Harlem - East Harlem Apartments

In 1658, Governor Peter Stuyvesant established Harlem, naming it Nieuw Harlem after the Dutch city of Harlem. Early in the 1900s, Harlem was inhabited mostly by Jewish-Americans. From 1920 until about 1930, Harlem was the center of the Harlem Renaissance, a cultural movement that changed Harlem into an African-American enclave as blacks fled the racism found in the other parts of the city. The arts and black pride flourished in this dynamic neighborhood until the Great Depression put an end to the Jazz Age. Harlem went into decay, and hit bottom in the fiscal crises of the 1970s. Today, Harlem is on the upswing: President Bill Clinton chose this neighborhood for his retirement offices, and business has followed.

East Harlem (also known as Spanish Harlem or El Barrio) is primarily Puerto Rican and Dominican, although it began as an Italian community in the early 1900s. Affordable housing has always been East Harlem's draw. The vibrancy of its culture is literally the handwriting on the wall: street murals are a popular form of expression in this neighborhood. The Graffiti Hall of Fame is here on 106th St. Families like to hang out on the stoops, just like you see in the movies.