The programs that kept us off the street: late 90s- early 2000s

Boys and Girls Harbor

Upwardfund, Boys Harbor, and P.S 108 were key places that kept children in the East Harlem community, like myself off the streets. Upwardfund was a summer camp located on 119th street between 2nd and 3rd avenue in the early and mid 90s. My mother was a counselor at the camp and as soon as I turned six, she made sure I was admitted. The camp age groups ranged from 6 to 14. The camp had educational and recreational activities everyday and once a week, a camp trip. The trips ranged from places like the science hall in New Jersey to amusement parks like six flags. The camp shut down after my first summer but Upwardfund is what sparked my love for summer camps on the east side of Harlem. Next was Boys Harbor located on 104th street and 5th avenue. Boys Harbor is the place that kept children off the streets during school hours and after school hours. I attended Boys Harbor elementary school, after school program and summer camp for at least 5 years. Boys Harbor is still up and running and still keeping children off the streets in East Harlem. P.S 108 was my elementary school located on 108th street and madison avenue. The school is in between Lehman and Taft Houses. With that said, it was a safe place to be even with all the negativity going on in the neighborhood. PS 108 had a high population of hispanic students that did not speak english, ranging from Puerto Ricans to Mexicans. The school had a strong ESL program that assured that those students english would be strong by the time they graduated. All of these places kept me off the streets for the first 15 years of my life. Abyssinian, on the west side of Harlem on 143rd street and Lennox avenue was a football team I played for, for 6 years. All of the men that coached me had full-time jobs and were volunteering to coach the team.

East River Plaza: Gentrification at its best?

Opened in 2009, the East River Plaza located in the heart of East Harlem, has created over 3,000 jobs to a community that has the worse jobless rate in New York City. Now that the mall has been up-and-running for a couple of years, there have been talks that there will be apartment towers built on top of the mall. This part of the neighborhood has been heavily gentrified over the years. Hunter college, student housing, and a number of condo's and luxury apartments flood the area that was abandoned and vacant while I was growing up in the mid and late 90s. So yes, this mall has generated jobs for the people in the community but the towers on top of the mall probably will be out of the price range for East Harlem natives.

1984-1994 Crack is Wack

The Crack is Wack mural in East Harlem was painted by artist Keith Hearing in 1986. Before he officially finished painting the mural, he received a 25 dollar ticket. The parks department contacted Keith months later sensing the crack epidemic coming to NYC.

Projects and Tenements

The East Harlem I grew up in was surrounded by projects and tenements. I lived in Clinton houses on 104th street, and across the street was Carver houses. On the other sides of these public housing complexes were tenements. In 2014, we see these condo type buildings in the neighborhood.

Hunter College in East Harlem

Hunter College in East Harlem, across the street from one of the few 99 cent stores left in the neighborhood and a liquor store. There are also condo-looking apartments across the street just for Hunter College students.

Two-Fith and Lex: Decades later, still the same

While walking around 125th street and Lexington last week with my mother, she told me that things have gotten better. 125th street and Lex. has always, to me, been a notorious place for drug addicts and drug users to hang around. My mother grew up during the Heroin and Crack epidemic's so of course things have gotten better to her. To me it is still the same. As I walked passed the block where my grandmother's body was found in the late 90s (124 b/w Lex & 3rd) I saw the same shit. Dope fein's leaning over, and Heroin addicts with needle sticking marks on their arms. All of my grandparents lost their lives to drugs and its sad seeing that things have not changed in the area where my Grandmother lived. Last weekend was definitely a trip down memory lane.

East/Spanish Harlem: No Apollo theatre

Old Timers Day  http://ordervision.blogspot.com/2010/09/east-harlem-old-timers-day.html

When telling people from upstate New York that I am from East Harlem, I always get the funniest responses. Responses like "Oh, where the Harlem Renaissance was?" or "Where the Apollo theatre is?" I always just smile and say yes. No need to give people a history lesson on a place that has been forgotten since the Puerto Ricans moved in, during the 1950's up until the recent gentrification period of the later 2000's. Where I am from, there are no Apollo theaters. There aren't many brownstones either unlike that other side of Harlem. There isn't a Magic Johnson movie theatre. No cotton club on this side of Harlem. Where I grew up, there wasn't any jazz playing on the street corners. There were older Puerto Ricans on the corner where the bodega was, hitting their bongo drums as everybody greeted them and gave them their 5 seconds of salsa movement. I am from where Boys Harbor on 104th and 5th avenue, kept children like me off the streets for years. I am from where P.S 108 on 108th and Madison ave. brought in young Mexican and Puerto Rican children that couldn't speak english well and changed their lives. I am from the home of Casa Blanca meat market (make sure you get their early, lines get crazy). There was a different frio frio man on every other block during the summer. The Puerto Rican guy riding around in his pimped out bike blasting salsa music early in the morning. That is where I'm from.