New Pedestrian Plaza Opens Under Harlem Train Tracks

EAST HARLEM, NY — The city on Wednesday opened a new pedestrian plaza under the elevated Metro-North train tracks in East Harlem, transforming what had been an empty, fenced-off area.

The 125th Street Plaza runs between 124th and 126th streets along Park Avenue. Features include seating and tables, new concrete paving, electrical service and lighting, and safety improvements like widened sidewalks and crosswalk extensions.

The plaza was first conceptualized in 2013 following meetings between city agencies, the MTA and community groups. The nonprofit Uptown Grand Central applied the following year to redesign the site into a plaza, and has been hosting food distributions at the site since 2015.

A ribbon-cutting on Wednesday to inaugurate the new space was attended by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Transportation Commissioner Dan Gutman, Assemblymember Robert Rodriguez and representatives from Community Board 11, Uptown Grand Central, New York Economic Development Corporation and other groups.

The new plaza also hosted a mobile COVID-19 vaccination bus and a food distribution by GrowNYC.

"As caretakers of this open space for the past five years, we are glad to have gotten an upgrade," said Carey King, director of Uptown Grand Central, in a news release.

"Creating a place for the community underneath a dark and loud elevated railroad is a continual challenge. The investments the city has made in creating safer sidewalks and a new and improved plaza space will help."