An important factor of the gentrification of Harlem is the public transportation that is so easily accessible there. This is important because the middle and upper middle class families often work in lower parts of Manhattan, which would be a big consideration when it comes to choosing a home.
Although it is one of the northern neighborhoods of Manhattan, Harlem is only about fifteen minutes from midtown by multiple trains on the subway map. In the west, there is the 1, A, B, C, and D train. In Central Harlem, there is the 2 and 3 train. Finally, on the east, there is the 4, 5, and 6 train. Aside from trains, there are also at least 22 MTA bus routes that run through the neighborhood. Due to the expected demand, several routes will start to operate above capacity during peak hours.
According to the MTA Facts and Figures and Subway Ridership, the 4, 5, and 6 train lines are each present in at least four of the busiest stations in the city. With the continuous growth of the number of customers of public transportation as we can see in the table below (almost an increase of one hundred million in the span of 5 years), there will undoubtedly be overcrowding and delays on the Lexington Avenue trains. New residential and office buildings being built around the area did not help mitigate the problem either.
The MTA has begun a project to address this problem. A two-track line will make up the Second Avenue Subway from 125th Street to downtown Manhattan in the financial district. This will decrease the crowdedness of the Lexington Avenue Subway as well as better serve commuters by making the far East Side more accessible.
After the construction is completed, the new subway lines will definitely serve commuters and travelers well. However, until then, the construction of the Second Avenue Subway will have a very large impact on the gentrification process that Harlem is still going through. The construction has already been delayed in the past decade and it will not be completed within the next few years. This will effect the real estate market because nobody will want to live near construction sites for such a long period of time.
