Harlem in 2016?

Sometimes barbeque and bagel just isn't enough. This Memorial Day weekend, the forces of economic development joined the Harlem block party thanks to a New York Magazine cover story about real estate in 2016. The article examines what Harlem will look like ten years from now, and likens 125th Street to Times Square:

There’s never been a musical named after it, but 125th Street could give 42nd Street a run for its money in the name-recognition department. The buses arrive, drop tourists at the Apollo Theater, maybe swing by Sylvia’s or Amy Ruth’s for lunch. On Sundays, the local churches fill with non-locals absorbing the Gospel. But often that is it. There’s nothing else distinctly “Harlem” to see, since the out-of-towners have Old Navy and H&M at home.

“There’s something as precious here as the atmosphere of Paris,” says Harlem historian and booster Michael Henry Adams. “They will sweep it all away and turn it into Paramus, New Jersey.”

Ah, the comparisons just keep getting sweeter... first Times Square, now New Jersey?! Is this really the direction Harlem is headed? Comments from a posting last week touched on this subject. Other major developments noted in the article include: Harlem Piers, Columbia Manhattanville, Apollo Theater, Loews-Victoria Theater, Harlem Park, Kalahari Apartments, Uptown New York, Latino Entertainment Corridor and East River Plaza.