41 – The Demolition Depot – art from trash.

This final chapter of the Tale of 125^th Street is titled “Demolition Depot,” after an actual establishment on the street, if only because everything between 3^rd and 2^nd Avenues at least looks slated for the wrecking ball.  Nothing may come in the way of gentrification’s relentless juggernaut.

At 2^nd Avenue, on-ramps take vehicles up and away from Harlem, onto the Robert F Kennedy Bridge to New Jersey.  There is a melancholy stillness here, as though the street itself is sad to leave Harlem – all glass and chiffon – behind.

A billboard with Gisele’s face on it looms high above street level. It lures incoming traffic with visions of the American Dream – a dream that has as its basis, freedom to consume, and the absolute negation of identity.

Goodbye Harlem!  Hello America!

37 – View East along 125th Street towards Robert F. Kennedy Bridge.

38 – View West along 125th Street towards the 4, 5, 6 train subway.

39 – Preferred Floors & Schmuckers.

40 – Tire Repair shoppes.

42 – On-ramp to Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, during a moment of stillness.

43 – Gisele, unattainable, high above Harlem.

44 – Underneath the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, and the end of our journey.

E – Demolition Depot

PDF: E) Demolition Depot (3rd to 1st Ave) (1.7 MB)