Two Sides of the Track
As varying viewpoints on the changes in Harlem continue to trickle in, I think of the 1984 film, The Brother From Another Planet. In it, a man on the New York City subway says:
“Wanna see me make all the white people disappear?” And, just like that, he performs magic. When the doors of the express train open, all the white passengers get out of the car that continues uptown to Harlem.
Much has changed in the 22 years since that film was made, and nothing has changed at all. While the dividing line has moved further uptown, the racial divide symbolized at the midtown subway stop continues to travel through the consciousness of Harlem residents.
As I examine the thoughts being posted on this blog, one overriding concern is that the Harlem of the past is at risk of disappearing; that, much as the white people disappeared off that train, Harlem’s history could very well vanish due to the significant changes occurring in the neighborhood.
When it comes to change and preservation, can Harlem straddle both sides of the track? Here are a few of the posts I’ve received that cut to the heart of this matter:
“…Harlem is the last place in New York where black people can feel and call home. When you [white] people… come uptown, in large numbers, the community will slowly start to die…”
"The one thing we've all learned as New Yorkers is that time waits for no one... This city is constantly reinvented. It's not like other places where history is preserved and things that have always been can be relied upon to always be."
“… I welcome anyone who understands the beauty and history of this community and wants to preserve it, while helping it to evolve and grow---preservation and growth do not have to be mutually exclusive.”
posted by Rachel Natalie Klein at 12:50 AM
8 Comments:
I fear Harlem may become a Disney Land version of itself, much like Times Square.
A series of Jazz museums and places for Gospel brunch for the tourists.
Isn't Harlem disappearing because people like you are moving there?
I woundn't call it disappearing. Improving - that, yes.
just want to say thanks for being a forum for debate on this topic. it's really nice to have somewhere the different people of harlem can come and express their views on this very touchy subject. gives me some hope...
and another heated harlem debate is under way at curbed.
http://www.curbed.com/archives/2006/03/29/curbed_fixerupper_3_hamilton_heights_hostel_hottie.php
Harlem isn't disappearing. It's evolving due to economics.
I've lived in New York all my life and it's in a constant state of flux. I'm only 28 and remember when Williamsburg was still working class and the best thing about Times Square was cheap kung fu flicks and porn as far as the eye can see. Harlem will join the ranks of all gentrified neighborhoods with only a few remembering how it was "back in the day. . ."
The only thing that stays the same in life is change. Harlem will change like it has through the generations. For ex, in East Harlem, the Italians had a strong presence in East Harlem in the 1920s through the 1950s which gave way to the Puerto Ricans and now a strong Mexican presence. For African Americans, they have to realize the winds of change has been blowing and the only color that seems to have any dominance is green, the color of money, which will who will determine in Harlem ...
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