The Harlem Neighborhood Block Association

Neighbors united to improve the quality of life in Harlem

Tag: El

Harlem’s Worlds Fair, 1883

Posted on by Harlem Shill

No, the Harlem World’s Fair did not happen in 1883, nor did it happen at all. But it was proposed in this great illustration from Demarest’s Monthly Magazine, November 1879 (thank you to Harlem Bespoke that originally drew my attention to this image):

The fair would essentially be on the Columbia University land, and stretch from Morningside Park to Riverside Park, and bound on the south side by 110th, and on 125th, on the north.

Note the elevated line entering the frame on the bottom left, on 9th Avenue, then zig zagging to 8th Ave. in the curve of death (a ‘popular’ suicide location before the train was rerouted underground under Central Park West:

In the postcard above, note St.John’s the Devine under the tracks, in the distance – just one arch built.

Stoop Sale On Sunday

HNBA Meeting Tonight at 7:00

Posted on by Harlem Shill

Tonight HNBA will have our new Community Affairs Officer [Troycarra Powers] from the 25th Precinct attend our HNBA meeting to answer any concerns you have about public safety and the rise in crime in our community.

In addition, Tatiana from https://womenscja.org/ will be joining to talk about their effort to convert Lincoln Jail (on Central Park North) into a women’s jail.

We will also have Wil Lopez (a candidate for State Assembly) and Tony Shaw (a Harlem-based financial advisor) introduce themselves.

To get the Zoom link, join HNBA HERE.

OutGoingNYC: NYC’s Historic Gay Nightlife

Outgoingnyc.com is a fascinating time machine that you can use to explore gay nightlife from any time post 1859!

Looking at the map from Harlem’s perspective shows a fairly limited range of sites, but is fascinating nevertheless:

I had no idea a building at 5th Avenue and 128th Street was a sex club named Afrodeezziac, for example.

To learn more about the genesis of this project, see this talk by Jeff Ferzoco:

125th Street at FDB, Looking East

A great photo showing how 125th Street had street car tracks running down the center.

This photo is taken from 125/FDB, looking east towards 5th Avenue. Note how the huge rigid awning sticks out over the entire sidewalk in front of the Manhattan Market.

The vantage – the spot where the photo is taken – is the elevated platform of the 8th Avenue El, that ran up Frederick Douglass Blvd and was then replaced by the ABCD subways.