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Discover: East Harlem
East Harlem, the neighborhood covering a broad swath of Upper Manhattan north of 96th Street and East of Fifth Avenue, has historically been known for its prominent populations: in the early 20th century, Italian Harlem; the Latino community of Spanish Harlem in later years.
These photo's from the New York Public Library's Milstein Division provide a snapshot of daily life uptown, from street scenes to Feast Day parades.
2101 First Avenue
Produce for sale outside a restaurant in what was then Italian Harlem.
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2131 First Avenue
Catholic Feast often meant parades, including this procession of penitents observing the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in July 1927.
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338 East 106th Street
Men carry the "giglio," an 80-foot devotional statue, during the Feast of St. Anthony of Padua over Labor Day Weekend 1924.
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338 East 106th Street
Spectators gather for the Feast of St. Anthony parade in 1931.
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309 East 108th Street
This 108th Street building was P.S. 172 for 98 years, before a late 80s condo conversion.
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1629 Lexington Avenue
Streetcar traffic approaches a dangerous intersection, known as "Duffy's Hill," for the Tammany-affiliated developer active in the neighborhood.
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1626 Lexington Avenue
The site of the Lexington Avenue explosion, part of a botched Anarchist assassination plot targeting John D. Rockefeller.
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Church of Saint Edward the Martyr
This tiny church has survived for 130 years, less than half a block from Central Park.
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105 East 106th Street
The former television studio which gave BET's "106 & Park" its name.
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115 East 106th Street
The Harlem Line railroad tracks emerge at 97th Street, splitting the north and southbound lanes of Park Avenue through East Harlem, and continuing into the South Bronx via the Park Avenue Bridge.
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1323 Park Avenue
View of the Harley Line tracks from the east side of Park Avenue.
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1216 Fifth Avenue
The New York Academy of Medicine moved to upper Fifth Avenue in 1926.
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