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I moved to Harlem a year ago, currently live here, and don't regret it. I am AMAZED at what people are writing here. Maybe I live in some weird bubble where the "crime ridden" parts haven't touched little old me. But doesn't that mean something? To me, it means, "don't start none won't be none." As in, if you are not in that lifestyle, you will not be bothered. I find that to be universally true in neighborhoods where high crime and/or poverty may exist.
Tell your presumptions to the MANY white people who clearly live here (I haven't gone to the beer garden here b/c I don't want to feel like a minority in Harlem!) OR the celebrities I've seen (Marisa Tomei, Mindy Kaling for example) dining in and enjoying Harlem. Maybe they arrived in their bullet-proof limos, but I don't and can attest that some of the above characterizations are egregious. I live here, work "here" (at that great university mentioned) and walk around everyday.
There are definitely some quality of life issues. Wish there were MANY more mid-tier food establishments in walking/delivery distance. More interesting coffee shops or art galleries, please. Wish I had some variance to where Black professionals hang out in NYC period. Wish I could find some quality men to date. Just to be clear, I AM meeting professional men and like men of all racial/ethnic categories in their 20s/30s in NYC, they are a little full of themselves and wanting to play the field. More yoga studio options. Those are 1st world problems if I ever heard of any!
Some parts are grittier than others. It helps that I have chosen decent blocks to live on (I...visited. Considered a number of places. Walked my daily routes, etc.) There ARE residents who, honestly, bring Harlem's aesthetic (and probably property) value down, but what in the world does that have to do with me? They exist. I exist. The two meet on the sidewalk and go about their merry way. Yes, young people (young men, often) are everywhere and clustered together often. Guess what, I *gasp* ignore the rare, almost always respectful come-ons. They are mostly (and yes, sometimes annoying) compliments that I nod to and keep moving. The ONLY time I felt immediate concern was when a guy waiting for his train came through the turnstile and was in lockstep with me. I shut that down and I'm sure it was in a "romantic" not a "rob-you" kind of way. Also, once I was lost near City College and those windy, dark, unfamiliar streets made my heart thump. I have a decent social life IN HARLEM and have come home many, many, MANY late nights by myself, walking through darkened streets. Harlem looks like most neighborhoods at that hour--this is not some war torn country. Note: I've taken more "risks" than your average woman and probably have a don't f with me kind of air. I also have a sensibility about camouflaging that helps.
112th and St. Nick doesn't even register to my brain as Harlem proper. Which, for purposes of those with a concern, is a GOOD thing. I live quite a bit further up--near 135th and Lenox, and for me, that's one line of demarcation where things get a bit dicey and I've STILL walked right through there to the NYSC on 145th. On google maps, it looks a little sleepy in that area--it's mostly residential. Walking or travelling for basics or FAMILIARITY to your lifestyle (read:coffee shops, great bookstores, etc.), can grate over time. 116th and St. Nick leads you to 116th and FDB--a corridor that is lively, vaguely yuppified, and pretty cool.
The problem with most of the coded and not-so-coded racial language in this thread is, there's no nuance. I'm going to officially give up on the race-baiting in threads like these and hope this will speak in some way. Regular, college-educated people make a life here in Harlem. It isn't perfect so they adjust. They go downtown for some activities. The ability to live in Manhattan at this cost (I live alone and have a dishwasher and doorman on a salary everyone says will never fly in NYC) is HUGE. The people who live here *may* think for one second that it's really the age-old question of "do the 'type' of people here OR the fact that not as many resources are being poured in matter? Which precedes the other?" Then they put one foot in front of the other and enjoy life. Sincerely.
I lived in Harlem 14 years ago around where you live. I don't live there anymore but recently went up to the area. i was shocked by how hood it still was. I figured in 14 years it should've been a lot better. Lower Harlem has changed a lot, not sure if/when upper harlem will. All i know is the process people pay for that area are insane. Go to queens or the bronx for cheaper and a nicer area.
I lived in Harlem 14 years ago around where you live. I don't live there anymore but recently went up to the area. i was shocked by how hood it still was. I figured in 14 years it should've been a lot better. Lower Harlem has changed a lot, not sure if/when upper harlem will. All i know is the process people pay for that area are insane. Go to queens or the bronx for cheaper and a nicer area.
Space and proximity to express trains are the draw - it is not proving enough for us.
Not all of lower Harlem has changed so much. St. Nicholas is absolute bottom, including the lower part. Over the summer I would often walk home from the Met on lower St. N. and I actually had the sense that it had gotten worse. There were also a few attacks on people, funny how these things never make the press - real estate hype, also the basic reason for the inflated prices. People move here and they are afraid to speak the truth because they think it makes them "racist." I observe this with quite a bit of amusement.
I don't think the Columbia projects will impact much of anything east of the park, or not in the near future anyway. Entrenched culture, some decent people, the former always seems to win.
Ok so you and your family are the EXCEPTION. Nothing is ever 100% so take a chill pill. According to you, you have several generation of college educated family members which would explain why you don't have ghetto family members attending your family gatherings.
Now the question begs to be answered. If you and your family who are black have been able to escape the clutches of the hood, why haven't the rest of black people since you all have the same skin color right? After all, according to some people on this board, by default, your black skin equates to racism, discrimination and oppression, yet YOU and YOUR FAMILY escaped it. Please share with all of us who you did it.
Ghetto black people...take notes!
Easy. It's not about skin color. It's about culture, something that is for better or worse passed down in family and community groups. But someone who actually raised themselves from ghetto culture to something better could make far more useful statements.
Speaking as another set of "exceptions" ... that is an exaggeration. Upper-middle class and wealthy black families are not quite rare enough to be "exceptional."
I moved to Harlem a year ago, currently live here, and don't regret it. I am AMAZED at what people are writing here. Maybe I live in some weird bubble where the "crime ridden" parts haven't touched little old me. But doesn't that mean something? To me, it means, "don't start none won't be none." As in, if you are not in that lifestyle, you will not be bothered. I find that to be universally true in neighborhoods where high crime and/or poverty may exist.
Tell your presumptions to the MANY white people who clearly live here (I haven't gone to the beer garden here b/c I don't want to feel like a minority in Harlem!) OR the celebrities I've seen (Marisa Tomei, Mindy Kaling for example) dining in and enjoying Harlem. Maybe they arrived in their bullet-proof limos, but I don't and can attest that some of the above characterizations are egregious. I live here, work "here" (at that great university mentioned) and walk around everyday.
There are definitely some quality of life issues. Wish there were MANY more mid-tier food establishments in walking/delivery distance. More interesting coffee shops or art galleries, please. Wish I had some variance to where Black professionals hang out in NYC period. Wish I could find some quality men to date. Just to be clear, I AM meeting professional men and like men of all racial/ethnic categories in their 20s/30s in NYC, they are a little full of themselves and wanting to play the field. More yoga studio options. Those are 1st world problems if I ever heard of any!
Some parts are grittier than others. It helps that I have chosen decent blocks to live on (I...visited. Considered a number of places. Walked my daily routes, etc.) There ARE residents who, honestly, bring Harlem's aesthetic (and probably property) value down, but what in the world does that have to do with me? They exist. I exist. The two meet on the sidewalk and go about their merry way. Yes, young people (young men, often) are everywhere and clustered together often. Guess what, I *gasp* ignore the rare, almost always respectful come-ons. They are mostly (and yes, sometimes annoying) compliments that I nod to and keep moving. The ONLY time I felt immediate concern was when a guy waiting for his train came through the turnstile and was in lockstep with me. I shut that down and I'm sure it was in a "romantic" not a "rob-you" kind of way. Also, once I was lost near City College and those windy, dark, unfamiliar streets made my heart thump. I have a decent social life IN HARLEM and have come home many, many, MANY late nights by myself, walking through darkened streets. Harlem looks like most neighborhoods at that hour--this is not some war torn country. Note: I've taken more "risks" than your average woman and probably have a don't f with me kind of air. I also have a sensibility about camouflaging that helps.
112th and St. Nick doesn't even register to my brain as Harlem proper. Which, for purposes of those with a concern, is a GOOD thing. I live quite a bit further up--near 135th and Lenox, and for me, that's one line of demarcation where things get a bit dicey and I've STILL walked right through there to the NYSC on 145th. On google maps, it looks a little sleepy in that area--it's mostly residential. Walking or travelling for basics or FAMILIARITY to your lifestyle (read:coffee shops, great bookstores, etc.), can grate over time. 116th and St. Nick leads you to 116th and FDB--a corridor that is lively, vaguely yuppified, and pretty cool.
The problem with most of the coded and not-so-coded racial language in this thread is, there's no nuance. I'm going to officially give up on the race-baiting in threads like these and hope this will speak in some way. Regular, college-educated people make a life here in Harlem. It isn't perfect so they adjust. They go downtown for some activities. The ability to live in Manhattan at this cost (I live alone and have a dishwasher and doorman on a salary everyone says will never fly in NYC) is HUGE. The people who live here *may* think for one second that it's really the age-old question of "do the 'type' of people here OR the fact that not as many resources are being poured in matter? Which precedes the other?" Then they put one foot in front of the other and enjoy life. Sincerely.
This is beautifully written. I think most people are aware of this. Many native Harlemites have lived this way seems like forever because Harlem always had its good sections. But it was our secret. Harlem always had White people so the secret wasn't a racial thing.
Now the secret is totally out. The posters posting with the race baiting are the usual suspects that do this. They are Bronx landlords and most of them have been to Harlem once or twice in their lifetime because they think it looks like a Shaft movie and their scared to death of it.
These Bronx landlords want to lure more middle class people to the Bronx, which is a good thing because a person can get more bang for their buck. However in their ignorance they don't realize that young college educated urban professionals are put off by this old school NY prejudice displayed in some of these post and they are actually cutting their own financial throats.
NYC was mostly as still is segregated by race to some extent. Some other places in America are separated by economic class, transplants may not be able to relate to race baiting post and therefore feel that Harlem, LES, Brooklyn and Queens are more welcoming to all.
If your not truly about the street life you can't exude that. Just like any other walk of life the people in that way of life, can spot a phoney a mile away. You won't get needlessly picked on if your not around it.
In Harlem our old saying is "we know our criminals". Which is a short way of saying the criminals that live in the neighborhood are the family member of someone you know whether you are aware of the relationship or not. Harlem is community of families. I would say this true most neighborhoods.
A criminal is acutely aware of their surroundings. They see and notice you everyday. It doesn't matter if your racial, language, or ethnic group is different from theirs. They know all the other criminals in the neighborhood, and they know very well who is not in their world. They also know each other even when they speak different languages. But for the most part they won't bother you, but of course you need to use the necessary precautions.
Never walk with your head down. Never be afraid of eye contact, but don't deliberately stare at people. Never speed up your pace when walking by a group that is standing and talking it shows fear. If they really want to attack you, you are out numbered anyway.
Exactly. If you're an easy target (doing all those things you said not to do) I bet life will not be so pleasant for you regardless if you engage in criminal activity or not. Harlem (or any other neighborhood "in transition") is not for everyone. Don't believe the hype realtors are saying and check out the neighborhood yourself to get a sense of your own comfort level is my motto whenever I'm asked if living in Harlem (or Bushwick or BedStuy, etc) is a good thing. No one can make that decision for you.
I've been to some of the projects in Harlem and Far Rockaway and no one bothered me but I was always with a friend. I will not venture out there by myself much less live there. I've also realized as I'm getting older I'm not the same person as I was when I was a teen or even in my 20's and find my comfort zone has changed.
I am curious as to what parts of Harlem are gentrified because while I see whites in the area, as a white male who has been along 125th street and other areas of Harlem on occasion, I wouldn't say that I felt comfortable. There were whites around with me, but I'd say our numbers were rather slim and I felt the need to make sure I watched over my shoulder constantly.
I am curious as to what parts of Harlem are gentrified because while I see whites in the area, as a white male who has been along 125th street and other areas of Harlem on occasion, I wouldn't say that I felt comfortable. There were whites around with me, but I'd say our numbers were rather slim and I felt the need to make sure I watched over my shoulder constantly.
I still say it's on a block by block basis.
__________________
"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
That seems like a fair assessment. Must be the realtors pumping up the area then.
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More yoga studio options. Those are 1st world problems if I ever heard of any!
, and you were probably at Subconcious or one of those other yuppie food places.
