Category: History

  • Fred R. Moore

    The Fred R. Moore School between 5th and Madison, and 130th and 131st, is restrained mid-century gem of New York City’s public architecture. This school and the associated playground take up a whole city block: https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M133 When you walk on Madison between 131st and 130th, just inside the playground’s gates, you’ll see a wonderful bas…

  • The Godfather of Harlem

    I confess I’ve never watched The Godfather of Harlem but I’ve been so taken by this dual versions of their ad: And, when Park Avenue was pretty empty on a weekend morning I thought I’d capture the two images.

  • Cosey Corner

    In 1912 you could stop by Cosey Corner for a “Quick Lunch”: They advertised Coffee, Roll, and Butter for 5 cents, and had a barbershop next door with a Tonsorial Parlor. This intersection: is Lexington and East 129th Street and now looks like this:

  • Triborough

    As a New Yorker who first arrived in 1993, I still think of the bridge (or the bridges) as the Triboro, or Triborough. RFK is in my mind, but Triboro always comes out first. I came across this great image of the Triboro’s span raising (the part that goes over the Harlem river to connect…

  • HARLEM WEEK 2020

    FROM SUNDAY, AUGUST 16 TO SUNDAY, AUGUST 23 What originally started as a one-day tribute to one of the most culturally rich neighborhoods in the world has now become a month-long celebration enjoying its 46th year. Recognizing this year, 2020 is unlike we have ever seen HARLEM WEEK this year will take place from August…

  • Census, Racial Types, and Time

    The Pew Trust has a fascinating visualization of the complicated way in which Americans (and the American census in particular) classified people into racial categories: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/02/25/the-changing-categories-the-u-s-has-used-to-measure-race/ The census years are aligned across the top, and the inclusion and evolution of categories is reflected in the horizontal colored bands.  Note that citizens could only choose their…

  • 125th and Lexington

    This photo of 125th Street at Lexington (looking south – the cut-off buildings to the left are where the Pathmark site is): is from 1912. A. Schulte is now a dollar pizza. Here is a fuller image of the A. Schulte business:

  • Skyrise for Harlem

    It looks like a collection of nuclear cooling towers, suddenly plopped into Harlem, but June Jordan’s plan for a redevelopment of Harlem in the early 1960s was for a collection of conical high rises: Esquire Magazine had the (above layout) which was recently featured in an article in The New Yorker. The conical towers would…

  • Behind The Collier Brother’s Home

    You may recognize this vacant lot, church, and new rental building on W. 127, just behind the Collier Brother’s Park: The church ‘grew’. The two brownstones to the right were knocked down and the decades-old vacant lot is where the new rental is located. The Victorian framed home to the left in the photo below…

  • Mount Morris Park

    Here are 3 great photos of Marcus Garvey Park (formerly Mount Morris Park) from Columbia University’s collection of images. Below is a postcard from 1905 on the east side of the park, looking south towards where the basketball courts are today: Mount Morris Park was renamed in honor of Marcus Garvey in 1973, the park…

  • High Times and Hot Times in Homo Harlem, 1920-1990

    Historian Michael Henry Adams leads a virtual tour of Lesbian and Gay life in the historic African American cultural capital, where we’ll meet personalities living and lost and see landmarks long gone and still standing that illuminate the a fabled part of New York. Past and Present LGBTQ+ Harlemites have played a leading role in…

  • Steamship Fares

    To travel (before the age of rail and subways) to lower Manhattan (and Astoria), the Sylvian Steamship company ran for 8 cents (10 cents if purchased on board): Details of the fare: And, the complete card here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1800s-Timetable-Card-NYC-East-River-Sylvan-steamship-steamers-Harlem-Peck-Slip-/333161431240