Al Sharpton Leaves Bruce Teitelbaum’s One45 Site

After a fight with its landlord, the National Action Network is out of its long-time headquarters in Harlem.

Rev. Al Sharpton’s civil rights organization left its office at 106-108 West 145th Street at the end of January. The move makes way for the housing development known as One45 and comes after landlord Bruce Teitelbaum threatened to evict NAN.

Teitelbaum filed a petition to evict NAN in September, claiming that after multiple lease extensions, the most recent of which expired at the end of August, the organization refused to leave 106-108 West 145th Street.

The one-story building is part of the site where Teitelbaum plans a 1,000-unit apartment complex. At the time of the eviction filing, an attorney for the developer indicated that NAN was the only tenant holding up the project.

A judge signed an eviction order in January, which was stayed on the condition that NAN would leave the building by Jan. 31.

In a statement Sharpton said NAN will move into its new headquarters in March, though didn’t disclose the location. The organization will operate out of the Harlem Commonwealth Council’s office in the meantime, and will host rallies to celebrate Black History Month at the Mother AME Zion Church.

The dispute with NAN was the latest speed bump for a project that has faced years of delays.

The City Council approved One45 in July, after Teitelbaum abandoned an earlier proposal due to resistance from the local Council member. After years of fits and starts, he rebooted the project in 2024 with an updated unit count. The project is now expected to include 1,000 apartments across three buildings, of which at least 338 will be affordable.

“Now that NAN finally moved, we can proceed with our plan to build $1,000+ new homes for Harlem, which is just the start, but any more depends on the cooperation of the administration,” Teitelbaum said.

Teitelbaum has said he’s willing to increase the unit counts and share of affordable apartments, but doing so would require public subsidies. He indicated Wednesday that he hasn’t spoken with anyone in the Mamdani administration but “is hopeful and certainly willing to work with the mayor.”

The developer also hopes to qualify for the now-expired property tax break 421a. To do so, the project must be completed by June 15, 2031.

Plans for One45 previously included offices for NAN and a civil rights museum founded by

Sharpton and Judge Jonathan Lippman. The museum was later pitched for another project, but neither plan moved forward.

At the time, Teitelbaum’s project was facing opposition from local Council member Kristin Richardson Jordan, which ultimately led to his withdrawing his project application in May 2022. Once a new Council member was in place and the state extended a key construction deadline for the property tax break 421a, Teitelbaum released new plans for the project and restarted the city’s land use review process.