A $200-million hotel project, touted as the first major tourist lodging in the neighborhood since 1966, drifts into obscurity amid corruption charges aimed at the developer.
In 2003, hotel developer Caridi "held an elaborate groundbreaking ceremony for Harlem Park, as he dubbed his project. Present were the governor and mayor, as well as Caridi's friend, state economic development chief Charles Gargano. The 42-story, $200 million project was a turning point in Harlem's revitalization, the pols said, and as a gospel chorus sang and cameras flashed, they posed with their ceremonial shovels."
Since then, however, virtually no work has been done on the site, and "the developer is fighting a felony indictment for having allegedly defrauded the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development by failing to pay prevailing wages to workers on a $2.3 million subsidized housing project in Rockland County...Caridi also insisted that there is no merit to another concern raised by one of the trusteesâ€"his family's past brushes with organized crime."
FULL STORY: Harlem Shuffle
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