Harlem - wikipedia Harlem For other uses, see Harlem ( disambiguation ). Coordinates : 40 ° 48 ′ 32.52 '' N 73 ° 56 ′ 54.14 '' W ﻿ / ﻿ 40.8090333 ° N 73.9483722 ° W ﻿ / 40.8090333 ; - 73.9483722 Harlem Neighborhood of Manhattan Stately Harlem apartment buildings adjacent to Morningside Park Nickname ( s ) : `` Heaven '', `` Black mecca '' Motto : `` Making It ! '' Country United States State New York County New York City New York Founded 1658 Named for Haarlem, Netherlands Area Total 10.03 km ( 3.871 sq mi ) Population ( 2000 ) Total 335,109 Density 33,000 / km ( 87,000 / sq mi ) Economics ZIP Codes 10026 -- 10027, 10029 -- 10031, 10035, 10037, 10039 Area codes 212, 917, 646, 347 Harlem is a large neighborhood in the northern section of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Since the 1920s, Harlem has been known as a major African American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands. Harlem 's history has been defined by a series of economic boom - and - bust cycles, with significant population shifts accompanying each cycle. Following the Civil War, poor Jews and poor Italians were the predominant demographic in Harlem. African - American residents began to arrive in large numbers in 1905 as part of the Great Migration. In the 1920s and 1930s, Central and West Harlem were the focus of the `` Harlem Renaissance '', an outpouring of artistic work without precedent in the American black community. However, with job losses in the time of the Great Depression and the deindustrialization of New York City after World War II, rates of crime and poverty increased significantly. Harlem 's African - American population peaked in the 1950s. In the second half of the 20th century, Harlem became a major hub of African - American businesses. In 2008, the United States Census found that for the first time since the 1930s, less than half of the residents were black, comprising only 40 % of the population. Since New York City 's revival in the late 20th century, Harlem has been experiencing the effects of gentrification and new wealth. Contents 1 Geography 1.1 Emergency services and representation 2 History 3 Culture 3.1 Religious life 3.2 Landmarks 4 Population and demographics 4.1 Central Harlem 4.2 West Harlem 4.3 East Harlem 5 Social issues 5.1 Poverty and health 5.2 Crime 6 Education 7 Transportation 7.1 Bridges 7.2 Public transportation 8 See also 9 References 10 Further reading 11 External links Geography Map of Upper Manhattan, with Harlem and its subsections highlighted Harlem is located in Upper Manhattan, often referred to as Uptown by locals. It stretches from the East River in the east, to the Hudson River to the west ; and between 155th Street in the north, where it meets Washington Heights, and an uneven boundary along the south that runs along either 96th Street east of Fifth Avenue or 110th Street west of Fifth Avenue. Central Harlem is bounded by Fifth Avenue on the east, Central Park on the south, Morningside Park, St. Nicholas Avenue and Edgecombe Avenue on the west, and the Harlem River on the north. A chain of three large linear parks -- Morningside Park, St. Nicholas Park and Jackie Robinson Park -- are situated on steeply rising banks and form most of the district 's western boundary. On the east, Fifth Avenue and Marcus Garvey Park, also known as Mount Morris Park, separate this area from East Harlem. The bulk of the area falls under Manhattan Community Board No. 10. In the late 2000s, South Harlem, emerged from area redevelopment, running along Frederick Douglass Boulevard from West 110th to West 138th Streets. The West Harlem neighborhoods of Manhattanville and Hamilton Heights comprise part of Manhattan Community Board No. 9. The two neighborhoods ' area is bounded by Cathedral Parkway ( 110th Street ) on the South ; 155th Street on the North ; Manhattan / Morningside Ave / St. Nicholas / Bradhurst / Edgecome Avenues on the East ; and Riverside Park / the Hudson River on the west. Manhattanville begins at roughly 123rd Street and extends northward to 135th Street. The northern most section of West Harlem is Hamilton Heights. East Harlem, also called Spanish Harlem, within Manhattan Community Board 11, is bounded by East 96th Street on the south, East 142nd Street on the north, Fifth Avenue on the west, and the Harlem River on the east. Emergency services and representation The New York City Police Department patrols six precincts located within Harlem. The areas of West Harlem are served by the 30th Precinct, and the 26th Precinct, the areas of Central Harlem are served by the 28th and 32nd Precincts, and the areas of East Harlem are served by the 23rd and 25th Precincts. The New York City Fire Department operates 9 firehouses in Harlem, organized into 2 Battalions. The following fire companies are quartered in Harlem : Engine 35, Engine 37, Engine 47, Engine 58, Engine 59, Engine 69, Engine 80, Engine 84, Engine 91, Ladder 14, Ladder 23, Ladder 26, Ladder 28, Ladder 30, Ladder 34, Ladder 40, and the Chiefs of the 12th and 16th Battalions. Harlem is represented by New York 's 13th congressional district, the New York State Senate 's 30th district, the New York State Assembly 's 68th and 70th districts, and the New York City Council 's 7th, 8th, and 9th districts. History Harlem, from the old fort in the Central Park, New York Public Library Main article : History of Harlem Before the arrival of European settlers, the area that would become Harlem ( originally Haarlem ) was inhabited by the Manhattans, a native tribe, who along with other Native Americans, most likely Lenape occupied the area on a semi-nomadic basis. As many as several hundred farmed the Harlem flatlands. Between 1637 and 1639, a few settlements were established. During the American Revolution, the British burned Harlem to the ground. It took a long time to rebuild, as Harlem grew more slowly than the rest of Manhattan during the late 18th century. After the American Civil War, Harlem experienced an economic boom starting in 1868. The neighborhood continued to serve as a refuge for New Yorkers, but increasingly those coming north were poor and Jewish or Italian. The New York and Harlem Railroad, as well as the Interborough Rapid Transit and elevated railway lines, helped Harlem 's economic growth, as they connected Harlem to lower and midtown Manhattan. Rowhouse built for the African - American population of Harlem in the 1930s A condemned building in Harlem after the 1970s The Jewish and Italian demographic decreased, while the black and Puerto Rican population increased in this time. The early 20th - century Great Migration of blacks to northern industrial cities was fueled by their desire to leave behind the Jim Crow South, seek better jobs and education for their children, and escape a culture of lynching violence ; during World War I, expanding industries recruited black laborers to fill new jobs, thinly staffed after the draft began to take young men. In 1910, Central Harlem was about 10 % black. By 1930, it had reached 70 %. Starting around the time of the end of World War I, Harlem became associated with the New Negro movement, and then the artistic outpouring known as the Harlem Renaissance, which extended to poetry, novels, theater, and the visual arts. So many blacks came that it `` threaten ( ed ) the very existence of some of the leading industries of Georgia, Florida, Tennessee and Alabama. '' Many settled in Harlem. By 1920, central Harlem was 32.43 % black. The 1930 census revealed that 70.18 % of Central Harlem 's residents were black and lived as far south as Central Park, at 110th Street. However, by the 1930s, the neighborhood was hit hard by job losses in the Great Depression. In the early 1930s, 25 % of Harlemites were out of work, and employment prospects for Harlemites stayed bad for decades. Employment among black New Yorkers fell as some traditionally black businesses, including domestic service and some types of manual labor, were taken over by other ethnic groups. Major industries left New York City altogether, especially after 1950. Several riots happened in this period, including in 1935 and 1943. There were major changes following World War II. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Harlem was the scene of a series of rent strikes by neighborhood tenants, led by local activist Jesse Gray, together with the Congress of Racial Equality, Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited ( HARYOU ), and other groups. These groups wanted the city to force landlords to improve the quality of housing by bringing them up to code, to take action against rats and roaches, to provide heat during the winter, and to keep prices in line with existing rent control regulations. The largest public works projects in Harlem in these years were public housing, with the largest concentration built in East Harlem. Typically, existing structures were torn down and replaced with city - designed and managed properties that would, in theory, present a safer and more pleasant environment than those available from private landlords. Ultimately, community objections halted the construction of new projects. From the mid-20th century, the low quality of education in Harlem has been a source of distress. In the 1960s, about 75 % of Harlem students tested under grade levels in reading skills, and 80 % tested under grade level in math. In 1964, residents of Harlem staged two school boycotts to call attention to the problem. In central Harlem, 92 % of students stayed home. In the post-World War II era, Harlem ceased to be home to a majority of the city 's blacks, but it remained the cultural and political capital of black New York, and possibly black America. By the 1970s, many of those Harlemites who were able to escape from poverty left the neighborhood in search of safer streets, better schools and homes. Those who remained were the poorest and least skilled, with the fewest opportunities for success. Though the federal government 's Model Cities Program spent $100 million on job training, health care, education, public safety, sanitation, housing, and other projects over a ten - year period, Harlem showed no improvement. The city began auctioning its enormous portfolio of Harlem properties to the public in 1985. This was intended to improve the community by placing property in the hands of people who would live in them and maintain them. In many cases, the city would even pay to completely renovate a property before selling it ( by lottery ) below market value. After the 1990s, Harlem began to grow again. Between 1990 and 2006 the neighborhood 's population grew by 16.9 %, with the percentage of blacks decreasing from 87.6 % to 69.3 %, then dropping to 54.4 % by 2010, and the percentage of whites increasing from 1.5 % to 6.6 % by 2006, and to `` almost 10 % '' by 2010. A renovation of 125th Street and new properties along the thoroughfare also helped to revitalize Harlem. Culture See also : Harlem Renaissance The Apollo Theater on 125th Street, in November 2006. In the 1920s and 1930s, Central and West Harlem was the focus of the `` Harlem Renaissance '', an outpouring of artistic work without precedent in the American Black community. Though Harlem musicians and writers are particularly well remembered, the community has also hosted numerous actors and theater companies, including the New Heritage Repertory Theater, National Black Theater, Lafayette Players, Harlem Suitcase Theater, The Negro Playwrights, American Negro Theater, and the Rose McClendon Players. The Apollo Theater opened on 125th Street on January 26, 1934, in a former burlesque house. The Savoy Ballroom, on Lenox Avenue, was a renowned venue for swing dancing, and was immortalized in a popular song of the era, `` Stompin ' At The Savoy ''. In the 1920s and 1930s, between Lenox and Seventh Avenues in central Harlem, over 125 entertainment places operated, including speakeasies, cellars, lounges, cafes, taverns, supper clubs, rib joints, theaters, dance halls, and bars and grills. 133rd Street, known as `` Swing Street '', became known for its cabarets, speakeasies and jazz scene during the Prohibition era, and was dubbed `` Jungle Alley '' because of `` inter-racial mingling '' on the street. Some jazz venues, including the Cotton Club, where Duke Ellington played, and Connie 's Inn, were restricted to whites only. Others were integrated, including the Renaissance Ballroom and the Savoy Ballroom. In 1936, Orson Welles produced his black Macbeth at the Lafayette Theater in Harlem. Grand theaters from the late 19th and early 20th centuries were torn down or converted to churches. Harlem lacked any permanent performance space until the creation of the Gatehouse Theater in an old Croton aqueduct building on 135th Street in 2006. From 1965 until 2007, the community was home to the Harlem Boys Choir, a touring choir and education program for young boys, most of whom are black. The Girls Choir of Harlem was founded in 1989, and closed with the Boys Choir. Harlem is also home to the largest African American Day Parade which celebrates the culture of African diaspora in America. The parade was started up in the spring of 1969 with Congressman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. as the Grand Marshal of the first celebration. Arthur Mitchell, a former dancer with the New York City Ballet, established Dance Theatre of Harlem as a school and company of classical ballet and theater training in the late 1960s. The company has toured nationally and internationally. Generations of theater artists have gotten a start at the school. Manhattan 's contributions to hip - hop stems largely from artists with Harlem roots such as Big L, Kurtis Blow and Immortal Technique. Harlem is also the birthplace of popular hip - hop dances such as the Harlem shake, toe wop, and Chicken Noodle Soup. Harlem is currently experiencing a gourmet renaissance with new dining hotspots popping up uptown around Frederick Douglass Boulevard. At the same time, some residents are fighting back against the powerful waves of gentrification the neighborhood is experiencing. On October 17, 2013, residents staged a sidewalk sit - in to protest a five - days - a-week farmers market that would shut down Macombs Place at 150th Street. Religious life St. Andrew 's Episcopal Church Wikimedia Commons has media related to Churches in Harlem. Religious life has historically had a strong presence in Black Harlem. The area is home to over 400 churches. Major Christian denominations include Baptists, Pentecostals, Methodists ( generally African Methodist Episcopalian, or `` AME '' ), Episcopalians, and Roman Catholic. The Abyssinian Baptist Church has long been influential because of its large congregation, and recently wealthy on account of its extensive real estate holdings. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - day Saints built a chapel on 128th Street in 2005. Previously the Church had had a branch meeting around the corner in a former Jehovah 's Witnesses Kingdom Hall. As of 2015 there are 3 LDS Wards meeting at the Harlem Chapel. Many of the area 's churches are `` storefront churches '', which operate in an empty store, or a basement, or a converted brownstone townhouse. These congregations may have fewer than 30 -- 50 members each, but there are hundreds of them. Others are old, large, and designated landmarks. Especially in the years before World War II, Harlem produced popular Christian charismatic `` cult '' leaders, including George Wilson Becton and Father Divine. Mosques in Harlem include the Malcolm Shabazz Mosque No. 7 ( formerly Mosque No. 7 Nation of Islam, and the location of the 1972 Harlem Mosque incident ), the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood and Masjid Aqsa. Judaism, too, maintains a presence in Harlem through the Old Broadway Synagogue. A non-mainstream synagogue of Black Hebrews known as Commandment Keepers, was based in a synagogue at 1 West 123rd Street until 2008. Landmarks St Martin 's Episcopal Church, at Lenox Avenue and 122nd Street Hotel Theresa building at the corner of Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and 125th Street Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building, at the same intersection as the Hotel Theresa Many places in Harlem are New York City Landmarks, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, or are otherwise prominent : 155th Street Viaduct leading to Macombs Dam Bridge Abyssinian Baptist Church Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building All Saints Church Apollo Theater Atlah Worldwide Church Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Astor Row Blockhouse Bushman Steps Stairway that led baseball fans from the subway to The Polo Grounds ticket booth. City College of New York Cotton Club Duke Ellington Circle Dunbar Apartments designed by architect Andrew J. Thomas. former home to W.E.B. Du Bois, Paul Robeson, Asa Philip Randolph, Bill `` Bojangles '' Robinson and explorer Matthew Henson First Corinthian Baptist Church Fort Clinton, Central Park and Nutter 's Battery Frederick Douglass Circle Graham Court Hamilton Grange Hamilton Heights Harbor Conservatory for the Performing Arts Harlem Children 's Zone Harlem Hospital Center Harlem River Houses The Harlem School of the Arts Harlem Stage Harlem YMCA Harlem Hellfighters Monument / 369th Infantry Regiment Memorial Hooper Fountain Hotel Theresa James Bailey House Jumel Terrace and Morris - Jumel Mansion in modern - day Washington Heights. Langston Hughes House La Marqueta Lenox Lounge Manhattan Avenue - West 120th - 123rd Streets Historic District Mink Building Minton 's Playhouse Morningside Park Mount Morris Bank Building Mount Morris Park Historic District Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Mount Sinai Hospital, New York El Museo Del Barrio Museum of the City of New York National Black Theater New York College of Podiatric Medicine Rucker Park St. Martin 's Episcopal Church ( formerly Trinity Church ) designed by William Appleton Potter Savoy Ballroom marked by a plaque on Lenox. St. Nicholas Historic District St. Nicholas Houses Strivers ' Row Studio Museum in Harlem Swing Low Harriot Tubman Memorial Sylvia 's Soul Food West 147th - 149th Streets Historic District Population and demographics Like most neighborhoods in New York, the demographics of Harlem 's communities have changed rapidly throughout the history of New York. In 1910, 10 % of Harlem 's population was black but by 1930, they had become a 70 % majority. The period between 1910 and 1930 marks a huge point in the great migration of African Americans from the South to New York. This point also marks an influx from downtown Manhattan neighborhoods where blacks were feeling less welcome, to the Harlem area. The black population in Harlem peaked in 1950 with a 98 % share of the population ( population 233,000 ). As of 2000, Central Harlem had a black community comprising 77 % of the population ; however, the black population is declining as many African Americans moved out as more and more immigrants began to move in. Central Harlem is the most famous section of Harlem and thus is commonly referred to simply as Harlem. Central Harlem is home to the famous Apollo Theater. Central Harlem In 2010, the population of Central Harlem was at 115,000 according to a regional census. Central Harlem is home to the Mount Morris Park neighborhood. West Harlem In 2010, the population of West Harlem was at 110,193 according to a regional census. West Harlem, consisting of Morningside Heights, Manhattanville, and Hamilton Heights, as a whole is predominately Hispanic. African Americans make up about a quarter of the West Harlem population. However, Morningside Heights has a large number of White Americans. Morningside Heights is known as the `` Academic Acropolis of New York ''. Educational institutions in the neighborhood include City College of New York, Columbia University, Barnard College, and New York Theological Seminary. East Harlem In 2010, the population of East Harlem was at 120,000. East Harlem originally formed as a predominantly Italian American neighborhood, but its demographics have changed over the years. and it is now known as a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood. Italian Harlem formed when Southern Italian immigration began in the late 19th century. Italian Harlem is notable as the founding location of the Genovese crime family, one of the Five Families that dominated Italian organized crime in New York City as part of the Mafia ( or Cosa Nostra ). The area began its transition from Italian Harlem to Spanish Harlem when Puerto Rican migration began after World War II. This community of stateside Puerto Ricans is notable for its contributions to Salsa music. In recent decades, many Mexican and Salvadoran immigrants have also settled in East Harlem. East Harlem is also known as El Barrio and today is predominantly Hispanic, though with a significant Black presence. The area suffers from the highest violent crime rate in Manhattan. Social Issues Poverty and Health A Harlem street scene Drew Hamilton Houses, a large low - income NYCHA housing project in Central Harlem Harlem suffers from unemployment rates generally more than twice as high than the New York average and high mortality rates as well. In both cases, the numbers for men have been consistently worse than the numbers for women. Unemployment and poverty in the neighborhood resisted private and governmental initiatives to ameliorate them. During the Great Depression, unemployment in Harlem went past 20 % and people were being evicted from their homes. In the 1960s, uneducated blacks could find jobs more easily than educated ones could, confounding efforts to improve the lives of people who lived in the neighborhood through education. Land owners took advantage of the neighborhood and offered apartments to the lower - class families for cheaper rent but in lower class conditions. As of 1999, 179,000 housing units were available for the citizens of Harlem. Housing activists in Harlem state that, even after residents were given vouchers for the Section 8 housing that was being placed, many were not able to live there and had to find homes elsewhere or become homeless. Infant mortality was 124 per thousand in 1928 ( 12.4 % ). By 1940, infant mortality in Harlem was 5 % ( one infant in 20 would die ), and the death rate from disease generally was twice that of the rest of New York. Tuberculosis was the main killer, and four times as prevalent among Harlem citizens than among the rest of New York 's population. A 1990 study of life expectancy of teenagers in Harlem reported that 15 - year - old girls in Harlem had a 65 % chance of surviving to age 65, about the same as women in India. Fifteen - year - old men in Harlem, on the other hand, had a 37 % chance of surviving to age 65, about the same as men in Angola. Infectious diseases and diseases of the circulatory system were to blame, with a variety of contributing factors, including consumption of the deep - fried foods traditional to the South, which may contribute to heart disease. Crime Harlem Riot of 1964 Main article : Crime in Harlem In the early 20th century, Harlem was a stronghold of the Italian Mafia. As the ethnic composition of the neighborhood changed, black criminals began to organize themselves similarly. However, rather than compete with the established mobs, gangs concentrated on the `` policy racket '', also called the numbers game, or bolita in East Harlem. This was a gambling scheme similar to a lottery that could be played, illegally, from countless locations around Harlem. According to Francis Ianni, `` By 1925 there were thirty black policy banks in Harlem, several of them large enough to collect bets in an area of twenty city blocks and across three or four avenues. '' By the early 1950s, the total money at play amounted to billions of dollars, and the police force had been thoroughly corrupted by bribes from numbers bosses. These bosses became financial powerhouses, providing capital for loans for those who could not qualify for them from traditional financial institutions, and investing in legitimate businesses and real estate. One of the powerful early numbers bosses was a woman, Madame Stephanie St. Clair, who fought gun battles with mobster Dutch Schultz over control of the lucrative trade. The popularity of playing the numbers waned with the introduction of the state lottery, which is legal but has lower payouts and has taxes collected on winnings. The practice continues on a smaller scale among those who prefer the numbers tradition or who prefer to trust their local numbers bank to the state. Statistics from 1940 show about 100 murders per year in Harlem, `` but rape is very rare ''. By 1950, essentially all of the whites had left Harlem and by 1960, much of the black middle class had departed. At the same time, control of organized crime shifted from Italian syndicates to local black, Puerto Rican, and Cuban groups that were somewhat less formally organized. At the time of the 1964 riots, the drug addiction rate in Harlem was ten times higher than the New York City average, and twelve times higher than the United States as a whole. Of the 30,000 drug addicts then estimated to live in New York City, 15,000 to 20,000 lived in Harlem. Property crime was pervasive, and the murder rate was six times higher than New York 's average. Half of the children in Harlem grew up with one parent, or none, and lack of supervision contributed to juvenile delinquency ; between 1953 and 1962, the crime rate among young people increased throughout New York City, but was consistently 50 % higher in Harlem than in New York City as a whole. Injecting heroin grew in popularity in Harlem through the 1950s and 1960s, though the use of this drug then leveled off. In the 1980s, use of crack cocaine became widespread, which produced collateral crime as addicts stole to finance their purchasing of additional drugs, and as dealers fought for the right to sell in particular regions, or over deals gone bad. With the end of the `` crack wars '' in the mid-1990s and with the initiation of aggressive policing under mayors David Dinkins and subsequently Rudolph Giuliani, crime in Harlem plummeted. In 1981, 6,500 robberies were reported in Harlem ; robberies dropped to 4,800 in 1990 during David Dinkins ' mayoralty. By 2000, only 1,700 robberies were reported, and by 2010, only 1,100 were reported. There have been similar changes in all categories of crimes tracked by the New York City Police Department. In the 32nd Precinct, which services Central Harlem above 127th Street, for example, between 1990 and 2013, the murder rate dropped 89.4 %, the rape rate dropped 67.5 %, the robbery rate dropped 74.2 %, burglary dropped 93.4 %, and the total number of crime complaints dropped 77.6 %. Education Main article : Education in Harlem In 1977, Isiah Robinson, president of the New York City Board of Education, was quoted as saying that `` the quality of education in Harlem has degenerated to the level of a custodial service. '' Currently the New York City Department of Education operates district public schools. As of May 2006, Harlem was the heart of the charter schools movement in Manhattan ; of the 25 charter schools operating in Manhattan, 18 were in Harlem. In 2010, about one age - eligible Harlem child in five was enrolled in charter schools. The New York Public Library operates the Harlem Branch Library at 9 West 124th Street, the George Bruce Library at 518 West 125th Street, the 115th Street Branch Library at 203 West 115th Street, and the 125th Street Branch Library at 224 East 125th Street, near Third Avenue. The CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, New York College of Podiatric Medicine, City College of New York, and Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, are all located in Harlem. Transportation Bridges Harlem River spans ; Harlem to the left and the Bronx to the right The Harlem River separates the Bronx and Manhattan, necessitating several spans between the two New York City boroughs. In East Harlem, the Wards Island Bridge, also known as the 103rd Street Footbridge, connects Manhattan with Wards Island. The Triboro Bridge is a complex of three separate bridges that offers connections between Queens, Manhattan ( Harlem ), and the Bronx. Public Transportation Harlem -- 125th Street station on the Metro - North Railroad Public transportation service is provided by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. This includes the New York City Subway and MTA Regional Bus Operations, as well as a Metro - North commuter rail stop at East 125th Street, connecting Westchester County with New York City. Some Bronx local routes also serve Manhattan, to provide customers with access between both boroughs. Subway routes include : IRT Lenox Avenue Line ( 2 3 trains ) IRT Broadway -- Seventh Avenue Line ( 1 train ) IRT Lexington Avenue Line ( 4 5 6 < 6 > trains at 125th Street ) IND Eighth Avenue Line ( A C B D trains ) IND Concourse Line ( B D trains at 155th Street ) Future : IND Second Avenue Line Bus routes include : M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, M7, M10, M11, M15, M15 SBS, M35, M60 SBS, M100, M101, M102, M103, M104, M116 ( Manhattan buses ) Bx6, Bx6 SBS, Bx15, Bx19, Bx33 ( Bronx buses ) See also New York City portal African American portal List of films shot in Harlem List of people from Harlem References Jump up ^ `` Harlem neighborhood in New York ''. Retrieved December 16, 2010. ^ Jump up to : `` Manhattan CD 10 Profile '' ( PDF ). Archived from the original ( PDF ) on August 25, 2014. Retrieved 2014 - 05 - 28. ^ Jump up to : `` Manhattan CD 9 Profile '' ( PDF ). Archived from the original ( PDF ) on September 28, 2013. Retrieved 2014 - 05 - 28. ^ Jump up to : `` Manhattan CD 11 Profile '' ( PDF ). Archived from the original ( PDF ) on September 28, 2013. Retrieved 2014 - 05 - 28. Jump up ^ Pierce, Carl Horton, et al. New Harlem Past and Present : the Story of an Amazing Civic Wrong, Now at Last to be Righted. New York : New Harlem Pub. Co., 1903. Jump up ^ `` Harlem History ``. Harlemworldmag.com. January 26, 1934. Archived from the original on December 13, 2012. Retrieved February 2, 2013. ^ Jump up to : Roberts, Sam ( January 5, 2010 ). `` No Longer Majority Black, Harlem Is in Transition ''. The New York Times. Retrieved October 2, 2016. Jump up ^ `` Harlem Community District Profile ''. nyc.gov. Jump up ^ Fraser, Lisa ( March 13, 2013 ). `` South Harlem : An old city neighborhood developing a new style ''. amNY. Archived from the original on January 4, 2014. Jump up ^ Arieff, Irwin ( December 24, 2009 ). `` Momentum in South Harlem ''. The New York Times. Jump up ^ 30th Precinct New York City Police Department Jump up ^ 26th Precinct, New York City Police Department. Jump up ^ 28th Precinct, New York City Police Department. Jump up ^ 32nd Precinct New York City Police Department. Jump up ^ 23rd Precinct, New York City Police Department. Jump up ^ 25th Precinct, New York City Police Department. Jump up ^ Ellis, Edward Robb ( 1966 ). The Epic of New York City. Old Town Books. p. 52. Jump up ^ Gill, 2011, p. 6 Jump up ^ Riker, James ( 1904 ), Harlem : Its Origins and Early Annals, Elizabeth, New Jersey : New Harlem Publishing Company Jump up ^ `` Harlem in the Old Times ''. The New York Times. January 11, 1880. Retrieved December 30, 2012. Jump up ^ Gill, 2011, p. 61. Jump up ^ `` Harlem, the Village That Became a Ghetto '', Martin Duberman, in New York, N.Y. : An American Heritage History of the Nation 's Greatest City, 1968 Jump up ^ Gill, 2011, pp. 100, 109. Jump up ^ Gill, 2011, p. 86. Jump up ^ `` The Growth and Decline of Harlem 's Housing '', Thorin Tritter, Afro - Americans in New York Life and History, January 31, 1998 Jump up ^ Gill, 2011, pp. 175, 210. Jump up ^ `` The Making of Harlem '' Archived June 15, 2006, at the Wayback Machine., James Weldon Johnson, The Survey Graphic, March 1925 Jump up ^ Gotham Gazette, 2008 Archived January 17, 2012, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` 118,000 Negroes Move From The South '', The New York World, November 5, 1917 ^ Jump up to : `` Harlem 's Shifting Population ''. Gotham Gazette. The Citizens Union Foundation. August 27, 2008. Archived from the original on February 12, 2010. Retrieved June 9, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Harlem Stirs '', 1966, p. 27. Jump up ^ `` A Landmark Struggle '', Lisa Davis, Preservation Online, November 21, 2003 Archived February 4, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ East Harlem 's History, New Directions : A 197 - A Plan for Manhattan Community district 11 ( Revised 1999 ) Jump up ^ Pinkney & Woock, Poverty and Politics in Harlem ( 1970 ), p. 33. Jump up ^ `` Harlem Stirs '', 1966, p. 104. Jump up ^ `` Harlem Losing Ground as Negro Area '', New York Herald Tribune, April 6, 1952 Jump up ^ Powell, Michael. `` Harlem 's New Rush : Booming Real Estate '', The Washington Post, March 13, 2005. Accessed May 18, 2007. `` The transformation of this historic capital of Black America has taken an amphetamined step or three beyond a Starbucks, a Body Shop and former president Bill Clinton taking an office on 125th Street. '' Jump up ^ Brooks, Charles. `` Harlemworld : Doing Race and Class in Contemporary Black America -- nonfiction reviews -- book review '', Black Issues Book Review, March -- April 2002. Accessed May 18, 2007. `` There 's a mystique that surrounds Harlem -- with its rich historical tradition, literature, music, dance, politics and social activism. Consequently, Harlem is referred to as the `` Black Mecca '' the capital of black America, and arguably the most recognized black community in the country. '' Jump up ^ `` Harlem 's Dreams Have Died in Last Decade, Leaders Say '', The New York Times, March 1, 1978, p. A1. Jump up ^ Stern, Fishman & Tilove, New York 2000 ( 2006 ), p. 1016 ^ Jump up to : `` Census trends : Young, white Harlem newcomers are n't always welcomed '', New York Daily News, December 26, 2010 Jump up ^ Stern, Fishman & Tilove, New York 2000 ( 2006 ), p. 1013. Jump up ^ `` New boy in the ' hood ' '', The Observer, August 5, 2001 Archived February 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ The Economic Redevelopment of Harlem, PhD Thesis of Eldad Gothelf, submitted to Columbia University in May 2004 ^ Jump up to : `` To Live in Harlem '', Frank Hercules, National Geographic, February 1977, p. 178 + Jump up ^ Jim Williams, `` Need for Harlem Theater '', in Harlem : A Community in Transition, 1964. p. 158 Jump up ^ Pfeffer, Murray L. `` My Harlem Reverie ''. The Big Bands Database. Archived from the original on March 31, 2010. Retrieved October 2, 2016. Jump up ^ Freeland, David ( 2009 ). Automats, Taxi Dances, and Vaudeville : Excavating Manhattan 's Lost Places of Leisure. NYU Press. p. 155. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8147 - 2763 - 8. Jump up ^ `` Saxman Finds Place For Jazz History ''. New York City News Service. Retrieved 6 December 2013. Jump up ^ `` Jam Streets as ' Macbeth ' Opens '', The New York Times, April 15, 1936 Jump up ^ `` Gatehouse Ushers in a Second Act as a Theater '', The New York Times, October 17, 2006 Jump up ^ Otterman, Sharon ( December 22, 2009 ). `` A Quiet End for Boys Choir of Harlem ''. The New York Times. Retrieved 18 February 2015. Jump up ^ Kennedy, Randy ( November 24, 1997 ). `` A Girls ' Choir Finally Sings In Spotlight ''. The New York Times. Retrieved 18 February 2015. Jump up ^ `` HISTORY OF AFRICAN AMERICAN DAY PARADE, INC. ''. African American Day Parade. Archived from the original on February 18, 2015. Retrieved February 18, 2015. Jump up ^ Nbcnewyork.com Jump up ^ Mays, Jeff ( Oct 18, 2013 ). `` Harlem Residents Hold Sit - In to Protest Farmers Market Takeover of Plaza ''. DNAinfo.com. Jump up ^ `` The New Heyday of Harlem '', Tessa Souter, The Independent, Sunday, June 8, 1997 Jump up ^ Fact Not Fiction in Harlem, John H. Johnson, St. Martin 's Church, 1980. p. 69 + Jump up ^ Harlem U.S.A., ed. John Henrik Clarke, introduction to 1971 edition ^ Jump up to : Landmarks and History of Upper Manhattan Archived August 10, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` Bushman Steps NYC Parks website highlights ''. Jump up ^ Bells of St Martin by Kathleen Hulse Jump up ^ Savoy Ballroom Marker Archived August 10, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ Nyc.gov Archived March 17, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` Manhattan Community District 10 - New York City Department of City Planning ''. Nyc.gov. Retrieved 2014 - 05 - 28. Jump up ^ `` Nyc.gov West Harlem Community District Profil. ''. Jump up ^ `` Morningside Heights, Manhattan New York City ''. Nyctouristguide.com. Retrieved 2013 - 02 - 02. Jump up ^ `` Nyc.org Harlem Manhattan Community District Profile ''. Jump up ^ Nycteachingfellows.org Archived August 24, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` Genovese Crime Family - One of the `` Five Families '' ``. American Mafia History. 2012 - 05 - 06. Retrieved 2012 - 09 - 19. ^ Jump up to : `` El Barrio ( Spanish Harlem ) New York City.com : Visitor Guide : Editorial Review ''. Nyc.com. Retrieved 2013 - 02 - 02. Jump up ^ `` East Harlem ''. studio323ny.com. Archived from the original on August 17, 2012. Retrieved 2013 - 02 - 02. Jump up ^ `` What a Safer City Really Looks Like '' ( PDF ). Retrieved 2012 - 09 - 19. Jump up ^ Poverty and Politics in Harlem, Alphnso Pinkney & Roger Woock, College & University Press Services, Inc., 1970, p. 31 Jump up ^ Taylor, Nick. `` The Great Depression. '' Great Depression ( 1930 's ) News. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Oct. 2013. Jump up ^ The Economic Development of Harlem, Thomas Vietorisz and Bennett Harrison, Praeger Special Studies in U.S. Economic and Social Development, 1970, p. 19 Jump up ^ `` Harlem. '' Encyclopedia of Urban America : the cities and Suburbs. Santa Barbara. ABC - CLIO, 1998. Credo Reference. Web. 02 Oct. 2013. ^ Jump up to : Hyra, Derek S. The New Urban Renewal : The Economic Transformation of Harlem and Bronzeville. Chicago : University of Chicago, 2008. 103. Print. ^ Jump up to : `` Congestion Causes High Mortality '', The New York Times, October 24, 1929 Jump up ^ McCord, C. ; Freeman, H.P. ( 1990 ). `` Excess Mortality in Harlem ''. New England Journal of Medicine. 322 ( 3 ) : 173 -- 177. doi : 10.1056 / NEJM199001183220306. ^ Jump up to : Francis A.J. Ianni, Black Mafia, 1974 Jump up ^ `` Inside Story of Numbers Racket '', Amsterdam News, August 21, 1954 Jump up ^ Cook, Fred J. `` The Black Mafia Moves Into the Numbers Racket '', The New York Times, April 4, 1971. Accessed December 28, 2016. `` In those days, Madame Stephanie St. Clair became known as the `` Policy Queen '' of Harlem... Once Dutch Schultz dis covered this potential gold mine, he moved in, gang guns blazing. Madame St. Claire, who survived to become a big property owner and business woman in Harlem, fought Schultz from 1931 to 1935. '' Jump up ^ Wilson, Michael. `` Relics of the Bygone ( and the Illegal ) '', The New York Times, March 22, 2013. Accessed December 28, 2016. `` Several years later, with the state lottery offering a similar game, runners and numbers bankers openly protested in Manhattan. They feared the legal game would wipe out the rackets and their jobs. They were, for the most part, right... The few numbers joints that survive do so in part because the payouts are often better than the lottery, the police said. '' Jump up ^ `` 244,000 Native Sons '', Look Magazine, May 21, 1940, p. 8 + Jump up ^ Poverty and Politics in Harlem, Alphonso Pinkney & Roger Woock, College & University Press Services, Inc., 1970, p. 33 Jump up ^ `` Harlem Speaks : A Living History of the Harlem Renaissance. '' Wintz, Cary. Jump up ^ `` How New York Cut Crime '', Reform Magazine, Autumn 2002 p. 11 Archived March 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` Compstat -- Volume 16 No. 4 -- 32nd Precinct '' ( PDF ). NYPD Compstat unit. October 26, 2014. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2010 - 08 - 13. Retrieved November 5, 2014. Jump up ^ New York Charter Schools Association Jump up ^ The Teachers ' Unions ' Last Stand, by Steven Brill ( Single Page online URL ), in The New York Times, in the Magazine, Sunday, May 23, 2010, p. MM32 ( print version may differ ), as accessed June 10, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Harlem Branch Library ''. New York Public Library. Retrieved on January 30, 2009. Jump up ^ `` George Bruce Library ''. New York Public Library. Retrieved on January 20, 2015. Jump up ^ `` 115th Street Branch Library ''. New York Public Library. Retrieved on January 30, 2009. Jump up ^ `` 125th Street Branch Library ''. New York Public Library. Retrieved on January 30, 2009. Jump up ^ `` Robert F. Kennedy Bridge ''. Mta.info. December 30, 2010. Archived from the original on January 21, 2013. Retrieved February 2, 2013. Jump up ^ `` MTA New York City Transit ''. Mta.info. Retrieved February 2, 2013. ^ Jump up to : `` Subway Map '' ( PDF ). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. June 25, 2017. Retrieved July 1, 2017. Jump up ^ Mta.info -- Second Avenue Subway map Archived April 8, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. ^ Jump up to : `` Manhattan Bus Map '' ( PDF ). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. May 2017. Retrieved July 17, 2017. Further reading Gill, Jonatham, Harlem : The Four Hundred Year History from Dutch Village to Capital of Black America, Grove Press, 2011. Ianni, Francis A.J. Black Mafia : Ethnic Succession in Organized Crime, 1974. King, Shannon. Whose Harlem Is This ? Community Politics and Grassroots Activism During the New Negro Era. New York : New York University Press, 2015. Osofsky, Gilbert. Harlem : The Making of a Ghetto : Negro New York, 1890 -- 1930, 1971. WPA Guide to New York City, 1939 TIME, vol. 84, No. 5, July 31, 1964. `` Harlem : No Place Like Home ''. Newsweek, August 3, 1964. `` Harlem : Hatred in the Streets ''. Harlem Stirs, John O. Killens, Fred Halstead, 1966. `` Crack 's Decline : Some Surprises from U.S. Cities '', National Institute of Justice Research in Brief, July 1997. Bourgois, Philippe. In search of respect : Selling crack in El Barrio. Vol. 10. Cambridge University Press, 2003. External links Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Harlem and Upper Manhattan. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Harlem, Manhattan. Portraits of Harlem Digital Harlem : Everyday Life 1915 -- 1930 Harlem -- NYCwiki Links to related articles Neighborhoods in the New York City borough of Manhattan Lower Manhattan below 14th St ( CB 1, 2, 3 ) Alphabet City Battery Park City Bowery Chinatown Civic Center Cooperative Village East Village Essex Crossing Financial District Five Points Greenwich Village Hudson Square Little Fuzhou Little Germany Little Italy Little Syria Lower East Side Meatpacking District NoHo Nolita Radio Row SoHo South Street Seaport South Village Tribeca Two Bridges West Village World Trade Center Midtown ( CB 5 ) Columbus Circle Diamond District Flatiron District Garment District Herald Square Koreatown Madison Square NoMad Silicon Alley Theater District Times Square West Side ( CB 4, 7 ) Chelsea Hell 's Kitchen Hudson Yards Lincoln Square Little Spain Manhattan Valley Manhattantown Penn South Pomander Walk Riverside South Tenderloin Upper West Side East Side ( CB 6, 8 ) Carnegie Hill Gashouse District Gramercy Park Kips Bay Lenox Hill Murray Hill Peter Cooper Village Rose Hill Stuyvesant Square Stuyvesant Town Sutton Place Tudor City Turtle Bay Union Square Upper East Side Waterside Plaza Yorkville Upper Manhattan above 110th St ( CB 9, 10, 11, 12 ) Astor Row East Harlem Hamilton Heights Harlem Hudson Heights Inwood Le Petit Senegal Manhattanville Marble Hill ( Bx CB 8 ) Marcus Garvey Park Morningside Heights Sugar Hill Sylvan Washington Heights Islands Ellis Island ( CB 1 ) Governors Island ( CB 1 ) Liberty Island ( CB 1 ) Randalls Island ( CB 11 ) Roosevelt Island ( CB 8 ) Wards Island ( CB 11 ) Community boards : 1 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Harlem, Manhattan Aspects of Harlem Crime Demographics Education History Harlem Renaissance List of films List of neighborhoods List of people Subsections East Harlem Hamilton Heights Italian Harlem Le Petit Senegal Manhattanville Morningside Heights Sugar Hill Ethnic groups in New York City Ancestries Arabs African Americans Brazilians Uzbek Asians Bangladeshis Chinese Filipinos Asian Indians Japanese Koreans Pakistanis Sri Lankans Europeans Irish Italians Russians Ukrainians Hispanics Caribbeans Central Americans Cubans Mexicans Puerto Ricans South Americans Jews Native Americans Ethnic enclaves 8th Avenue / Lapskaus Blvd. Astoria Arthur Avenue Bay Ridge Bed -- Stuy Bensonhurst Borough Park Brighton Beach Chinatowns Brooklyn Queens Manhattan Crown Heights Curry Hill Dyker Heights Elmhurst Flatbush Harlem Hell 's Kitchen Howard Beach Italian Harlem Jackson Heights Jamaica Koreatowns Manhattan Queens Le Petit Senegal Little Brazil Little Egypt Little Fuzhou Little Germany Little Italy Little Manila Little Poland Little Saigon Little Spain Little Syria Loisaida Morris Park Ozone Park Spanish Harlem Sunset Park Washington Heights Williamsburg Yorkville Institutions African Burial Ground National Monument Bohemian Citizens ' Benevolent Society El Museo del Barrio Hispanic Society of America Indo - American Arts Council Irish Repertory Theatre New York Asian Film Festival New York Filipino Film Festival Wales Week in New York Cultural events Brazilian Day Dominican Day Parade Feast of San Gennaro German - American Steuben Parade Korean Day Parade NY Persian Parade Philippine Independence Day Parade Puerto Rican Day Parade Pulaski Day Parade Historical events New York Slave Revolt of 1712 New York Conspiracy of 1741 New York City teachers ' strike of 1968 Crown Heights riots of 1991 Movements Harlem Renaissance Nuyorican Movement Media Asahi Shimbun China Daily El Diario La Prensa Freie Arbeiter Stimme Il Progresso Italo - Americano India Abroad Irish Voice Little India Korea Times New Yorker Staats - Zeitung Nowy Dziennik Proletar Sing Tao Daily The Daily Star The Epoch Times The International New York Times The Irish Echo World Journal Other topics Illegal immigration Former municipalities of New York City Brooklyn City of Brooklyn ( 1646 -- 1898 ) Bushwick ( 1661 -- 1854 ) Flatbush ( 1652 -- 1894 ) Flatlands ( 1647 -- 1896 ) Gravesend ( 1645 -- 1894 ) New Lots ( 1852 -- 1886 ) New Utrecht ( 1657 -- 1894 ) City of Williamsburgh ( 1827 -- 1854 ) Manhattan City of New York ( 1625 -- 1898 ) New Harlem ( 1658 -- 66 ) Queens Flushing ( 1645 - 1898 ) Hempstead ( part, 1898 ) Jamaica ( 1656 -- 1898 ) Long Island City ( 1870 -- 1898 ) Newtown ( 1652 -- 1898 ) Staten Island Castleton ( 1788 -- 1898 ) Northfield ( 1788 -- 1898 ) Middletown ( 1860 -- 98 ) Southfield ( 1788 -- 1898 ) Westfield ( 1788 -- 1898 ) The Bronx Eastchester ( part, 1895 ) Kingsbridge ( 1873 -- 74 ) Morrisania ( 1855 -- 74 ) Pelham ( part, 1895 ) Westchester ( 1788 -- 1895 ) West Farms ( 1846 -- 1874 ) Municipalities are towns unless otherwise noted. Timeline of town creation in Downstate New York Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Harlem&oldid=800949641 '' Categories : Harlem 1658 establishments in North America 1658 establishments in the Dutch Empire African - American culture Former villages in New York City Neighborhoods in Manhattan Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from February 2016 Coordinates on Wikidata Use mdy dates from August 2013 Commons category with local link different than on Wikidata All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from November 2014 Articles containing potentially dated statements from May 2006 All articles containing potentially dated statements Pages using New York City Subway service templates Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikinews Asturianu Беларуская Български Brezhoneg Català Чӑвашла Cebuano Čeština Dansk Deutsch Eesti Español Esperanto Euskara فارسی Français Gaeilge Galego 한국어 Հայերեն Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית ქართული Latina Latviešu Lëtzebuergesch Lietuvių Bahasa Melayu Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk پنجابی Polski Português Română Русский Simple English Slovenčina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt 粵語 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 16 September 2017, at 18 : 43. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: where does harlem begin on the east side
Answer: East River