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That's East Harlem, and why people need to stay out of housing projects, unless they need to be there, i.e., visiting someone, living/working there, etc. Decent people are held hostage by the crime around them in the projects, but they are skilled as to how to handle the situation, and whom to avoid.
As to whether or not you should move, that's a personal decision, but the hype of the "Upper Upper East Side" that has been circulated among real estate developers in recent years as East Harlem being the "next" neighborhood overlooks the large concentration of housing projects that have had issues with criminal activity for decades. And, contrary to developer opinion, the NYCHA are not being replaced anytime soon.
And, you did the correct thing. You should NOT have gone over to confirm that there was a shooting as you do not know the circumstances of it, and who may have been armed. Perhaps the shot was fired in the air, and you could come upon a group with a gun who may be menacing, especially if you entered an NYCHA project and don't belong thre. Call 911 and report the location of the shots fired, but absolutely do not undertake an investigation of the circumstances of the shooting.
Exactly... I was wondering when this point was going to show up... To the OP, you are obviously completely inexperienced to the lifestyle you will arguably be surrounded by... And the scary part is, this is arguably the best of East Harlem since the 1950s and it's still one of the worst areas in the city... Too many projects within such a small concentrated setting does not bode well for that area regardless of the hype and revitalization... My advice to you would be if you can find something that isn't listed as "up and coming", "gentrified", "hip", etc. and reasonably priced, go for it... The sad reality is people like you (not specifically but in general, out of towners) pay so much money to live in the ghetto when there are tons of locations that may not have the access to manhattan they're looking for but are much safer at the same time... Just look around and ignore the hype...
May I ask what type of neighborhood you thought you were moving into? Didn't you read up that most neighborhoods above 96th street might not be too...um...safe?
Im not sure how u could be "surprised" about hearing a gunshot in east harlem. its to be expected if u spend any reasonable amount of time in the area. To the person who claims they grew up there and never heard a gunshot i think u must be deaf.
Good afternoon to all. I moved to East Harlem, specifically between 1st Avenue and Pleasant Avenue in the high 110's, at the end of the summer. This past Friday morning (October, 12) at 5:30-6 AM I was walking to my car parked on Pleasant (across from Mt. Carmel Catholic school and next to the public school) and heard a loud bang! I got into my car as fast as I could and within a few minutes cops showed up at the Wagner Houses. The air smelled different (I assume this was the smell of gunpowder or something?) and a small group of spectators (it was early in the AM) gathered around where the cops showed up.
Although, I should probably have gone over to confirm what had happened, I started up my car and got out of their asap! Why can't I find any news on this? Should I move? I am going to grad school soon and picked the neighborhood for its affordability. Perhaps, I should have expected something like this, but all my neighbors and the landlord only said good things about the area
You moved to Pleasant Ave?
ain't nothing pleasant about hearing gunshots.
Unfortunately, there's more where those came from.
Last edited by likeminas; 10-15-2012 at 02:29 PM..
The neighborhood between First and Pleasant is pretty good but you are pushing the Northern envelope and seem to be right atop the projects at 120th.
Around 115th -118th it is better.
When walking around, try for South. Closer to the Mall is better.
The best part of east Harlem is south of mount Sinai. The real "upper upper east side".
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