Category: History

  • Hotels in 1851

    In 1851 you could go to two hotels in our neighborhood. One would be where the (MTA) train line on Park Ave. meets the Harlem River, and the other would be at 128/3rd, where a public school now exists: Also note that from 125 to 127th, between Park Avenue and 5th Avenue, there was a…

  • CB11 Full Board Meeting

    Tonight CB11 will have a full board meeting and discuss budget priorities.  Harlem Neighborhood Block Association is asking for two things to be highlighted in the budgetary report including: We are requesting a City Council analysis of the distribution of addiction programs throughout the five boroughs, with a mandate to recommend how the rebalancing of…

  • Ruth

    The Smile New images and marketing material from The Smile. Luxury at Lex/126. The design of the building slopes inward as it rises upward, providing great views of the Harlem River and Manhattan skyline. The cantilevering footprint over 125th Street allows for a mix of apartment sizes layouts, while the facade’s interlocking checkerboard pattern gives every unit…

  • Tell NYC What You Think the Budget Priorities for CB11 Should Be

    CB11 is collecting your opinions on what the city should budget for our community. Here is a quick Google Form for you to fill out. HNBA has already submitted a larger statement, but you can offer your own thoughts/ideas below: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdI4pwQMMuSCoAzc4xucERaaF9u2XhvA-IuDySoMkrrajy-Ew/viewform How Old is Harlem, Anyway? From the beginning we need to acknowledge that the…

  • Ask The 2021 Mayoral Candidates Your Questions

    While the most important election of our lifetime is now only 47 days away, our city will also be reshaped by the 2021 elections which include electing a new mayor. The City (an online NYC new organization) is soliciting your questions for mayoral hopefuls.  Please take a moment and go to:   https://www.thecity.nyc/politics/2020/9/14/21437265/ask-the-next-mayor-new-york-city-2021-city-hall and (among other things)…

  • Reminder: 25th Precinct’s Community Council Meeting Tonight at 6 PM

    Join Zoom Meetinghttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/81120463238?pwd=VDdzd1UrR2NYbTYwSHRSdzE1Ui9zQT09 Meeting ID: 811 2046 3238Passcode: 2525PCC The Central Park U-Boat Untapped New York has a great piece on the captured German U-boat from WW1 that was brought to Central Park for display as a War Bonds promotion. Proof of the purchase of War Bonds allowed entry into the U-boat: When reading the…

  • Henry Hudson

    In 1609, on September 13th, Henry Hudson weighed anchor at West Harlem on his way up what would become known as the Hudson River: [September 13]The thirteenth, faire weather, the wind Northerly. At seuen of the clocke in the morning,as the floud came we weighed, and turned foure miles into the Riuer. The tide being…

  • Up in Harlem Wilds Remote

    When visiting my mother last February (pre-COVID) she mentioned that she had recently reread one of her childhood nursery rhyme books and flagged a poem that happened to mention Harlem (and is clearly a New York-based poem). Aside from the rather casual violence in what was supposed to be children’s literature, it was interesting to…

  • Harlem Lodge No. 457

    The important role of clubs in Black New York in the early 20th century cannot be overstated. While class and color discrimination did impact membership and participation, Black Harlemites relied on clubs for networking – professional and personal. The masons played a significant role in Black Harlem in the 1920’s The New-York Historical Society has…

  • The Silent March

    In the 1970’s a back-hoe operator noticed scores and scores of film canisters and reels poking out of the soil where he was digging a new septic system: The wet, dirty, and frozen film reels represented a trove of silent era films that the world had not seen for generations. Dawson City in Canada’s far…

  • Menus

    Hello Harlem Neighbors, With COVID, many of us have thought about the plight of our neighborhood’s restaurant owners, workers, and delivery people. This is an interesting time to look back into Harlem’s historic places to eat, and The Schomburg is a great place to explore historic menus and other ephemera. Here is the Savoy’s floorplan:…

  • Storefront Academy and the 40’s

    The Storefront Academy The storied Storefront Academy https://www.storefrontacademycs.org/ has changed to a Charter School and is now struggling to come online in the COVID-19 era. The Children’s Storefront was a tuition-free private school in Harlem, founded in 1966 by the poet Ned O’Gorman.  It was the subject of a 1988 documentary film, The Children’s Storefront, nominated for an Academy Award for Best…