Most Lenox Terrace tenants against expansion, poll shows

If it was up to the residents of Lenox Terrace, the residential complex in Harlem wouldn’t pursue expansion, a survey taken by a tenant advocacy group shows. The landlord of the complex, Olnick Organization, has been mulling adding buildings to the site since 2011, as previously reported.

According to a poll by the Lenox Terrace Association of Concerned Tenants, 78 percent of respondents oppose Olnick’s plan to rezone the development to add structures. The complex, which already takes up six square city blocks bound by 132nd and 135th streets and Lenox and Fifth avenues, would reportedly gain six rental towers reaching up to 28 stories each in the expansion.

That’s much higher than the current 17-story towers, DNAinfo reported. The new towers would house more than 1,000 apartments, 20 percent of which would be affordable, according to the article.

The rezoning would bring even more development, in the form of Lenox Avenue retail, a park and underground parking. Residents say the development, which could take up to eight years, would cause dust that could harm the complex’s elderly residents.

The Department of Planning has yet to receive a proposal to rezone the property, the article said. [DNAinfo] — Angela Hunt