Spanish Harlem
Encyclopedia
- Spanish Harlem redirects here. For the song, see Spanish Harlem (song)Spanish Harlem (song)"Spanish Harlem" is a song released by Ben E. King in 1960 on Atco Records, written by Jerry Leiber and Phil Spector and produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller...
.
Barrio
Barrio is a Spanish word meaning district or neighborhood.-Usage:In its formal usage in English, barrios are generally considered cohesive places, sharing, for example, a church and traditions such as feast days...
, is a section of Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
in the northeastern
East Side (Manhattan)
The East Side of Manhattan refers to the side of Manhattan Island which abuts the East River and faces Brooklyn and Queens. Fifth Avenue, Central Park, and lower Broadway separate it from the West Side....
part of the New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
borough
Borough (New York City)
New York City, one of the largest cities in the world, is composed of five boroughs. Each borough now has the same boundaries as the county it is in. County governments were dissolved when the city consolidated in 1898, along with all city, town, and village governments within each county...
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. East Harlem is one of the largest predominantly Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
communities in New York City. It includes the area formerly known as Italian Harlem
Italian Harlem
Italian Harlem was the name that was given to East Harlem in the New York City borough of Manhattan, when it was largely inhabited by an Italian American population....
, in which the remnants of a once-large Italian community remain. However, since the 1950s it has been dominated by residents of Puerto Rican
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
descent, sometimes called Nuyorican
Nuyorican
Nuyorican is a portmanteau of the terms "New York" and "Puerto Rican" and refers to the members or culture of the Puerto Rican diaspora located in or around New York State especially the New York City metropolitan area, or of their descendants...
s, as well as large populations of other Latin Americans and African-Americans.
The neighborhood boundaries are Harlem River
Harlem River
The Harlem River is a navigable tidal strait in New York City, USA that flows 8 miles between the Hudson River and the East River, separating the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx...
to the north, the East River
East River
The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
to the east, East 96th Street
96th Street (Manhattan)
96th Street is a major two-way street in East Harlem and the Upper West Side, which is a part of the New York City borough of Manhattan, running from the East River at the FDR Drive to the Henry Hudson Parkway at the Hudson River...
to the south, and 5th Avenue to the west. The neighborhood is part of Manhattan Community Board 11
Manhattan Community Board 11
The Manhattan Community Board 11 is a local government unit of the New York City borough of Manhattan, one of 12 Community Boards in the borough, encompassing the neighborhood of East Harlem, El Barrio/Spanish Harlem, Wards Island and Randall's Island...
. East 116th Street from 5th Avenue east to its termination at the FDR Drive is the most notable business hub of East Harlem along with a minor business hub along Third Avenue between E 103rd Street and E 110th Streets. The area is patrolled by both the 23rd Precinct
Precinct
A precinct is a space enclosed by the walls or other boundaries of a particular place or building, or by an arbitrary and imaginary line drawn around it. The term has several different uses...
located at 162 East 102nd Street and the 25th Precinct located at 120 East 119th Street. http://www.manhattancc.org/common/news/reports/detail.cfm?Classification=report&QID=7247&ClientID=11001&TopicID=283
Demographics
Manhattan Community District 11, which covers East Harlem and a part of the Upper East SideUpper East Side
The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
, has a population of 117,743 as of the 2000 US census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
. Over 25% of the population resides in units managed by the NYCHA. It also has one of the highest concentrations of Puerto Ricans in all of New York City. The vast majority of units in East Harlem are renter-occupied.
History
Brownstone
Brownstone is a brown Triassic or Jurassic sandstone which was once a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States to refer to a terraced house clad in this material.-Types:-Apostle Island brownstone:...
s. Harlem was first populated by German immigrants, but soon after Irish, Italian, and Eastern European Jewish immigrants began settling in Harlem. In East Harlem, Southern Italians and Sicilians soon predominated and the neighborhood became known as Italian Harlem, the Italian American
Italian American
An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...
hub of Manhattan. In 1895, Union Settlement Association
Union Settlement Association
is one of the oldest settlement houses in New York City, providing community-based services and programs that support the immigrant and low-income residents of East Harlem...
, one of the oldest settlement houses in New York City, began providing services in the neighborhood, offering the immigrant and low-income residents a range of community-based programs, including boys and girls clubs, a sewing school and adult education classes.
Puerto Rican immigration after the First World War established an enclave at the western portion of Italian Harlem (around 110th Street
110th Street (Manhattan)
110th Street is a street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is commonly known as the boundary between Harlem and Central Park, along which it is known as Central Park North. In the west, it is also known as Cathedral Parkway....
and Lexington Avenue
Lexington Avenue (Manhattan)
Lexington Avenue, often colloquially abbreviated by New Yorkers as "Lex," is an avenue on the East Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City that carries southbound one-way traffic from East 131st Street to Gramercy Park at East 21st Street...
), which became known as Spanish Harlem. The area slowly grew to encompass all of Italian Harlem as Italians moved out and Hispanics moved in another wave of immigration after the Second World War.
In the 1920s and early 1930s, Italian Harlem was represented by future Mayor Fiorello La Guardia in Congress, and later by Italian-American socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
Vito Marcantonio
Vito Marcantonio
Vito Anthony Marcantonio was an American lawyer and democratic socialist politician. Originally a member of the Republican Party and a supporter of Fiorello LaGuardia, he switched to the American Labor Party.-Early life:...
. Italian Harlem lasted in some parts into the 1970s in the area around Pleasant Avenue. It still celebrates the first Italian feast in New York City, Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Some remnants of Italian Harlem, such as Rao's
Rao's
Rao's is an Italian restaurant founded in 1896 and located at 455 East 114th Street in East Harlem, New York City, with a sister restaurant in Las Vegas, NV.-History:...
restaurant, started in 1896, and the original Patsy's Pizzeria
Patsy's Pizzeria
Patsy's Pizzeria is a historic coal-oven pizzeria in New York City and one of the original pizzerias in New York.-History:Patsy's Pizzeria was founded in East Harlem in 1933 by Pasquale Lanceri. When it opened it was one of New York's early pizzerias along with Lombardi's, Grimaldi's and John's...
which opened in the 1933, still remain.
East Harlem was one of the hardest hit areas in the 1960s and 1970s as New York City struggled with deficits, race riot
Race riot
A race riot or racial riot is an outbreak of violent civil disorder in which race is a key factor. A phenomenon frequently confused with the concept of 'race riot' is sectarian violence, which involves public mass violence or conflict over non-racial factors.-United States:The term had entered the...
s, urban flight, gang warfare, drug abuse, crime and poverty. Tenements were crowded, poorly maintained, and frequent targets for arson. In 1969 and 1970, a regional chapter of the Young Lords
Young Lords
The Young Lords, later Young Lords Organization and in New York , Young Lords Party, was a Puerto Rican nationalist group in several United States cities, notably New York City and Chicago.-Founding:...
which were reorganized from a neighborhood street gang in Chicago by Jose (Cha-Cha) Jimenez, ran several programs including a Free Breakfast for Children and a Free Health Clinic to help Latino and poor families. The Young Lords coalesced with the Black Panthers and called for Puerto Rican self-determination
Puerto Rican independence movement
The Puerto Rican independence movement refers to initiatives throughout the history of Puerto Rico aimed at obtaining independence for the Island, first from Spain, and then from the United States...
and neighborhood empowerment. Today the Latin Kings are prevalent in East Harlem.
With the growth of the Hispanic population, the neighborhood is expanding. It is also home to one of the few major television studios north of midtown, Metropolis (106th St. and Park Ave.), where shows like BET
Black Entertainment Television
Black Entertainment Television is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young Black-American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its...
's 106 & Park
106 & Park
106 & Park is a Top Ten Hip-Hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that airs weekdays at 6:00 PM on BET . Since its inception, it was the network's #1 rated show...
and Chappelle's Show
Chappelle's Show
Chappelle's Show is an American sketch comedy television series created by comedian Dave Chappelle and Neal Brennan, with Chappelle hosting the show as well as starring in various skits. Chappelle, Brennan and Michele Armour were the show's executive producers. The series premiered on January 22,...
have been produced. PRdream.com, the 12-year old, award-winning web site on the history and culture of Puerto Ricans, altered the cultural landscape of East Harlem with the founding of its new media gallery and digital film studio called MediaNoche in 2003. MediaNoche (www.medianoche.us) continues to present technology-based art on Park Avenue and 102nd Street, providing exhibition space and residencies for artists and filmmakers working in new media. They regularly web cast events and PRdream.com (www.prdream.com) continues to collect oral histories and conduct screenings.
Major medical care providers include Metropolitan Hospital Center
Metropolitan hospital center
Metropolitan Hospital Center was founded in 1875 in Manhattan. Metropolitan is located in an area where East Harlem merges with the Upper East Side and Yorkville. The physical plant extends from First to Second Avenues and from East 97th to East 99th Streets. The hospital caters to a wide spectra...
, North General Hospital and Mount Sinai Hospital
Mount Sinai Hospital, New York
Mount Sinai Hospital, founded in 1852, is one of the oldest and largest teaching hospitals in the United States. In 2011-2012, Mount Sinai Hospital was ranked as one of America's best hospitals by U.S...
, which serves residents of East Harlem and the Upper East Side. Many of the graduates of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Mount Sinai School of Medicine is an American medical school in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, currently ranked among the top 20 medical schools in the United States. It was chartered by Mount Sinai Hospital in 1963....
have pursued careers in public health initiatives critical to East Harlem, including the battle against asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
, diabetes, unsafe drinking water, lead paint
Lead paint
Lead paint or lead-based paint is paint containing lead, a heavy metal, that is used as pigment, with lead chromate and lead carbonate being the most common. Lead is also added to paint to speed drying, increase durability, retain a fresh appearance, and resist moisture that causes corrosion...
and infectious diseases.
The region is now home to a new influx of immigrants from around the world. Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
i merchants, for example, work in local convenience stores alongside immigrants from the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
. Italians live next to the influx of Central and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
n immigrant populations. Other businessmen and local neighbors can be Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
n, Chinese
Overseas Chinese
Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....
or Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
an in origin. The rising price of living in Manhattan has led to a number of young urban professionals to move in and take advantage of the inexpensive rents, relative to the adjacent neighborhoods of Yorkville
Yorkville, Manhattan
Yorkville is a neighborhood in the greater Upper East Side, in the Borough of Manhattan in New York City. Yorkville's boundaries include: the East River on the east, 96th Street on the north, Third Avenue on the west and 72nd Street to the south. However, its southern boundary is a subject of...
and Carnegie Hill.
In popular culture
Spanish Harlem was recognized in the Ben E. KingBen E. King
Benjamin Earl King , better known as Ben E. King, is an American soul singer. He is perhaps best known as the singer and co-composer of "Stand by Me", a U.S...
's R&B song, "Spanish Harlem
Spanish Harlem (song)
"Spanish Harlem" is a song released by Ben E. King in 1960 on Atco Records, written by Jerry Leiber and Phil Spector and produced by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller...
," The Mamas & the Papas
The Mamas & the Papas
The Mamas & the Papas were a Canadian/American vocal group of the 1960s . The group recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968 with a short reunion in 1971, releasing five albums and 11 Top 40 hit singles...
' song, "Spanish Harlem," and in Louie Ramirez
Louie Ramirez
Louie Ramirez was a boogaloo, salsa and latin jazz percussionist, vibraphonist, band leader and composer. He was born on February 24, 1938 in New York City. He died on June 7, 1993...
's Latin soul song, "Lucy's Spanish Harlem," as well as being the source of the title for the Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
song "Spanish Harlem Incident
Spanish Harlem Incident
"Spanish Harlem Incident" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan and was released on his 1964 album, Another Side of Bob Dylan, on August 8, 1964 . The song has been described as a "a gorgeous vignette" by critics and been praised for its multilayered, poetic dimensions...
." It was also mentioned in Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
's song "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
"Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" is a song from the Elton John album Honky Château. It reflects Bernie Taupin's take on New York City after hearing a gun go off near his hotel window during his first visit to the city. The song's lyrics were partly inspired by Ben E...
" and Paul Simon
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.Simon is best known for his success, beginning in 1965, as part of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, with musical partner Art Garfunkel. Simon wrote most of the pair's songs, including three that reached number one on the US singles...
's song "Adios Hermanos" also in Carlos Santana
Carlos Santana
Carlos Augusto Alves Santana is a Mexican rock guitarist. Santana became famous in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band, Santana, which pioneered rock, salsa and jazz fusion...
's songs "Maria Maria
Maria Maria
"Maria Maria" is a song by Santana featuring The Product G&B. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed there for ten weeks on April 8, 2000...
" and "Smooth
Smooth
Smooth means having a texture that lacks friction. Not rough.Smooth may also refer to:-In mathematics:* Smooth function, a function that is infinitely differentiable; used in calculus and topology...
." Jim Jones
Jim Jones (rapper)
Joseph Guillermo Jones II , better known by his stage name Jim Jones, is an American rapper and original member of The Diplomats, also known as Dipset. He is Co-CEO of Diplomat Records...
, a native from Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
, makes reference to the area in his song "Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
."
The area is also the setting for the J.D. Robb book Salvation in Death, the 27th book in the popular in Death
In Death
The …in Death series of novels, written by Nora Roberts under her pseudonym J. D. Robb, features NYPSD Lieutenant Eve Dallas and her husband Roarke and is set in a mid-21st century New York City. The stories also regularly feature other characters, including Captain Ryan Feeney, Detective Delia...
crime series.
Many famous artists have lived and worked in East Harlem, including the renowned timbalero Tito Puente
Tito Puente
Tito Puente, , born Ernesto Antonio Puente, was a Latin jazz and Salsa musician. The son of native Puerto Ricans Ernest and Ercilia Puente, of Spanish Harlem in New York City, Puente is often credited as "El Rey de los Timbales" and "The King of Latin Music"...
(110th Street was renamed “Tito Puente Way”), Jazz legend Ray Barretto
Ray Barretto
Ray Barretto was a Grammy Award-winning Puerto Rican jazz musician.-Early years:Barretto was born in New York City of Puerto Rican descent...
and one of Puerto Rico’s most famous poets, Julia de Burgos
Julia de Burgos
Julia Constancia Burgos García is considered by many as the greatest poet to have been born in Puerto Rico, and along with Gabriela Mistral, is considered as one of the greatest female poets of Latin America...
among others. Two famous film actors Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
and Burt Lancaster
Burt Lancaster
Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
were born on 108th Street and 105th Street respectively. In 1967, Piri Thomas
Piri Thomas
Piri Thomas was a writer and poet whose autobiography Down These Mean Streets became a best-seller.-Early years:...
wrote a best-selling autobiography titled, "Down These Mean Streets." The Bobbettes
The Bobbettes
The Bobbettes were an R&B girl group who had a 1957 top 10 hit song called "Mr. Lee." The group included Jannie and Emma Pought, Reather Dixon, Lara Webb, and Helen Gather.-History:...
lived on 99th Street and were the first all girl Doo-Wop group famous for their number one R&B hit: "Mr. Lee." On 101st Street Marc Anthony
Marc Anthony
Marc Anthony is an American singer-songwriter, actor and producer. Anthony is the top selling tropical salsa artist of all time. The two-time Grammy and three-time Latin Grammy–winner has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. He is best known for his Latin salsa numbers and ballads...
was later born. Also the contemporary artist Sorayda Martinez, the painter and creator of "Verdadism," was born in East Harlem in 1956.
The Harbor Conservatory for the Performing Arts
Harbor Conservatory for the Performing Arts
The Harbor Conservatory for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center in Spanish Harlem, New York, New York. It provides performance space and instruction in the disciplines of theatre, music, and dance...
, home to the Raices Latin Music Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate, serves as a focus for theatre, dance, and musical performance in the neighborhood, as well as its hosting the annual competition to award the Charlie Palmieri Memorial Piano Scholarship, a scholarship established in Palmieri
Charlie Palmieri
Charlie Palmieri was a renowned Bandleader and musical director of salsa music. He was known as "The Giant of the Keyboards".-Early years:...
's memory by Tito Puente
Tito Puente
Tito Puente, , born Ernesto Antonio Puente, was a Latin jazz and Salsa musician. The son of native Puerto Ricans Ernest and Ercilia Puente, of Spanish Harlem in New York City, Puente is often credited as "El Rey de los Timbales" and "The King of Latin Music"...
for the benefit of intermediate and advanced young (12-25) pianists' study of Latin-style piano.
El Museo del Barrio
El Museo del Barrio, New York’s leading Latino visual arts cultural institution, is located in the East Harlem neighborhood of New York City, United States, also known as El Barrio. The museum welcomes visitors of all backgrounds to discover the artistic landscape of the Latino, Caribbean, and...
, a museum of Latin American and Caribbean art and culture is located on nearby Museum Mile and endeavors to serve some of the cultural needs of the neighboring community. The Museum of the City of New York
Museum of the City of New York
The Museum of the City of New York is an art gallery and history museum founded in 1923 to present the history of New York City, USA and its people...
is immediately south, followed by the New York Academy of Medicine
New York Academy of Medicine
The New York Academy of Medicine was founded in 1847 by a group of leading New York City metropolitan area physicians as a voice for the medical profession in medical practice and public health reform...
. The Conservatory Garden
Conservatory Garden
The Conservatory Garden is the only formal garden in Central Park, New York City. Comprising , it takes its name from a conservatory that stood on the site from 1898 to 1934. The park's head gardener used the glasshouses to harden hardwood cuttings for the park's plantings. After the conservatory...
is just across Fifth Avenue from the museums. The Museum for African Art
Museum for African Art
The Museum for African Art is located in the neighborhood of Long Island City in the borough of Queens in New York City, United States. Founded in 1984, the museum is "dedicated to increasing public understanding and appreciation of African art and culture." The Museum is also well known for its...
will join these to the north at Duke Ellington Circle. There is a diverse collection of religious institutions in East Harlem: from mosques, a Greek Orthodox monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
, several Roman Catholic churches, including Church of the Holy Rosary (New York City), and a traditional Russian Orthodox church. A former church was transformed into the home of the National Museum of Catholic Art and History
National Museum of Catholic Art and History
The National Museum of Catholic Art and History, located in Manhattan's East Harlem neighborhood, is a museum that focuses on the many facets of Catholic art...
.
Philippe Bourgois
Philippe Bourgois
Philippe Bourgois is a Richard Perry University Professor of Anthropology & Family and Community Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He also served as founding Chair of the Department of Anthropology, History and Social Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco from 1998...
spent time in El Barrio and wrote an ethnography, called "In Search of Respect", with the help of a few key people in the crack-selling subculture of El Barrio.
Education
East Harlem has a high drop-out rate. Students must pass through metal detectors and swipe ID cards to enter the buildings. Other problems in local schools include low test scores and high truancy rates. Nevertheless, since 1982, the community has been home to the Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics.
Among the public charter schools
Charter school (New York)
This article is mainly about characteristics specific to those charter schools that are in New York State.-Authorizers:A charter school may be authorized by the State University of New York , New York State's Education Department's Board of Regents, or the New York City Department of Education This...
is the Harlem Success Academy
Harlem Success Academy
Harlem Success Academy Charter School is the foundation of Success Charter Network, Inc. Its students, most of them starting with disadvantages, have been consistently achieving some of the highest test scores in the state...
and Girls Prep East Harlem
Public Prep
Public Prep charter schools, run by the Public Prep Network, are open to girls in New York, N.Y., in the Lower East Side of Manhattan and in the South Bronx. Expansion to other urban areas and to educate boys is being planned....
is being planned.
Social issues
Social problems associated with poverty from crime to drug addiction have also affected the area for some time. Crime rates have dropped significantly—more than 70% since 1990 in the two police precincts covering East Harlem.
Drug addiction is a serious problem in the community. The neighborhood also suffers from a high poverty rate with many people living below the poverty level. Union Settlement Association
Union Settlement Association
is one of the oldest settlement houses in New York City, providing community-based services and programs that support the immigrant and low-income residents of East Harlem...
is one of the neighborhood's largest social service agencies, reaching more than 13,000 people annually at 17 locations throughout East Harlem, through a range of programs, including early childhood education, youth development, senior services, job training, the arts, adult education
Adult education
Adult education is the practice of teaching and educating adults. Adult education takes place in the workplace, through 'extension' school or 'school of continuing education' . Other learning places include folk high schools, community colleges, and lifelong learning centers...
, nutrition, counseling, a farmers' market, community development, and neighborhood cultural events.
Lack of access to fresh food
A lack of access to healthy food causes serious hardships to citizens of East Harlem, a neighborhood considered to be a food desertFood desert
A food desert is any area in the industrialised world where healthy, affordable food is difficult to obtain. It is prevalent in rural as well as urban areas and is most prevalent in low-socioeconomic minority communities, and is associated with a variety of diet-related health problems...
. According to an April, 2008 report prepared by the New York City Department of City Planning, East Harlem is an area of the city with the highest levels of diet-related diseases due to limited opportunities for citizens to purchase fresh foods. With a high population density and a lack of nearby supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
s, the neighborhood has little access to fresh fruits and vegetables and a low consumption of fresh foods. Citizens of East Harlem are likely to buy food from grocery stores that have a limited supply of fruits and vegetables, which are often of poor quality and generally more expensive than the same products sold at supermarkets. Supermarkets in Harlem are 30 percent less common, and only 3 percent of local discount and convenience stores in Harlem carry leafy green vegetables as compared to 20 percent on the Upper East Side. Without access to affordable produce and meats, East Harlem residents have difficulty eating a healthy diet, which contributes to high rates of obesity and diabetes
Since its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, the public market on Park Avenue in East Harlem, La Marqueta
La Marqueta (East Harlem)
La Marqueta is a marketplace under the elevated Metro North railway tracks between 111th Street and 116th Street on Park Avenue in East Harlem. In its heyday in the 1950s and 1960s, over 500 vendors operated out of La Marqueta, and it was an important social and economic venue for Hispanic New York...
, has declined significantly in size.
A study published in the September 2004 issue of American Journal of Public Health found that diabetics in East Harlem have a much more difficult time finding healthy food than diabetics in the neighboring Upper East Side. Researchers at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine compared 173 East Harlem and 151 Upper East Side grocery stores. The Harlem stores were "much less likely to stock healthy food choices such as whole-grain breads and diet soda." The study found that "less than 20 percent of East Harlem grocery stores stocked the recommended list of five diabetes-friendly foods, compared with 58 percent of the Upper East Side stores."
Housing and recreational facilities
After a wave of arson ravaged the low income communities of New York City throughout the 1970s and "planned shrinkagePlanned shrinkage
Planned shrinkage is a public policy, practiced most notably in the 1970s in New York City, of withdrawing essential city services from neighborhoods suffering from urban decay, crime, and poverty so that neighborhoods may be claimed by outside interests for new development...
" policies, many of the residential structures in East Harlem were left seriously damaged or destroyed. By the late 1970s, the city began to rehabilitate many abandoned tenement style buildings and designate them low income housing.
Despite recent gentrification of the neighborhood, large numbers of apartment buildings have been deliberately kept vacant by their owners. Although the businesses on the ground floor are retained, landlords do not want to have the trouble involved in residential tenants. In some cases, landlords are waiting for a revived economy, warehousing the apartments so that they can rent them at a higher rent.
In 2007, a survey of Manhattan’s buildings that found 1,723 were significantly vacant, three-fourths of them north of 96th Street. A 1998 survey found that one-quarter of low-rise residential buildings on avenues or major cross streets in East Harlem had sealed-up residential floors, despite having commercial businesses on the ground floor.
Gentrification
Until 2006, property values in East Harlem climbed along with those in the rest of New York City. With increased market rate housing, including luxury condos and co-ops, there has been a decline of affordable housing in the community. A number of young professionals have settled into these recently constructed buildings. Fear of a wave of gentrificationGentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
displacing current low income and long time residents has created tension in the community. The neighborhood however, remains predominantly Hispanic.
The southern tier of East Harlem has gentrified in recent decades, which has earned it several nicknames, including "SpaHa", "Upper Upper East Side", and "Upper Yorkville".
Land use and housing
East Harlem is dominated by public housing complexes of various types. There is a high concentration of older tenement buildings between these developments. Newly constructed apartment buildings have been constructed on vacant lots in the area. The neighborhood contains the highest geographical concentration of low income public housing projects in the United States. The total land area is 1.54 square miles (4 km²).Low income public housing projects
There are twenty-four NYCHA developments located in East Harlem.- 335 East 111th Street; one, 6-story building.
- East 120th Street Rehab; one, 6-story rehabilitated tenement building.
- East River Houses; ten buildings, 6, 10 and 11-stories tall.
- Edward Corsi Houses; one, 16-story building.
- Gaylord White Houses; one, 20-story building.
- George Washington Carver Houses; 13 buildings, 6 and 15-stories tall.
- Governor Dewitt Clinton Houses; six buildings, 9 and 18-stories tall.
- Jackie Robinson Houses; one, 8-story building.
- James Weldon Johnson; ten, 14-story buildings.
- Lehman Village; four, 20-story buildings.
- Lexington Houses; four, 14-story buildings.
- Metro North Plaza; three buildings, 7, 8, and 11-stories tall.
- Metro North Rehab; seventeen, 6-story rehabilitated tenement buildings.
- Milbank-Frawley; two rehabilitated tenement buildings 5 and 6-stories tall.
- Morris Park Senior Citizens Home; one, 9-story rehabilitated building.
- Park Avenue-East 122nd, 123rd Streets; two, 6-story buildings.
- President Abraham Lincoln; fourteen buildings, 6 and 14-stories tall.
- President George Washington Houses; fourteen buildings, 12 and 14-stories tall.
- President Thomas Jefferson Houses; eighteen buildings, 7, 13 and 14-stories tall.
- President Woodrow Wilson Houses; three, 20-story buildings.
- Senator Robert A. Taft; nine, 19-story buildings.
- Robert F. Wagner HousesRobert F. Wagner HousesSenator Robert F. Wagner Houses, also known as Triborough Houses, is a public housing development in the East Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, in New York City. The development was completed on May 31, 1958, and was named after Robert F. Wagner, who served four terms as senator of New York State...
; twenty-two buildings, 7 and 16-stories tall. - U.P.A.C.A. (Upper Park Avenue Community Association) Site 6; one, 12-story building.
- U.P.A.C.A. (Upper Park Avenue Community Association) U.R.A. Site 5; one, 11-story building.
- Thomas Jefferson Projects;1st and 2nd avenue 112th street through 115th street ; One , 14 story building
Other subsidized housing
- Taino Towers - East 122nd Street and Third Avenue. Two 35 story towers, 656 apartments. Opened 1979.
External links
- Association of Hispanic Arts (AHA)
- The Booker T. Washington Learning Center, East Harlem
- Camaradas El Barrio
- Community Board 11
- East-Harlem.com
- East Harlem Against Deportation
- East Harlem Business Capital Corporation
- East Harlem Preservation
- El Museo del Barrio
- Our Lady of Mount Carmel Shrine
- Young Lords origins