Harlem landmark to shed top two floors

The Corn Exchange Bank Building, a 125-year-old Harlem landmark at 81 East 125th Street, will soon lose its top two floors after the city’s Department of Buildings found that it was too dangerous to stand as is. The building, which overlooks Metro North Railroad station at Harlem-125th Street, was purchased from the city by Ethel Bates, a community activist who promised to renovate the building and open a non-profit culinary school at the site, in 2003. When her developer backed out of the project, Bates found that she couldn’t finance the repairs and never followed through with her plans. The city repossessed the property in January, but it was too late to salvage the top stories because the masonry is at risk of falling.