Vague Territory
The thread in yesterday’s post brought an interesting issue to light: As more and more people find a home in Harlem, there seems to be some confusion over where, exactly, their new apartments are located. One blogger wrote:
"I believe the "luxury bagel" is on West 124th, since it technically is on the West side of 5th Avenue. I still don't understand why Elliman insists on placing it in "East Harlem" -- not that there's anything wrong with that, but technically, that's Central Harlem, no?"The New York City Department of City Planning divides Central and East Harlem by Fifth Avenue. But the two sections outlined on this map are different from the lines drawn by long-time residents, who certainly don’t consider East Harlem to be everything above 96th Street and east of Fifth Avenue. Take a look.
Where are Harlem’s boundaries?
posted by Rachel Natalie Klein at 12:26 AM
12 Comments:
Really? Where would you put the boundaries? In all the bizarre examples of neighborhood delimitation in Harlem I've seen -- the worst was the broker whose version of Morningside Heights encompassed everything below 125th and west of 5th -- the one relative constant has been that East/Spanish Harlem is everything east of 5th.
I think I stated this before...IMO anything above 96 in both directions...west to the Hudson and east to 5th Ave. Everything east of 5th is technically E. Harlem BUT I think many Harlemites consider E. Harlem E. of Lexington.
Schwa,
Glad you brought up Spanish Harlem. My apartment is a few hundred feet east of Fifth Avenue (a couple blocks north of 125th Street). Although I technically live in East Harlem (according to map), countless residents here remind me that my location is really Central Harlem; that East Harlem describes an area further east (east of Lexington) and that Spanish Harlem is considerably further south (100-115th Street) and east (First Ave - Third Ave).
That's really interesting -- although I guess I shouldn't be surprised, considering that, depending on who you ask, my apartment is in Central Harlem, Lower Harlem, or Mount Morris. But until this post I'd never heard those distinctions.
They actually make more sense, although I'd nitpick some of them. (I would put the northwestern corner of Spanish Harlem at 116th and Park, because, among other reasons, it's a bit ridiculous if La Marqueta is six blocks outside Spanish Harlem.)
Regardless, Lenox and 125th is Central Harlem, just walk around and you have to agree.
As for East Harlem, I think it is broken up into two parts, East Harlem and Spanish Harlem, bounded by say 125th St.
As for Morningside heights etc, I think West Harlem is a better description, again, walk around, you know you are in Harlem.
However when Columbia expands north, West Harlem will feel more like the Upper West Side.
Also, what about Manhattan Valley?
As 'Harlem' gentrifies, the 'undesirable' incredible shrinking Harlem will become the 'desirable' ever expanding Harlem, seen it all before.
When people ask, I say I live in Harlem, that's good enough for me and saves confusion.
What about EHA, WEHA, CEHA and SPAHA, then we know harlem has really arrived.
Or better, HEFI (Harlem East of Fifth) and WEFI (West of Fifth). Can't think of anything for South and North, though. :-)
The day I hear any of those awful pseudo-acronyms in Harlem is the day I move to Queens. "HEFi"... oy.
("SpaHa" has been trying to gain a foothold among real estate blogs and brokers for a while now, but has so far thankfully failed.)
I believe both posts were meant to be ironic. DOn't think anyone would seriously suggest WEHA or WEFI, do you?
Although 125th is unarguably in Central Harlem it is not the heart of Harlem -- that is geographically further uptown around 145th St.
-2 cents
HI, love your site. I am a new resident of SoHa - Southern Harlem. Although to explain to my friends and collegues, I say that I live in the SW corner of Harlem (close to the very cool and happening NW corner of Central Park for those south-of-96th-street-oriented folks). SoHa, Central Harlem, El Barrio. That's how I break it down.
The destruction of Harlem continues with the "rezoning-renaming" of Harlem to fit the real estate hustled by the real estate agents to the "New Harlemites". it will be uncomfotable for the new settlers to say I live near Marcus Garvey park , or between Malcom x blvd and Adam Clayton powell Jr blvd. Watch the signs change(they have and gotten bigger for the new pioneers)
Settlers please try to live in Harlem without changing the cultural flavor of it. if you insist on repeating your history of destroying culture wherever you go in the world- where will the european tour buses go to look at Black and Latino Harlemites?
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