What HPD is proposing
The urban renewal plan provides for the city to acquire the lot, together with the beds of any streets in the area. The notice says the acquisition is needed to carry out the renewal program described in the plan.
Urban renewal is the decades-old legal tool the city uses to assemble land for redevelopment. The notice does not say whether the city would buy the lot outright or acquire it another way.
The urban renewal area
The Harlem East Harlem Urban Renewal Area covers a large swath of upper Manhattan. It is bounded roughly by West 127th and East 133rd streets on the north and the Harlem River on the east.
On the south it runs along West 110th, East 107th and East 110th streets, and on the west it follows Fifth, Madison, Park and Lexington avenues and Malcolm X Boulevard.
The notice lists the hearing under the title “MEC B Center.”
📅 Monday, Nov. 23, 2026
🕐 10:00 a.m., or as soon after as the matter is reached
📍 By phone: 1-646-992-2010, access code 2330 155 3512
📧 Accommodation requests: disabilityaffairs@mocs.nyc.gov or (212) 788-0010, at least three business days ahead
What the notice does not say
The notice does not give a street address for the lot, describe what stands there now, or say who owns it.
It also does not explain what “MEC B Center” refers to or what HPD plans to build, and it gives no price.
Tip about a hearing or contract in your neighborhood? howard@nycinfocus.com
Details as filed. Verify times and locations before attending.
