East Harlem, Spanish Harlem or "El Barrio," — from 96th St. to 125th St. (some say 146th St.) and Fifth Ave. and the East River.
Spanish Harlem is changing. Dark purple real estate is selling at prices that are much higher than the median income of the block ... i.e., rich people are moving in.
The demographics are clearly in flux, as the number of self-identified Whites and Asians have doubled over the past two decades.
This isn't the first demographic turnover for the area. Always a working class neighborhood and originally a German area, by the early 20th century East Harlem was largely inhabited by Irish, Italian, and Eastern European Jews.
After World War I there was an influx of Puerto Ricans into the neighborhood, especially around 110th St., an area which became known as "Spanish Harlem" or "El Barrio."
This shrine from the Italian Roman Catholic church on Pleasant Ave., where they dance the giglio, is now maintained by the Puerto Rican community.
In 1941, to better house the growing population of the neighborhood, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) built its first community housing project in East Harlem. Over the next 20-30 years the city built 24 NYCHA developments in the area.
The purpose of building up with public housing was to create public space for small parks and recreation areas.
But under a controversial NYCHA plan, the cash-strapped agency now proposes to lease public space in the project to private developers to build luxury housing — 20% of which must be designated for low-income families.
Like many City Housing Authorities, the NYCHA uses federal funds to supplement the lower rental rates it offers. However, as Robbie Whelan explained in a recent Wall Street Journal article, as federal funding is running low many city housing authorities are looking for alternate funding options.
Many residents and community organizations are concerned that the reduction in public space will harm the neighborhood and the increase in luxury housing will hasten the displacement of lower-income families.
Displacement has been a common theme in Spanish Harlem's history. From German to largely Italian in the 1900s, in the 1970s many of the old Italian families left as the neighborhood went up in flames amidst race riots and a spike in arson.
The city claimed many of the destroyed lots and turned them into low-income housing, resulting in one of the highest geographical concentrations of low-income housing projects in the United States right next to one of the highest-income neighborhoods.
Not everything was burned down, and not everybody has left. Rao's has been family-owned in this location for over 100 years. It was closed when we visited and everyone was at the annual Dance of the Giglio.
The Dance of the Giglio is an annual feast that originated in the 1880s in Brusciano, Italy near Naples. The tradition was first celebrated in East Harlem around 1908 and the Giglio Society of East Harlem has continued the tradition.
