I just want to get this one out bright and early. I am not a fan of statistics at all, especially statistics that targets a group of people negatively. Instead of flooding you with a bunch of numbers, I will give you some statistical statements about my East Harlem neighborhood. Let me start off by saying that according to my research, East Harlem's crime rate is Manhattan's worst. Rape, Murder, Burglary, Robbery ect. It is an unfortunate fact that I witnessed the little time that I had to roam the streets while growing up. The H.I.V rate in East Harlem is far above average than Manhattan's rate and the cities rate. There are many health problems in East Harlem that are above the cities average, from Diabetes to Cancer. East Harlem holds the cities highest jobless rate. More than half of East Harlem's residents receive the government's financial assistance and the household annual income is the lowest in Manhattan. East Harlem has the second highest concentration of public housing (projects) in the United States. There is a higher percentage of high school drop outs than college graduates in East Harlem. Most of the neighborhood's population is Hispanic and Black with very small percentages of Whites and Asians. These are the statistics that kept outsiders out of the neighborhood for many years. I would have never expected to see outsiders roaming around the neighborhood in today's East Harlem. In the 90s, it was a place to stay away from if you weren't from there.
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