Hush Street is tracking what’s being built in Manhattan’s East Harlem.
East Harlem’s current building wave rests on two things: the City Council’s 2017 East Harlem rezoning, which upzoned the Park, Lexington, Third and Second Avenue corridors and East 116th Street, and the Second Avenue Subway’s extension to 125th Street, where controlled blasting began this month. The $6.968 billion extension is due in fall 2032.
Around its future terminus, East 125th Street is filling in: a 711-unit tower has passed its halfway mark, the city has approved a 684-unit tower over the new station, and more than 800 apartments are filed on a city parcel nearby. Much of the rest of the pipeline is fully affordable or senior housing on public land, while one market-rate developer has split a long-stalled Park Avenue site into seven 99-unit buildings.
Where DOB records and press reports disagree on heights or unit counts, both are given. A permit is not treated as proof that construction has started.
| Project | Location | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1Second Avenue Subway Phase 2 | Second Ave., E. 96th–125th Sts. | Under Construction |
| 2180 East 125th Street | Third Ave. at E. 125th St. | Under Construction |
| 3MTA Tower Over the 125th Street Station | E. 125th St. at Lexington Ave. | Rezoned; Developer Not Yet Chosen |
| 4243 East 125th Street | E. 125th St. near Third Ave. | Filed (Plan Review) |
| 5East 125th Street Development: B-East & A-Block | Second–Third Aves., E. 125th–127th Sts. | Developer Search (B-East) |
| 6Harlem African Burial Ground Memorial & Mixed-Use Project | Second Ave., E. 126th–127th Sts. | Operator Selection |
| 71800 Park Avenue | Park Ave. at E. 125th St. | Filed (Plan Review) |
| 8Timbale Terrace (101 East 118th Street) | E. 118th St. near Park Ave. | Under Construction |
| 9The Beacon (413 East 120th Street) | E. 120th St. near First Ave. | Approved; In Plan Review |
| 10Carmen Villegas Apartments | Park Ave. at E. 110th St. | Approved; In Plan Review |
| 11Forte Living (205 East 110th Street) | Third Ave. at E. 110th St. | Leasing (2026) |
| 12Ray Harlem & the National Black Theatre (2035 Fifth Avenue) | Fifth Ave. at E. 125th St. | Completed (2025) |
| 131578 Lexington Avenue | Lexington Ave. near E. 101st St. | Under Construction |
| 14Harlem River Greenway Park (125th–132nd Streets) | Harlem River, E. 125th–132nd Sts. | Under Construction |
| 15East River Esplanade & Pier 107 | East River, E. 96th–125th Sts. | Partly Underway; Scaled Back |
The Subway Extension & East 125th Street
The Q train’s extension to 125th Street is the anchor for the neighborhood’s biggest private and public projects.
1
Second Avenue Subway Phase 2
The Long-Promised Extension
The project’s budget is $6.968 billion, including $3.4 billion in federal funding, with full completion expected in fall 2032, according to the governor’s office. The MTA says property acquisition for entrances and ancillary facilities is underway.
Sources: Office of Gov. Kathy Hochul (Sept. 2026); MTA (Oct. 2026); ENR
2
180 East 125th Street
The Largest Private Project Rising Here
JCS bought the eastern part of a former Extell assemblage for $70 million in December 2024, 6sqft reported. A partial stop-work order on the side next to the fire station on Third Avenue in September 2025 has since been resolved; city records show open safety violations from September 2026.
Sources: New York YIMBY (Sept. 2026); 6sqft (May 2025); NYC DOB BIS job 121207504 and ECB records, BIN 1091630 (accessed Oct. 2026)
3
MTA Tower Over the 125th Street Station
Housing Above the New Terminus
The MTA bought the site from Extell in 2023 for $82 million, 6sqft reported, and said it would not seek developers until subway construction was underway. 6sqft described a tower of 40 to 53 stories.
Sources: NYC Planning ZAP 2024M0432; New York City Council (Legistar) (Dec. 2025); 6sqft (May 2025)
4
243 East 125th Street
Part of a Long-Running City Plan
The site is one of the city parcels approved for development in 2008 as the East 125th Street Development. The very different unit counts in DOB records and the press have not been reconciled, and no affordable count has been confirmed.
Sources: The Real Deal (July 2026); New York YIMBY (July 2026); NYC DOB NOW job M01417862-I1 (accessed Oct. 2026)
5
East 125th Street Development: B-East & A-Block
More Than 1,000 Homes and Two Schools
The B-East developer must include an active ground floor under the East 125th Street Points of Agreement, according to YIMBY. The A-Block plans are early and still need land-use review.
Sources: NYCEDC (July 2026); New York YIMBY (July 2026)
6
Harlem African Burial Ground Memorial & Mixed-Use Project
Honoring a Rediscovered Burial Ground
The project’s land-use approvals were completed in 2017. Archaeological work ran from June 2024 to September 2025, and laboratory analysis of remains began in early 2026, according to NYCEDC. Hush Street has not found an announced operator selection.
Sources: NYCEDC; The City Record (Dec. 2025)
7
1800 Park Avenue
Seven 99-Unit Buildings
Keeping each building at 99 apartments stays just under the 100-unit threshold that triggers the 485-x tax incentive’s construction wage requirement, The Real Deal reported. Bistricer bought the site from Durst for about $50 million; earlier owners including Vornado and Continuum had planned towers here that were never built.
Sources: The Real Deal (Mar. 2026); NYC DOB NOW jobs M01338581-I1 through M01338614-I1 (accessed Oct. 2026); NYC Planning ZAP 2023M0206
Affordable & Senior Housing
Much of East Harlem’s new housing is fully affordable or for seniors, built on city land approved after the 2017 rezoning.
8
Timbale Terrace (101 East 118th Street)
341 Affordable Homes
YIMBY put the cost at nearly $225 million. Thirty of the supportive apartments are set aside for young people aging out of foster care.
Sources: NYC Mayor's Office (Feb. 2026); New York YIMBY (Feb. 2026); NYC Planning ZAP 2022M0258
9
The Beacon (413 East 120th Street)
A Plan That Changed Over Time
The unit count grew from 250 in 2021 to 282, and the set-aside for formerly homeless households fell from 75 apartments to 42 along the way, Patch reported in 2024. No financing closing or groundbreaking has been announced.
Sources: NYC Planning ZAP 2022M0328; New York YIMBY (Aug. 2025); New York Housing Conference; Patch (Mar. 2024)
10
Carmen Villegas Apartments
Senior Housing at 110th Street
The building is named for the East Harlem advocate Carmen Villegas. Reported unit counts range from 210 to 216.
Sources: NYC Planning ZAP 2023M0142; NYC DOB NOW job M01363005-I1 (accessed Oct. 2026)
11
Forte Living (205 East 110th Street)
Newly Leasing on Third Avenue
Hush Street has not checked this building’s certificate of occupancy; its status rests on the lottery and leasing.
Sources: New York YIMBY (Mar. 2026); NYC DOB NOW job M00688136-I1 (accessed Oct. 2026)
12
Ray Harlem & the National Black Theatre (2035 Fifth Avenue)
A Theater Rebuilt With Housing Above
The building gives the National Black Theatre a new 27,000-square-foot home at its base, with apartments above.
Sources: New York YIMBY (July 2025); NYC DOB NOW job M00537657-I1 (accessed Oct. 2026)
A Medical Building & the Waterfront
A new Mount Sinai-anchored building and two waterfront projects, one of them recently scaled back.
13
1578 Lexington Avenue
A Medical Building for El Barrio
City records show safety violations at the site in May 2026 after worker-injury incidents in the cellar. No stop-work order was found.
Sources: New York YIMBY (Mar. 2026); NYC DOB NOW job M00755303-I1 and ECB records (accessed Oct. 2026)
14
Harlem River Greenway Park (125th–132nd Streets)
A Rezoning Promise on the Waterfront
The park was one of the city’s commitments when the East Harlem rezoning passed in 2017.
Sources: New York YIMBY (Oct. 2025); NYCEDC; PIX11 (Sept. 2026); New York City Council
15
East River Esplanade & Pier 107
A Smaller Esplanade Rebuild
Full reconstruction remains planned for East 105th to 107th Streets, Pier 107 and East 117th to 124th Streets, while the 107th to 114th Street stretch is under evaluation and Pier 107 loses its planned restroom, according to Patch. NYCEDC told PIX11 the funding may not cover the full scope. Repairing the esplanade was another 2017 rezoning commitment.
Sources: Patch (July 2026); PIX11 (Sept. 2026); New York City Council
What We're Watching Next
The next milestones are the award of the subway’s final contract, expected in mid-2027, the MTA’s search for a developer for its 125th Street tower, the B-East developer selection and DOB approval of 1800 Park Avenue’s seven buildings. NYCHA is also renovating several Harlem developments under a $453 million PACT financing closed in December 2025, spanning Central and East Harlem.
Hush Street also tracks Central Harlem to the west and the Upper East Side to the south.
Header photo: 2254 First Avenue in East Harlem, February 2022, by Eden, Janine and Jim, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
By Hush Street Editorial Updated Built from city filings and published reporting. About Hush Street
