This gallery contains 9 photos.
This final chapter of the Tale of 125th Street is titled “Demolition Depot,” after an actual establishment on the street, if only because everything between 3rd and 2nd Avenues at least looks slated for the wrecking ball. Nothing may come … Continue reading
This gallery contains 17 photos.
If the appearance of a medical college in the last sector foretold gentrification, here between 7th and 3rd Avenues is where the phenomena is witnessed at full force. Here’s where 125th Street starts to look like a suburban outlet mall. … Continue reading
This gallery contains 9 photos.
As the iconic Apollo Theater comes into view, Harlem springs into life, in a Disneyland-ish sort of way. This used to be theater land, after all; Harlem’s equivalent of Broadway. The Apollo Theater is still a functioning venue, and still … Continue reading
This gallery contains 7 photos.
Past Amsterdam Avenue, 125th Street reverts to a village, reminding one of the the days of Nieuw Haarlem, the farming village established by Dutch colonisers in 1658, and occupied by the British very shortly in 1664. Spiritually, this section of … Continue reading
This gallery contains 7 photos.
At the edge of Harlem lies a peaceful little park where one goes to contemplate New Jersey and the Hudson River. Except no one really goes there, unless one is homeless, in which case one goes to find a bench … Continue reading
This gallery contains 4 photos.
“[t]he City… a universe of rented spaces haunted by a nowhere or by dreamed-of places.” – Michel de Certeau, The Practice of Everyday Life “It’s such a / Bore / Being always / Poor.” – Langston Hughes, Ennui Harlem. The … Continue reading
This gallery contains 11 photos.
Just past Bennett Avenue, the landscape abruptly shifts. The narrative has changed from one of struggle to inevitable resolution. A steep flight of stairs appears as if out of nowhere on Overlook Terrace, breaking 187th Street into two. Walking up … Continue reading
This gallery contains 13 photos.
In the musical, In the Heights, the song Paciencia Y Fe is performed by Abuela Claudia, the heart of the community, and also its adopted grandmother. It is a touching account of her life story, and that of many other … Continue reading
This gallery contains 3 photos.
From Ground Zero, we make a superhuman leap across the length of the small island to northern-most Manhattan, where streets once again break free from the tyranny of the grid system, in more ways than one: here also, Manhattan appears … Continue reading
This gallery contains 8 photos.
The song nears its end. We hear the same theme we heard during the introduction, except this time, it is in a hopeful D Major. It suggests that Death has won over the Maiden. We can almost imagine her, sleeping … Continue reading
Dream Of A City 