Gentrified Spanish Harlem For Dummies
One of the first and most essential aspects of the neighborhood to change with the idea to recreate the community within Spanish Harlem were the businesses, or the lack thereof. In the late 2000’s, the people residing in Uptown Manhattan, or East Harlem did not live in a vicinity where they could go to enjoy a good dining experience, a place to watch sports and have beers, any recreational or athletic facilities, have access to fresh foods from a supermarket, even have a proper place outside of their house to do work with a cup of coffee. Before the neighborhood became popular and received all (or any) of the buzz that surrounds Spanish Harlem today, there were only a few places one was able to go to shop for various things:
Eating dining experience: Restaurants/bars
Going out and having activities to do in any area may be overlooked and thought of as frivolous. However, it’s how people are drawn into a part of town. When there are options available to spend time in a certain neighborhood, such as Spanish Harlem, people may visit and explore somewhere they may have never been. A few years ago, spending time in the neighborhood and inviting friends to come to the area I lived in was never really a choice, because there was nothing to really do around here. My only options were to travel outside of my neighborhood. A good restaurant, bar or attraction is a good opportunity to introduce someone who may never have been there to visit for the first time and consider that area as a place of living, and brings in more visitors. Today, there are restaurants such as: El Paso Taqueria, a local restaurant with authentic Spanish Cuisine in “El Barrio” of New York, the Lexington Social Wine Bar, now thriving as one of Uptown Manhattan’s most popular places to go for exotic wines and delicious tapas, _____
Another reason why restaurants and businesses in hospitality are important in a neighborhood is because as a neighborhood with an increasing population and a growing young professional demographic, the residents need places to go where they are able to work such as café’s, bars, or lowkey restaurants. A few years ago, I was confined to working off my computer in my house, or in Central Park, a twenty minute walk from my house only available half the year, with no access to electricity or the comfort that café’s provide, such as a Starbucks on every other block in almost all the other neighborhoods in Manhattan.
Gyms
In a neighborhood trying to expand itself and trying to draw in more people to a once considered poor part of New York, prospective residents look for AMENITIES that they will have access to if they move in. There wasn’t anywhere I could go sign up for if I wanted to enroll in a gym, which may influence a prospective resident of Spanish Harlem, depending on how seriously they view exercise in their life.
Clothing:
Clothing is tricky to advertise for places to shop at, because style and personal preference is hard to objectify for an audience. Most of the clothing stores found in Spanish Harlem before the area began diversifying were all similar in style- street wear, meant for the active and trendy young adult. Most stores with this style consisted of basketball hear, casual tshirts and tank tops, jeans, along with other clothes popular amongst the demographic shopping for the aforementioned styles. Some of the very few stores that opened it’s doors uptown long before the neighborhood began booming include: Payless Shoe Source and Slam Dunk, which are low cost but a very scarce source for clothing.
FOOD: A few supermarkets were always available before gentrification took over. However, these supermarkets, being the only source of fresh food and produce for the house, were designed for a neighborhood with a prevalent population of lower class residents and people on welfare. Census surveys and charts reveal Spanish Harlem is a neighborhood in manhattan with some of the highest numbers of people with little money. Many are only able to support themselves and the family using EBT (food stamps) and welfare money.
With the new gentrified community moving into the neighborhood, businesses have moved into the area, reflecting the increasing wealthier middle class and upper class residents.
Food: Businesses such as supermarkets have opened it’s doors to a new demographic that is slowly expanding beyong Spanish Harlem’s native residents. Since new condominiums and businesses have opened up in the area, 4 new markets have already opened up within 98-107th street. These places are particularly exciting additions to the neighborhood, because for the first time, local residents of the neighborhood are able to buy organic and farmers market produce, instead of groceries that are often stale and low quality such as the vegetables offered in every single other supermarket.
East River Plaza: With smaller businesses opening up in the area, the neighborhood has seen an increase in quality of life, with all these new additions to the neighborhood. Along with these smaller businesses and stores, the East River Plaza, on 116th street along the FDR Drive opened its doors in early 2012, offering: Costco, Target, Marshalls, Bob’s Discount Furniture, Petsmart, Gamestop, as well as a multi-tiered parking facility. Local residents of the neighborhood are able to go to this “mall”, for a shopping experience that Spanish Harlem has never seen before. The Costco and Target are rare stores for the city, and the plaza attracts many from all around the city, outside of El Barrio. The plaza, opening at the peak of Spanish Harlem’s gentrification boom, has really put East Harlem on the map for land developers, and businesses trying to expand.
Spanish Harlem, once regarded as a neighborhood with outstanding social issues and known for its low prevalence in low income housing and residents, has really seen a shift in demographic, and as a result, the city is paying attention to us, which has never happened in the past. A community thrives on its people, but as well as its local resources. As East Harlem was once a neighborhood with scarce places to find many necessities, the variety of different stores that are now accessible in our neighborhood means local residents no longer need to travel several miles and commute in order to get fresh vegetables from all the other supermarkets every single other neighborhood has access to.
***And as an additional personal statement and opinion, I disagree with the city’s decision to displace the tenants that have lived here for several decades, who built the culture that is one of this neighborhood’s best features, and what makes Spanish Harlem so unique. But as a resident, still living in the area after 21 years, it is exciting to say the least, to see the city paying attention to us, almost as if we weren’t even being taken seriously in the past. The quality of life of living in Spanish Harlem has increased significantly, at least from a subjective experience. There are some things I am proud of, and other things I am ashamed of in living in a gentrified Spanish Harlem, but my love for this neighborhood has definitely grown now that life is a little easier living between 96th street and 149th street in Uptown Manhattan.