Harlem

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Map of Harlem (outlined by the dashed line)

Harlem [ ˈhɑːɹləm ] is a neighborhood in the New York borough of Manhattan . In 2008 it had 215,753 inhabitants.

City structure

Harlem is one of the main centers of African American culture in the United States. Although the name "Harlem" is often used for all of Upper Manhattan , this part of the city is actually bounded by 155th Street to the north and the Harlem River to the east. The southern border that separates Harlem from the affluent Upper East Side , among other things , is not straight. Between the East River and 3rd Avenue , 96th Street forms the border, between 3rd Avenue and Madison Avenue the border shifts two blocks north to 98th Street, and on Fifth Avenue , Harlem does not begin until 104th Street . There is almost always a clear division between the respective neighborhoods. At the intersection of 96th Street and Park Avenue, there are expensive skyscrapers on the south side and cheap public housing on the north side. Central Park forms the border along 110th Street between 5th Avenue and 8th Avenue . To the west of 8th Avenue, Harlem begins at 125th Street . The Hudson River forms the border to the northwest of Harlem . The Hudson is also the boundary for New York City itself as well as for the state and county of New York .

There are several neighborhoods within Harlem: East Harlem , Morningside Heights , Hamilton Heights and Sugar Hill . The Mount Morris Park Historic District is not a neighborhood in its own right, but an area between 118th Street and 124th Street , bounded by 5th Avenue and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (7th Avenue), in which the buildings of entire streets are listed and in have been or will be extensively renovated in recent and coming years

Building facade in Harlem

Upper Manhattan, on the other hand, also consists of other districts. In Washington Heights , the area near the 181st Street , formerly lived many German Jews, including Henry Kissinger , who in the 1930s Germany and Austria had left. Beyond Washington Heights is Inwood , where many people of Irish descent used to live. Today, Washington Heights and Inwood are mostly populated by emigrants from Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic , although a small Jewish community still exists near Yeshiva University .

A gentrification process began in Harlem in the early 21st century .

history

Dutch pioneers formed the first European settlement in what is now Harlem in the 16th century; In 1658 the name of the new hamlet was formalized as " Nieuw-Haarlem " after the Dutch city of Haarlem . With African slaves, the Dutch West India Company built a country road into the lush meadows of Harlem, which gradually developed into the famous Boston Post Road . In 1664 the English attacked the Dutch. After their victory, the English ruled the whole colony of New Holland and the Dutch city of Nieuw Amsterdam was renamed "New York" (the seal of the present city shows the date 1625). “Haarlem” became “Harlem”. After the start of the US War of Independence, the English fought on September 16, 1776 against the American colonists in the Battle of Harlem Heights (also: Battle of Harlem or Battle of Harlem Plain ). The battle took place in the western part of Harlem, near Hollow Way (today: West 125th Street). There was also fighting in Morningside Heights, just south, and Harlem Heights to the north.

125th Street Station Subway Line 1 local service (7 Avenue Line)

There were numerous farms in Harlem in the 19th century. James Roosevelt, father of future President Franklin D. Roosevelt , owned property east of Fifth Avenue between 110th and 125th Streets. Today this area is the center of the Spanish and Latin American Harlem . The large estates were mostly on the heights overlooking the Hudson River . Before the subway was built, steamboats connected Harlem to the rest of the city. The ships drove along the East River (between Manhattan and Brooklyn / Queens, ie the western part of Long Island ). The trip took 1.5 hours and service had to be stopped if the river froze over in winter (the East River almost never freezes today). An alternative form of transportation was the Boston Post Road carriage that drove through Harlem from McGown's Pass (now Central Park ) around the Salt Marshes near what is now 110th Street. The New York and Harlem Railroad began to connect the city of New York with Harlem as early as 1831; Back then, Harlem was not seen as a part of town, but as a remote place. The railroad ran between Harlem and a depot on 23rd Street . Over the next twenty years, the routes were extended approximately 200 kilometers until they reached Chatham . Harlem became a suburb of New York.

Old apartment buildings on Sugar Hill , in Harlem

In 1880 elevated railways ( "Elevated Railroads" or "Els" ) reached Harlem. This infrastructure made the rapid urbanization of Harlem possible. Suddenly townhouses ( "townhouses" or row houses with shared walls) and other residential buildings appeared. For a while the rich played polo on the polo grounds , where the New York Giants baseball team played in the 20th century . Composer Oscar Hammerstein I opened the Harlem Opera House on east 125th Street in 1889. Some of the most expensive houses by respected architects have survived; Take the famous Sugar Hill, west of 8th Avenue between 137 and 160th Streets . However, Harlem's face changed in the early 20th century. The district has been characterized by immigrants and various ethnic groups. By 1905, most of the residents were German Jews and Jews from Eastern Europe. But the Jewish presence was ephemeral. Around 1910 there was a brief economic slump. Some real estate agents began renting apartments to African Americans, many of whom fled poverty and racial discrimination in the southern United States and moved to industrial cities in the north as part of the Great Migration in the early decades of the 20th century . Over the next two decades, the Whites left Harlem. In 1917 there were around 150,000 Jews, by 1930 the number had dropped to 5,000. Today's Spanish Harlem , next to the East River, became Italian. Today the Italian population has also disappeared.

Center of African American culture

The Apollo Theater on 125th Street , in Harlem
Masjed Aqsa of the Nation of Islam
Renovated next to derelict - brownstone building on Lenox Avenue (also Malcolm X Blvd) in the Mount Morris Park Historic District

The first black residents were associated with the St. Philips Episcopal Church . New York's Afro-Americans used to live in other parts of the city; B. in Tenderloin , San Juan Hill , Hell's Kitchen and more. By the 1920s, the African American population in Harlem had quadrupled and black culture, the Harlem Renaissance , began to flourish. Ironically, most African Americans weren't allowed to attend because the most famous clubs like Barron Wilkins' Exclusive Club , Connie's Inn , Small's Paradise, and the Cotton Club , where Duke Ellington played, only allowed white people to enter. The Apollo Theater opened on 125th Street on January 26, 1934. The building had previously been a burlesque house. The Savoy Ballroom on Lenox Avenue was a renowned location for swing dancing. The Theresa Hotel was also to be found in Harlem , at the time the largest and best hotel in the USA, which was also accessible to African-Americans.

The war years were tense for Harlem. Many blacks did not enjoy fighting because American society treated them as inferior people. There had been clashes with the police as early as 1934, and further unrest broke out in 1943. After World War II , African Americans moved to other neighboring towns in New York as racial discrimination gradually subsided; In 1950, Harlem's black population reached its peak. However, Harlem remained the capital of African American politics, intellectuals, and culture. The conflicts became even more serious in the 1960s, especially after the assassination attempt on Martin Luther King .

Until the early 1990s, hardly any investors had invested capital in this neighborhood. Most of the buildings, houses and schools were shabby, and drugs, prostitution and violence had been major problems since the 1970s, affecting the lives of most citizens. There was a new renaissance in Harlem, as in other parts of New York, from the mid-1990s, among other things through a stricter security policy throughout New York and through various social programs of the city and of private organizations. Businesspeople and politicians also saw new potential in Harlem, encouraged by the changes, and gentrification , ie upgrading the area through renovation, has been and is being carried out gradually. New buildings, department stores (including the Old Navy ) and shops were built, old buildings are increasingly being renovated and, due to ever increasing real estate prices in Manhattan, many wealthy people are attracted by the relatively moderate prices. Former US President Bill Clinton today has an office at 125th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (7th Avenue), and a new Marriott hotel is planned to be built on 125th Street and Park Avenue. This process is viewed critically by some people, as it sometimes displaces people with lower incomes from their houses and there is fear of a loss of identity for the district with its numerous “brownstone” row houses from the period from 1870 to 1910 due to planned new high-rise buildings.

Some streets have since been given the names of black activists or personalities.

activism

It was only under social pressure that the shops on 125th Street refrained from hiring African Americans. Harlem is also the headquarters of the Black Muslim Movement in the United States. The Abyssinian Baptist Church is particularly powerful because it has become very wealthy through its real estate holdings. This church is committed to helping poor African Americans.

religion

Mount Olivet Baptist Church on Lenox Avenue
Mini-Church Example: Triumph Baptist Church in the parlor of a Brownstone on Lenox Avenue

Religion plays an important role in the lives of much of the Harlem population. There is therefore a wide variety of churches in Harlem. Some are so small that they hold their masses in normal apartments. The communities are correspondingly small. For example, there are more than ten churches of various denominations and sizes on Malcolm X Boulevard (also Lenox Avenue) between 120th Street and 123rd Street .

The Church Mount Olivet Baptist Church on Malcolm X Boulevard (Lenox Avenue) on 120th Street, was formerly a synagogue called Temple Israel . Erected by German Jews in 1907, it was sold to the Mount Olivet Congregation in 1925 . The Star of David can still be seen on the pillars and in the glass windows. Famous people like Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez have preached in the Church. The inside and outside of the church and parts of the Mount Morris Park Historic District were the setting for the movie " American Gangster " (2008) with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe , as well as for the series Marvel's Luke Cage .

Malcolm Shabazz Mosque Number 7

In the past few decades, many immigrants have moved from Africa to Harlem. Many of these immigrants are of Muslim faith . This is also noticeable in the large number of mosques in this district. A large number of black civil rights activists such as B. Malcolm X professed or converted to the Muslim faith. One of the larger mosques is Malcolm Shabazz Mosque Number 7 on 116th Street and Malcolm X Boulevard (Lenox Avenue). The dome of this mosque is a symbol that can be seen from afar. Since the mosque does not have a minaret , the muezzin calls the believers to prayer over the loudspeaker . The mosque was partially built over on the west side by a higher residential building in 2007 .

useful information

geology

Starting with 122nd Street, Subway Line 1 (red) crosses a deep gorge that stretches to 135th Street. This was caused by geological activity, the continental drift . This crevice is known as the 125th fault line and runs from New Jersey through Harlem along Morningside Park , the northern part of Central Park , under the East River to Queens across Upper Manhattan . This earth fold is held responsible for the earthquake on August 10, 1884 with a magnitude of 5.2 on the Richter scale , which is open at the top . This rocked New Jersey, New York and parts of Long Island and destroyed the chimneys of the surrounding houses. The crevice was named "The Hollow Way" in the 18th century .

Mount Morris Park Historic District

Block in the Mount Morris Park Historic District

The Mount Morris Park Historic District is west of Marcus Garvey Park (until 1973 Mount Morris Park) and was in the first stage (until 1996) by Lenox Avenue (Malcolm X Blvd) to the west , 119th Street to the south and 124th Street limited to the north . In the second stage, the district was expanded to the west to Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd, to the south to 118th Street. The Mount Morris Park Historic District was established in 1971 by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission and was one of the first listed districts in New York.

The buildings were built in the style of the 19th and early 20th centuries and are largely unchanged to this day. The block on Lenox Avenue between 120th and 121st Streets is something special in all of New York. All 10 buildings were built entirely by an architect and a construction company at the same time. Starting from the center, the architectural style of the building is repeated outwards, so that the center of the block serves as a mirror axis. However, one of the buildings was accidentally demolished by the Department of Buildings of the City of New York, so that there is now a gap at this point. During the construction of the building, there was a passage to all buildings on all floors , so that the construction workers could bring all building materials into the new building from one side . This passage was bricked up after completion and is still preserved and visible in the individual apartments . Except for a few changes that were made before 1971, the style of the buildings is still worth seeing. Some of the well-known architects who constructed buildings in the Mount Morris Park Historic District are Edward L. Angell and Charles Baxter .

Fidel Castro in Harlem

When Fidel Castro visited New York in 1961 to attend the United Nations General Assembly and to deliver a speech on September 26, he and his 80-strong delegation originally stayed at the Shelburne Hotel on Lexington Avenue. When the owner of this hotel, Edward Spatz, hung an oversized American flag at the entrance to the hotel, a dispute arose with the Cuban delegation. After reports were spread that the Cubans were keeping chickens in the premises, they were told to leave the hotel. The Cuban delegation was forbidden to stay outside of Manhattan because of an order from the American government . Castro turned down an offer by the Swedish Secretary General of the UN, Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld , to stay free of charge in the luxury hotel Commodore.

Hotel Theresa

Thereupon the Afro-American owner of the Hotel Theresa , Love Woods, made Castro the offer to take him and his delegation into his hotel free of charge, which Castro accepted. Castro left the Shelburne Hotel around midnight. His route to Harlem was lined with many Spanish speakers and Afro-American residents of Harlem, many cheering Castro. At the Hotel Theresa Castro received many personalities, such as Gamal Abdel Nasser , Jawaharlal Nehru , Allen Ginsberg , Langston Hughes , Malcolm X and Nikita Khrushchev . The hotel was closed in 1967 and then converted into an office building.

Movies, TV, music

Some films and TV series are set in whole or in part in Harlem, including " Shaft " (1971), " Straße zum Jenseits " ( Across 110th Street ) (1972), James Bond 007 - " Live and let die " ( Live and let die ) (1973) with Roger Moore , " New Jack City " (1990) with Wesley Snipes , " Die Hard - Now All the More " (1995) with Bruce Willis , " The Royal Tenenbaums " (2001) with Gene Hackman and " The Streets Harlems "(Paid in Full) (2002) with Cameron Giles , Wood Harris and Mekhi Phifer ," American Gangster "(2008) with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe ," Law & Order "and" Law and Order - Special Victim Unit ", “ Precious ” (2009) with Gabourey Sidibe and Mariah Carey and “ Marvel's Luke Cage ” (2016) with Mike Colter .

There is also a song when it gets dark in Harlem .

The Irish rock band U2 released the song Angel of Harlem on their album Rattle and Hum in 1987 and in the same year in their concert film of the same name and shot parts of the film in Harlem, including a version of their song "Still haven't been sung by African Americans in a Harlem church found what I'm looking for ".

Worth seeing

Sons and daughters of Harlem

See also

literature

  • Frank Hercules, Photos: Jacob Holdt, Le Roy Woodson: Harlem . In: Geo-Magazin. Hamburg 1978.7, pp. 104-130. (Experience report. The redevelopment of the slums forces people to emigrate, but black citizens return home full of confidence to the “capital of black America”. ). ISSN  0342-8311

Web links

Commons : Harlem, Manhattan  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

swell

  1. ↑ Harlem's Miraculous Rise in New York , Die Welt, March 25, 2008
  2. ^ NJ is not immune to quakes , The Earth Institute Columbia University, March 2, 2001
  3. ↑ The Mount Morris Park Historic District ( Memento of the original from November 18, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Department of City Planning, New York  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nyc.gov
  4. ↑ Castro at the Hotel Theresa ( Memento of the original from March 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Carlton Jackson, April 25, 2008 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hotelsoftherichandfamous.com

Coordinates: 40 ° 48 ′  N , 73 ° 57 ′  W