New Harlem

The redevelopment of Harlem through the 1980s and 1990s was relent- less. Construction activity has restored townhouses and apartment build- ings that stood empty for decades. Vacant buildings and lots that were eyesores decades earlier disappeared and were replaced with new town- homes, apartment buildings and office and retail space. Restaurants once hard to find are in abundance serving a variety of American, Southern Caribbean, and Chinese cuisine. Chain stores that refused to cross 110th Street are now uptown on the major thoroughfares of 116th, 125th and 145th streets. And even fitness centers and coffee houses have made their way to 125th and 145th street. In the planning stages and soon to be completed projects include hotels, a Costco, Home Depot and Best Buy.

But Harlem’s most dramatic changes have happened in the most depressed neighborhoods of New York City. Almost overnight new neighborhoods were created where once empty lots were overrun with garbage and where vermin ran wild. Along the corridors of Eighth Avenue from 116th Street to 125th Street, Madison Avenue from 116th Street to 123rd Street, the Bradhurst area from Seventh to Eighth avenues on 145th Street and the landmark districts of Mt. Morris, Astor Row, Strivers’ Row and Hamilton Heights have undergone transformations that rival the affluence of historic neighborhoods in downtown Manhattan.

Throughout Harlem as affordable and moderate rate housing returns to the private market, middle class whites and African Americans are purchasing apartments and brownstones. Others are buying condominiums and coops, and the majority are discovering affordable rents in comparison to the rest of Manhattan.

Although the signs of development blossom at every turn there are still some things that symbolize the past. Boarded up brownstones and apartment buildings still remain. Corridors of bodegas, downtrodden Chinese and greasy fast food restaurants, and those infamous check cashing establishments still fill up the blocks. And despite the decline in crime it is not uncommon for bodegas and liquor stores to operate behind Plexiglass barriers (with the exception of Harlem Vintage, a wine store that opened in May 2001).

Harlem has come full circle. With the return of the middle class and new business development, property values are up and housing prices are on the rise. Some feel Harlem is entering another rebirth. Totally different from the cultural and artistic movement of the New Negro in the 1920s, this renaissance is driven by class and economic status as Harlem’s ideal location, historic and rich housing stock, generally affordable rents and brownstones offer the same fine living as downtown.