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> I almost never went near 125th Street, the unofficial boundary of Harlem With my obnoxious local hat on: Harlem starts at 110th street and runs to roughly 15
by woodruffw 2y ago
> I almost never went near 125th Street, the unofficial boundary of Harlem
With my obnoxious local hat on: Harlem starts at 110th street and runs to roughly 155th street, narrowing on the West Side with each of the long parks (Morningside, St. Nicholas, Jackie Robinson).
125th street would be the "heart" of Harlem, not the boundary. This would have been even more obvious in the 1980s, when the racial divisions between Bloomingdale, Morningside Heights, Harlem, and Spanish Harlem were even more stark.
- pavlov 2y agoThe article says he "lived only two blocks away [from 125 St] in Morningside Heights, across the street from Riverside Church", so the author is looking at Harlem from roughly 120 St and Broadway. From that POV, the boundaries of his presumed-safe neighborhood would be Morningside Park and 125 St.
- woodruffw 2y agoI thought about that, but even from the West Side looking East you wouldn't refer to 125th street as the "boundary." I think this is more likely just sloppy editing. Source: I grew up 15 minutes from there, and lived in South Harlem for years.
- shitpostbot 1y ago[dead]
- knappa 1y agoHaving lived within a block or so of the place being described, 125th is a pretty accurate placement of the Harlem's southern border west of Broadway. (Maybe a bit more south at St Clair place.) Further east is different. I can't speak to the situation in the 80s.
- kmoser 1y agoDepending on who you ask, Harlem extends as far south as East 96th St.
- woodruffw 1y agoYep, that’s the “traditional” line on the East Side. On the West Side, Harlem begins on 110th and Central Park West (or Manhattan Ave, depending on whether one believes that Morningside Heights includes the low part too).