Rent This Empty Harlem Lot For $7K, City Says In Auction

HARLEM, NY — A long-empty corner lot in Harlem could be yours, if you wish to bid for it in an auction and then pay the city thousands in rent each month.

The empty parcel on the corner of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard and West 146th Street will be auctioned off next month by the city, which has posted it online.

Bidding starts on Dec. 8, with a starting price of $6,830, according to the Department of Administrative Services. The winner will then pay their bid amount as monthly rent for the 4,000-square-foot site.

Vacant for at least a decade, the property was acquired by the city in 1989 after a tax foreclosure, records show.

It hasn't always been vacant: city tax photos from the 1940s show it was once occupied by a six-story building like the others that still line the block to this day, with a shop on the ground floor.

By 1999, however, it had fallen into disrepair: complaints filed with the city that year reported bricks falling from the building's rear wall, with its fractured facade looking "ready to collapse."

It was apparently demolished at some point in the ensuing years, and is now fenced off and overgrown with trees and weeds.

It is unclear what the eventual buyer will be allowed to do with the empty lot: the city says its permitted uses are "as-of-right," meaning projects that could be built without zoning changes.

To step up as a bidder, check out the listing online. The auction will end Dec. 15.