See you tomorrow at HNBA’s community meeting! The Harlem Neighborhood Block Association’s February community meeting will be held tomorrow, on Tuesday the 13th at 7:00 PM. This meeting will be held in a new location – the MTA’s 2nd Avenue Subway Community Information Center – 69 E 125th St, New York, NY 10035: At the…

A cupid and Perfect Grace Beauty. I’ll Fix You In the 1950’s teenage gangs terrorized many neighborhoods of Harlem. Hal Evanson wrote several pulp novels that reflected and sensationalized New York gang culture and life: To read about a Harlem gang’s beating and murder on Lexington at 127th Street in 1956, see the section on…

One of my favorite passages about love and Harlem: Here is the biographical information about the author: Paddlewheels On The Harlem River When someone says “paddle wheeler”, most people think “Mississippi River”, but in the mid-19th century, the Harlem River had paddle wheelers traveling up and down its busiest sections: The full image shows the…

Here’s your chance to meet our new Council Member, Yusef Salaam. Thursday, February 15th at 6:00 PM at 41 West 115 Street: As Seen In Harlem Love.

Amsterdam News, our neighborhood’s venerable news outlet, has a fantastic list of Black history sites. For a full description of each, see the Amsterdam New site: https://amsterdamnews.com/news/2024/02/03/black-history-and-culture-sites-in-nyc Museums and Educational Centers Visit these institutions online or, where possible, in person for insight into Black history, art and music. Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute 120 E. 125th St.,…

While the map uses blue to indicate green, every New Yorker knows that Staten Island is really red. Look at the map in detail, here: https://a816-dohbesp.nyc.gov/IndicatorPublic/beta/data-explorer/active-design/?id=2143#display=map Shawn Walker, Photographer Shawn Walker’s photographic work centered on Harlem from 1963 to now, has been acquired by The Library of Congress. Born and raised in Harlem, Walker learned…

Next HNBA Meeting – Tuesday, February 13th, 7:00 PM You’re invited! The Harlem Neighborhood Block Association’s February community meeting will be held on Tuesday the 13th (the day before Valentine’s Day), at 7:00 PM. This meeting will be held in a new location – the MTA’s 2nd Avenue Subway Community Information Center – 69 E…

The challenges of climate change bear down disproportionately on East Harlem, a neighborhood grappling with decades of structural oversaturation and inequalities. Our concrete-laden landscape, while emblematic of the city’s urban sprawl, intensifies the impact of climate change, elevating temperatures and fostering an overly hot community. A recent study unveiled the grim reality: East Harlem experiences…

Men in a barbershop. Mirrors within mirrors. Romance Novels and Race Scholars of romance novels frequently cite Jessie Fauset’s ‘There is Confusion’ as one of the first ‘Black audience’ romance novels to be published. Since this novel debuted 1924, most romance novels have almost exclusively focused on white protagonists and their romantic/sexual interplay – displaying…

FloodNet is a network of sensors across NYC that reports on flooding conditions in vulnerable neighborhoods. The sensor (shown below) is located at ACP/126: The flooding data is then linked to researchers and New York City government agencies who are all working to better understand the frequency, severity, and impacts of flooding in New York…

Hollywood’s stage sets (wherever they are built) are amazing. The brownstones of New York, for example, are simple facades, surrounded by green screen paint, and ready to be incorporated into a film or TV show. The woman below, on the stoop of a far too perfect brownstone (and where have you seen a doorway that…

If you ever see an abandoned building with a spraypainted square (with a slash through it, as you can see below), this building has been identified by the FDNY as dangerous for its firefighters because of a missing or weakened roof: The FDNY has developed a unique communication system for colleagues – a secret language…