MLB kissing Harlem goodbye

The MLB Network, which is scheduled to begin broadcasting to 50 million subscribers in January, was to be the anchor tenant in what was originally to be a new 21-story office building at 125th Street and Park Avenue, a short distance from Yankee Stadium and players who would be among its guests.

Harlem Plan for a TV Base Deteriorates

Now baseball executives are balking at new lease terms proposed by the developer, Vornado Realty Trust, that would have required them to take additional space and pay $2 million a year more in rent, said real estate executives and government officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are involved in the negotiations.

That has placed the future of the entire building, which was to be the first office tower built on 125th Street in three decades, in jeopardy.

The MLB Network, in turn, is reconsidering its own plans. It is operating out of temporary quarters in the old MSNBC studios in Secaucus, N.J., not far from Giants Stadium and the National Basketball Association’s network studios. The baseball network is now assessing whether to stay in Secaucus, rather than moving to Harlem in a couple of years.

Hey maybe that anticipated upzoning of 125th Street won't be necessary now...