Welcome to Harlem’s Newsletter

  • 2020 Census Data on White New Yorkers
    2020 Census Data on White New Yorkers

    A view of Zip Code 10035 from the 2020 Census. You can see that over the last 30 years, the percentage of white residents went up from 1% to 10%. In this map of northern Manhattan (above) you can see the grayer areas where the percentage of white New Yorkers went down, and the pink…

  • David Richard Gallery
    David Richard Gallery

    If you’re curious about art and interested in visiting a consistently good gallery, head over to the David Richard Gallery at 211 E 121st St, New York, NY 10035 (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues). The gallery leans to hard-edge abstraction painting but never ceases to surprise. https://davidrichardgallery.com/ And, while they currently occupy 2 floors, plans…

  • De Blasio to Visit East Harlem Today at 10:00 AM
    De Blasio to Visit East Harlem Today at 10:00 AM

    Back in 2018: De Blasio said the centers will be located inside current needle exchange facilities in Washington Heights, Midtown West, Longwood, and Park Slope. See: https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-plans-safe-injection-facilities-for-park-slope-washington-heights-midtown-and-longwood. But somehow Park Slope, and Midtown got dropped from the program, and once again, East Harlem was chosen. The Mayor will be at the East Harlem opioid injection site today…

  • Mayor De Blasio to Visit 106 East 126th Street And Tour the New Opioid Injection Site
    Mayor De Blasio to Visit 106 East 126th Street And Tour the New Opioid Injection Site

    Tomorrow at 10:00 AM (but you know he’s never on time), Mayor De Blasio will visit the opioid injection site he approved for East Harlem in the waning days of his administration. Please feel free to join the mayor at the facility and express your thoughts on this new site. 106 East 126th Street.

  • Studio Museum of Harlem Raises
    Studio Museum of Harlem Raises

    The Studio Museum in Harlem on West 125th Street, across from the Adam Clayton Powell state office building, is currently a hole in the ground. For over a year now, the site of the museum has been silent as fundraising has been going on behind the scenes. And, that fundraising, has been extremely successful. Raising…

  • Black Cowboys
    Black Cowboys

    East Harlem has a riding center on Randall’s Island that is managed by a storied Black Cowboy. Although more prominent in the South, there is a small but longstanding group of Black cowboys in NYC who have migrated from places like Texas, Virginia and Mississippi. Dr. George E. Blair—a 90-year-old descendant of the buffalo soldiers—who…

  • 155th Street Bridge
    155th Street Bridge

    In the image below it’s hard to imagine that this bucolic scene is looking at what will become the 155th Street bridge between Harlem and Yankee’s Stadium. Note that the bridge in the background is the Croton aqueduct bridge – High Bridge – with it’s full complement of masonry arches (the central core of which,…

  • Art in Our Midst
    Art in Our Midst

    The artist Allison Saar was commissioned to enliven the 125th Street Metro-North platform in 2018 and her subtle glasswork has delighted me since. The stained glass that encompasses the waiting rooms on the platform, harkens back to the jazz scene in Harlem. Even the title of the piece “copacetic” – a Jazz term from the…

  • ACP
    ACP

    Today is Adam Clayton Powell Jr.’s birthday and I wanted to share two of my favorite photos of him: This first one is from the 1930’s at Colby where he studied. The contrast between the sharp image on the right, and the ‘brushed’ image on the left is fascinating. This second image comes from 1968…

  • Astor Row Building, Gone
    Astor Row Building, Gone

    Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) responded to concerns that a long abandoned building on Astor Row was about to collapse and knocked the building down. Future owners will be forced by landmarking to restore the front facade. Sadly, now, it’s a gaping hole in the streetscape. Untapped New York’s Secrets of Harlem

  • Car-Free New York
    Car-Free New York

    The United States has 74,002 census tracts. Only 351 of those had 75% or more carfree households. A whopping 312 of the 351 carfree census tracts were in New York The distribution is as follows for 75% or more carfree households Other U.S. cities had only a scattering of tracts where carfree levels were as…

  • Gopher Broke Farm

    You know that moment when Thanksgiving passes into Christmas when Gopher Broke sets up at Marcus Garvey Park. This tree purveyor has been selling here for decades and most residents know they always setup at Madison/124 on the southwest corner. The trees come in daily, so freshness isn’t an issue. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. The…