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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Melba Wilson, Restaurant Owner from Melba's Restaurant
1:38:24
·
168 sec
Melba Wilson, a lifelong Harlem resident and owner of Melba's Restaurant, offers her support for the One45 for Harlem project. She emphasizes the need for more housing, private investment, and economic development in Harlem to create opportunities and keep residents from leaving the community.
- Wilson highlights the project's potential to provide nearly 1,000 new homes, meeting diverse housing needs in Harlem.
- She stresses the importance of welcoming private investment to stimulate the local economy and create better-paying jobs.
- Wilson views the project as a "world-class" development that will contribute to Harlem's growth and retention of young professionals.
Melba Wilson
1:38:24
My name is Melba Wilson and I'm here to offer my voice and support for the one forty five project.
1:38:31
I'm a lifelong resident of Harlem, One bread and butter right here in the community.
1:38:36
I own and operate Melba's Restaurant, a restaurant and community gathering space that I've built from scratch twenty years ago.
1:38:43
I've lived and worked here during the bad times and the good times and everything in between.
1:38:48
So being born in Harlem Hospital, I've seen it all.
1:38:52
I know Harlem as well as anyone, and I have a good sense of the street and what my neighbors are saying.
1:38:58
Harlem is a wonderful place to live, work, and raise a family, but it's also a place that needs more housing, more private investment, more economic development, improved public infrastructure, and better access to all the other keys to success that other communities enjoy.
1:39:15
We need to stimulate the local economy to create better and higher paying jobs for our kids and everyone in need.
1:39:23
We need to foster a culture of entrepreneurship and business ownership so that we can create and keep wealth in our community.
1:39:31
We need to welcome private investment and those who are willing to risk their capital in Harlem.
1:39:36
We must build more housing for everyone in Harlem so that we keep people from leaving, which is what's happened over the last ten to fifteen years.
1:39:45
I have so many friends graduate from college, start their businesses, and they're not living in Harlem.
1:39:51
So for me, that's a huge problem because we have to create economic empowerment in our community.
1:39:58
How can we do all of this?
1:39:59
There isn't a simple solution or an easy answer, but let's talk about 140 Fifth Street project and why I think it's an important piece of the puzzle.
1:40:08
There are many people and organizations that make withdrawals from our community.
1:40:13
I support the 1455 project because they're looking to make deposits in Harlem.
1:40:20
Almost 1,000 new, well designed, and appointed homes isn't chopped liver.
1:40:25
It's a big number which will meet the needs of people who need income assistance all the way to young professionals who are leaving Harlem.
1:40:33
It's a world class project designed by a well known firm that has designed some of the nicest buildings in New York City and the capitalist around
Patreinnah Acosta-Pelle
1:40:40
the world.
Kevin Riley
1:40:40
Thank you.
1:40:41
Thank you.
Melba Wilson
1:40:42
Thank you.
1:40:42
Harlem shouldn't have anything else.
1:40:44
Harlem doesn't have anything else like it and we really should.
Kevin Riley
1:40:47
Thank you.
Melba Wilson
1:40:48
It's also gonna pump millions of dollars into the local economy, create jobs, and offer new career paths.
1:40:54
So for me, this is important.
1:40:56
As someone who lives here, who is the mother of of a 25 year old black male child living here, This is important, and I totally support it.
1:41:05
However, I do wanna say that I do agree
Kevin Riley
1:41:08
Thank Melba.
1:41:08
We're gonna we're gonna be moving on.
1:41:10
Thank you so much.
Melba Wilson
1:41:11
Okay.
1:41:11
Thank you.