View source for East Harlem

{{Short description|Neighborhood  in New York City}}
{{for|the song|East Harlem (song)}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = East Harlem 
| settlement_type = [[List of Manhattan neighborhoods|Neighborhood of Manhattan]]
| image_skyline = East Harlem Skyline (48200097101).jpg
| imagesize = 300px
| image_alt =
| image_caption = [[Second Avenue (Manhattan)|Second Avenue]] and [[97th Street (Manhattan)|97th Street]] as seen from the south in 2019
| image = 
| nickname =
| motto =
| anthem =
| image_map = {{maplink|frame=y|plain=y|frame-align=center|zoom=12|type=shape|from=Neighbourhoods/New York City/East Harlem.map}}
| map_alt =
| map_caption = Location of East Harlem in [[New York City]]
| coordinates = {{coord|40|47|55|N|73|56|30|W|region:US-NY|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|United States}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[U.S. state|State]]
| subdivision_name1 = {{flag|New York}}
| subdivision_type2 = [[City]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[New York City]]
| subdivision_type3 = [[Boroughs of New York City|Borough]]
| subdivision_name3 = [[Manhattan]]
| subdivision_type4 = [[Community boards of Manhattan|Community District]]
| subdivision_name4 = [[Manhattan Community Board 11|Manhattan 11]]<ref name="NYCPlanning">{{cite web |title=NYC Planning {{!}} Community Profiles |url=https://communityprofiles.planning.nyc.gov/manhattan/11|website=communityprofiles.planning.nyc.gov|publisher=[[New York City Department of City Planning]] |access-date=March 18, 2019}}</ref>
| established_title = 
| established_date =
| established_title1 = 
| established_date1 =
| founder =
| named_for =
| population_footnotes =<ref name="PLP5South"/>
| population_total = 115,921
| population_as_of = [[2010 United States census|2010]]
| population_density_km2 = 
| population_density_sq_mi=
| population_demonym = 
| population_note =
| demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
| demographics1_footnotes = 
| demographics1_title1 = Hispanic
| demographics1_info1 = 52.1%
| demographics1_title2 = Black
| demographics1_info2 = 35.7%
| demographics1_title3 = White (non-Hispanic)
| demographics1_info3 = 7.3%
| demographics1_title4 = Asian
| demographics1_info4 = 2.7%
| demographics1_title5 = Other
| demographics1_info5 = 0.2%
| demographics_type2 = Economics
| demographics2_footnotes = 
| demographics2_title1 = [[Median household income|Median income]]
| demographics2_info1 = $21,480
| timezone1 = [[Eastern Time Zone|Eastern]]
| utc_offset1 = −5
| timezone1_DST = [[Eastern Time Zone|EDT]]
| utc_offset1_DST = −4
| postal_code_type = [[ZIP Code]]s
| postal_code = 10029, 10035
| area_code_type = [[Telephone numbering plan|Area code]]
| area_code = [[Area codes 212, 646, and 332|212, 332, 646]], and [[Area code 917|917]]
}}

'''East Harlem''', also known as '''Spanish Harlem''', or '''{{lang|es|El Barrio}}''', is a [[neighborhood]] of [[Upper Manhattan]] in [[New York City]], north of the [[Upper East Side]] and bounded by [[96th Street (Manhattan)|96th Street]] to the south, [[Fifth Avenue]] to the west, and the [[East River|East]] and [[Harlem River]]s to the east and north.<ref name=enc-nyc/><ref name=hot/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.com/visitor_guide/el_barrio_spanish_harlem.75851/editorial_review.aspx |title=El Barrio (Spanish Harlem) New York City.com : Visitor Guide : Editorial Review |publisher=Nyc.com |access-date=September 19, 2012}}</ref> Despite its name, it is generally not considered to be a part of [[Harlem|Harlem proper]], but it is one of the neighborhoods included in Greater Harlem.<ref>[[Jeffrey S. Gurock|Gurock, Jeffrey S.]], et al. "Harlem" in {{cite enc-nyc2}}, p. 573.</ref>

The neighborhood has one of the largest [[Hispanic and Latino Americans|Hispanic]] communities in New York City, mostly [[Puerto Ricans]], as well as [[Dominican Americans|Dominican]]s, [[Cuban Americans|Cuban]]s, and [[Mexicans]]. The community is notable for its contributions to [[Latin freestyle]] and [[salsa music]]. East Harlem also includes the remnants of a once predominant [[Italian Americans|Italian community]], or '''Italian Harlem'''. The [[Chinese in New York City|Chinese]] population has increased dramatically in East Harlem since 2000.<ref name="Mays 2011"/><ref name="Barron 2013"/><ref name="APA 2012"/>

East Harlem has historically suffered from many social issues, such as a high crime rate, the highest [[unemployment|jobless rate]] in New York City, [[teenage pregnancy]], [[AIDS]], [[drug abuse]], [[homelessness]], and an [[asthma]] rate five times the national average.<ref name="nyc.gov">{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/pub/mnneeds_2012.pdf |title=Community District Needs |access-date=September 19, 2012 |website=[[Government of New York City]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317001127/http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/pub/mnneeds_2012.pdf |archive-date=March 17, 2013}}</ref> It has the second-highest concentration of [[public housing in the United States]], behind [[Brownsville, Brooklyn]].<ref name="Mays 2011 2"/> East Harlem is undergoing some [[gentrification]], and in 2016 the city considered rezoning the area.

East Harlem is part of [[Manhattan Community Board 11|Manhattan Community District 11]], and its primary ZIP Codes are 10029 and 10035.<ref name="NYCPlanning"/> It is patrolled by the 23rd and 25th Precincts of the [[New York City Police Department]].<ref name="NYPD 25th Precinct"/><ref name="NYPD 23rd Precinct"/>

==History==
{{see also|History of Harlem}}
[[File:Sonder (45299154181).jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Looking north over East Harlem between [[Third Avenue|Third]] and [[Lexington Avenue|Lexington]] Avenues]]

===Early history===
The area that became East Harlem was rural for most of the 19th century, but residential settlements northeast of [[Third Avenue]] and [[110th Street (Manhattan)|East 110th Street]] had developed by the 1860s.<ref name=enc-nyc/> The construction of the [[rapid transit|elevated transit line]] to Harlem in 1879 and 1880, and the building of the [[IRT Lexington Avenue Line|Lexington Avenue subway]] in 1919,<ref name=enc-nyc /> urbanized the area, precipitating the construction of apartment buildings and [[brownstone]]s. The extension of cable cars up Lexington Avenue into East Harlem was stymied by the incline created by [[Duffy's Hill]] at [[103rd Street (Manhattan)|103rd Street]], one of the steepest grades in Manhattan. East Harlem was first populated by poor German, Irish, Scandinavian,<ref name=aia /> and [[Eastern European]] [[Jews in New York City|Jewish]] immigrants, with the Jewish population standing at 90,000 around 1917.<ref name=enc-nyc /> In the 1870s, Italian immigrants joined the mix after a contractor building trolley tracks on First Avenue imported Italian laborers as [[strikebreaker]]s. The workers' [[shantytown]] along the East River at 106th Street was the beginning of an Italian neighborhood, with 4,000 having arrived by the mid-1880s. As more immigrants arrived, it expanded north to [[115th Street (Manhattan)|East 115th Street]] and west to [[Third Avenue (Manhattan)|Third Avenue]].<ref name=gotham1123>{{cite gotham}}, p.1123-24</ref>

East Harlem consisted of pockets of ethnically sorted settlements – Italian, German, Irish, and Jewish – which were beginning to press up against each other, with the spaces still between them occupied by "gasworks, stockyards and tar and garbage dumps".<ref name=gotham1123 /> In 1895, the [[Union Settlement Association]], one of the oldest settlement houses in New York City, began providing services in the area, offering the immigrant and low-income residents a range of community-based programs, including boys and girls clubs, a sewing school and adult education classes.
{{multiple image
|align=right
|direction=horizontal
|header=Vestiges of Italian Harlem
|image1=Lady Mt Carmel RCC sunny jeh.jpg
|width1=195
|caption1=[[Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Manhattan)|Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel]]
|image2=NYC-East Harlem-Patsys Pizzeria-01.jpg
|width2=174
|caption2=[[Patsy's Pizzeria]]
}}

===Italian Harlem===
[[Southern Italy|Southern Italians]] and [[Sicilian people|Sicilians]], with a moderate number of [[North Italy|Northern Italians]], soon predominated, especially in the area east of [[Lexington Avenue (Manhattan)|Lexington Avenue]] between [[96th Street (Manhattan)|96th]] and [[116th Street (Manhattan)|116th]] Streets and east of [[Madison Avenue]] between 116th and [[125th Street (Manhattan)|125th]] Streets, with each street featuring people from different regions of Italy. The neighborhood became known as "Italian Harlem", the [[Italian American]] hub of Manhattan; it was the first part of Manhattan to be referred to as "[[Little Italy, Manhattan|Little Italy]]".<ref>{{cite inside}} p.154</ref> The first Italians arrived in East Harlem in 1878, from [[Polla, Italy|Polla]] in the province of [[Salerno]], and settled in the vicinity of 115th Street.<ref name="meyer">{{Cite web |last=Meyer |first=Gerald |url=http://vitomarcantonio.com/east-harlem/italian-east-harlem/ |title=Italian Harlem: America's Largest and Most Italian Little Italy |website=vitomarcantonio.com |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812211625/http://vitomarcantonio.com/east-harlem/italian-east-harlem/ |archive-date=August 12, 2014 }}</ref>

There were many crime syndicates in Italian Harlem, from the early [[Black Hand (extortion)|Black Hand]] to the bigger and more organized Italian gangs that formed the [[Italian-American Mafia]]. It was the founding location of the [[Genovese crime family]], one of the [[Five Families]] that dominated organized crime in New York City.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://americanmafiahistory.com/genovese-family/ |title=Genovese Crime Family-One of the "Five Families" |publisher=American Mafia History |date=May 6, 2012 |access-date=September 19, 2012}}</ref> This includes the current [[116th Street Crew]] of the Genovese family. During the 1970s, Italian East Harlem was also home to the Italian-American drug gang and murder-for-hire crew known as the [[East Harlem Purple Gang]].

In the 1920s and early 1930s, Italian Harlem was represented in Congress by future Mayor [[Fiorello H. La Guardia]].<ref name=enc-nyc/> After becoming mayor, La Guardia helped plan a large expansion of [[Thomas Jefferson Park]] at First Avenue, between 111th and 114th Streets, in the mid-1930s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Thomas Jefferson Park Highlights |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/thomas-jefferson-park/history |access-date=January 11, 2021 |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation}}</ref> The neighborhood was represented, in the 1940s, by Italian-American civil rights lawyer, [[socialism|socialist]], and activist [[Vito Marcantonio]]. The Italian neighborhood approached its peak in the 1930s, with more than 110,000 Italian-Americans living in its crowded, run-down apartment buildings.<ref name=enc-nyc>Lapp, Michael "East Harlem" in {{cite enc-nyc2|page=391}} Quote: "During the 1930s as many as 110,000 Italians lived east of Lexington Avenue between 96th and 116th streets and east of Madison Avenue between 116th and 125th streets."</ref> The 1930 census showed that 81 percent of the population of Italian Harlem consisted of first- or second-generation Italian Americans, somewhat less than the concentration of Italian Americans in the [[Lower East Side]]'s [[Little Italy, Manhattan|Little Italy]] with 88 percent; Italian Harlem's total population, however, was three times that of Little Italy.<ref name=meyer/>

The fabric of the Italian-American community was torn when, after the Second World War, the unhealthy tenements started to be demolished and replaced with better housing, forcing families to relocate. Despite this, Italian Harlem endured as a large and conspicuous community through the 1980s and 1990s, and even later, the Italian-American community in East Harlem remained strong in certain areas, particularly around [[Pleasant Avenue]].

Today, the few remaining Italian-American residents in Harlem are predominantly older, clustered around [[Pleasant Avenue]] and the [[Church of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (Manhattan)|Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church]], mainly from [[114th Street (Manhattan)|114th]] to [[118th Street (Manhattan)|118th]] Streets and the surrounding area. According to the [[2000 United States census|2000 Census]], there were only 1,130 Italian-Americans still living in this area.<ref>Garland, Sarah. [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/05/nyregion/05festival.html?_r=1&oref=slogin "A Reunion of Little Italy in East Harlem"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170730072429/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/05/nyregion/05festival.html?_r=1&oref=slogin |date=July 30, 2017 }}, ''The New York Times'', September 5, 2006. Accessed January 2, 2008. "Now, there are only 1,130 Italian-Americans left in East Harlem, according to the 2000 census."</ref>

However, vestiges of the old Italian neighborhood remain. The annual Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and the "Dancing of the Giglio", the first Italian feast in New York City, is still celebrated there every year on the second weekend of August by the [[Giglio Society of East Harlem]] and is centered around [[Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Manhattan)|Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel]]. Italian retail establishments still exist in Italian Harlem, such as [[Rao's]] restaurant, which started in 1896, and the original [[Patsy's Pizzeria]], which opened in 1933. Another major Italian retail business in the neighborhood, a barbershop opened by Claudio Caponigro on 116th Street in the mid-1950s,<ref name="Berger">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/11/nyregion/sit-this-chair-go-back-time-barber-unchanged-old-neighborhood-vanishes.html |title=Sit in This Chair, Go Back in Time; Barber Is Unchanged as Old Neighborhood Vanishes |last=Berger |first=Joseph |date=November 11, 2002 |work=The New York Times |page=1 |access-date=May 28, 2011}}</ref> was threatened with closure by a rent increase in May 2011<ref name="Berger2">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/13/nyregion/east-harlem-rent-tripling-barber-may-have-to-close-shop-after-60-years.html |title=East Harlem Rent Tripling, Barber May Have to Close Shop After 60 Years |last=Berger |first=Joseph |date=May 13, 2011 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=May 13, 2011}}</ref> but ultimately closed only in 2019 when Mr. Caponigro retired.<ref name="NYSDS">{{cite web |url=https://dos.ny.gov/news/new-york-secretary-state-robert-j-rodriguez-issues-proclamation-legendary-barber-and-promotes |title=New York Secretary of State Robert J. Rodriguez Issues Proclamation to Legendary Barber and Promotes Career Opportunities|date=October 26, 2022|website=dos.ny.gov}}</ref>

===Spanish Harlem===
{{redirect|Spanish Harlem|the song|Spanish Harlem (song)|the album by Ben E. King|Spanish Harlem (album)}}
[[Puerto Rican people|Puerto Rican]] and [[Latin America]]n migration after the [[First World War]]<ref name="fednyc">{{cite fednyc}}. p. 265-268</ref> established an enclave at the western portion of East Harlem&nbsp;– around [[110th Street (Manhattan)|110th Street]] and [[Lexington Avenue]]&nbsp;– which became known as "Spanish Harlem". The area slowly grew to encompass all of East Harlem, including Italian Harlem, as Italians moved out&nbsp;– to [[the Bronx]], [[Brooklyn]], [[Long Island]], upstate [[New York (state)|New York]] and [[New Jersey]]&nbsp;– and [[Nuyorican]]s moved in during another wave of immigration in the 1940s and 1950s.<ref name=enc-nyc />

The newly dominant Puerto Rican population, which reached 63,000 in 1950, continued to define the neighborhood according to its needs, establishing [[bodega (store)|bodegas]] and [[botánica]]s as it expanded; by the 1930s<ref name=fednyc /> there was already an enclosed street market underneath the [[Park Avenue]] railroad viaduct between 111th and [[116th Street (Manhattan)|116th]] Streets, called "La Marqueta" ("The Market").<ref name=enc-nyc /> [[Catholic]] and [[Evangelical|evangelistic Protestant]] churches appeared in storefronts.<ref name=enc-nyc /> Although "Spanish Harlem" had been in use since at least the 1930s to describe the Latino enclave&nbsp;– along with "Italian Harlem" and "Negro Harlem"<ref>{{cite fednyc}}, p.253</ref> – the name began to be used to describe the entire East Harlem neighborhood by the 1950s. Later, the name "El Barrio" ("The Neighborhood") began to be used, especially by residents of the area.

===Decline===
In the 1950s and 1960s, large sections of East Harlem were leveled for urban renewal projects, and the neighborhood was one of the hardest hit areas in the 1960s and 1970s as New York City struggled with deficits, [[race riots]], [[White flight|urban flight]], gang warfare, drug abuse, crime and poverty. [[Tenements]] were crowded, poorly maintained, and frequent targets for arson. In 1969 and 1970, a regional chapter of the [[Young Lords]] which were reorganized from a neighborhood street gang in Chicago by [[Jose (Cha-Cha) Jimenez]], ran several programs including a Free Breakfast for Children and a Free Health Clinic to help Latino and poor families. The Young Lords came together with the [[Black Panthers]] and called for [[Puerto Rican independence movement|Puerto Rican independence]] and neighborhood empowerment.

===Recent history===
By the beginning of the 21st century, East Harlem was a racially diverse neighborhood, with about a third of the population being Puerto Rican.<ref name=enc-nyc /> As it has been throughout its history, it is predominantly a [[working class in the United States|working-class]] neighborhood.<ref name=aia>{{cite aia5|page=548}}</ref>

Until 2006, property values in East Harlem climbed along with those in the rest of New York City, leading to gentrification and [[gentrification in the United States|changes to area demographics]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/east-harlem-gentrification-photos-2013-11 |title=Yuppies Are Moving into Notorious East Harlem |website=[[Business Insider]]|first=Daniel|last=Goodman |date=November 20, 2013 |access-date=November 20, 2013}}</ref>

On March 12, 2014, at 9:00 [[Eastern Daylight Time|EDT]], [[2014 East Harlem gas explosion|a large explosion]] and fire at 1644–1646 [[Park Avenue]] killed eight people and injured more than 70.<ref>[http://news.sky.com/story/1224778/explosion-and-building-collapse-in-new-york "New York Gas Explosion Kills Six People"] ''[[Sky News]]'' (March 13, 2014)</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Alcindor|first=Yamiche|author2=Doug Stanglin|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/13/east-harlem-explosion-gas-leak-bodies/6363235/ |title=8th body found in ruins of East Harlem buildings|newspaper=[[USA Today]]|date=March 13, 2014}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929064544/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/13/east-harlem-explosion-gas-leak-bodies/6363235/ |date=September 29, 2017 }}.</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/13/nyregion/east-harlem-building-collapse.html?hp |title=At Least 3 Killed in Gas Blast on East Harlem Block; 2 Buildings Leveled |author=Santora, Marc |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 12, 2014 |access-date=March 12, 2014}}</ref>

The ''[[New York Post]]'' listed one part of the neighborhood – the block of [[Lexington Avenue]] between East 123rd and 124th Streets – as one of "the most dangerous blocks in the city" because police crime statistics for 2015 showed that 19 assaults had taken place there, more than for any other city block. The ''Post'' also reported that there were, according to the Harlem Neighborhood Block Association, "22 drug-treatment programs, four homeless-services providers and four transitional-living facilities" in East Harlem.<ref>Balsamini, Dean (March 6, 2016) [https://nypost.com/2016/03/06/do-you-live-on-one-of-new-yorks-most-dangerous-blocks/ "Do you live on one of New York's most dangerous blocks?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200914211547/https://nypost.com/2016/03/06/do-you-live-on-one-of-new-yorks-most-dangerous-blocks/ |date=September 14, 2020 }} ''[[New York Post]]''.</ref>

East Harlem has begun to feel the effects of [[gentrification]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/new-yorks-east-harlem-gentrification-photos-2013-9?op=1 |title=New York's East Harlem: Neighborhood Fighting To Keep Its Culture In The Face Of Gentrification |first=Daniel |last=Goodman |website=Business Insider |date=September 9, 2013 |access-date=April 12, 2016}}</ref> In February 2016, an article in ''The New York Times'' about "New York's Next Hot Neighborhoods" featured East Harlem as one of four such areas. A real-estate broker described it as "one of the few remaining areas in New York City where you can secure a good deal". The article mentioned new luxury developments, access to transportation, the opening of new retail stores, bars and restaurants, and national-brand stores beginning to appear on the outskirts of the neighborhood. Primarily, though, it was the cost of housing in comparison to the rest of Manhattan, which the article noted as the major factor.<ref name="hot">Higgins, Michelle (February 26, 2016) [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/realestate/new-yorks-next-hot-neighborhoods.html "New York's Next Hot Neighborhoods"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929073223/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/28/realestate/new-yorks-next-hot-neighborhoods.html |date=September 29, 2017 }}. ''The New York Times''.</ref> Beginning in 2016, the New York City government was seeking to rezone East Harlem "to facilitate new residential, commercial, community facility, and manufacturing development".<ref>Staff (November 10, 2016), [https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/applicants/env-review/east-harlem/scoping-notice.pdf "East Harlem Scoping Notification"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170301141610/https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/applicants/env-review/east-harlem/scoping-notice.pdf |date=March 1, 2017 }} [[New York City Department of City Planning]]</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/site/planning/applicants/scoping-documents.page#east-harlem |title=Scoping Documents Environmental Review – DCP |website=www1.nyc.gov}}</ref> The residents of the neighborhood generated a suggested zoning plan, the "East Harlem Neighborhood Plan", which was offered to the city in February 2017,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eastharlemplan.nyc/ |title=East Harlem Neighborhood Plan |website=www.eastharlemplan.nyc}}</ref> but in August 2017 residents and the [[Manhattan Borough President]], [[Gale Brewer]], complained that the city had ignored their plan almost entirely.<ref>Solis, Gustavo (August 24, 2017) [https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20170824/east-harlem/el-barrio-rezoning-gale-brewer-mayor-bill-de-blasio "Mayor Ignoring Residents in East Harlem Rezoning Plan, Boro Prez Says"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907081030/https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20170824/east-harlem/el-barrio-rezoning-gale-brewer-mayor-bill-de-blasio |date=September 7, 2017 }} ''[[DNAinfo]]''</ref>

In 2019, the oldest portion of the neighborhood, the blocks of [[111th Street (Manhattan)|East 111th]] through [[120th Street (Manhattan)|120th]] Streets between [[Park Avenue|Park]] and [[Pleasant Avenue|Pleasant]] Avenues, was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] as the East Harlem Historic District.<ref name="NRHP listing">{{cite web |title=Weekly List 20190712 |url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/weekly-list-2019-national-register-of-historic-places.pdf |publisher=[[U.S. National Park Service]] |date=July 12, 2019 |access-date=July 15, 2019}}</ref>

==Demographics==
[[File:Elbarrio116thLex.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Storefronts at [[Lexington Avenue]] and [[116th Street (Manhattan)|116th Street]]]]
The [[New York City Department of City Planning]] classifies East Harlem into two neighborhood tabulation areas: East Harlem North and East Harlem South, divided along 115th Street.<ref>[https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/data-maps/nyc-population/census2010/ntas.pdf New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129141839/https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/data-maps/nyc-population/census2010/ntas.pdf |date=November 29, 2018 }}, Population Division - New York City Department of City Planning, February 2012. Accessed June 16, 2016.</ref> The two areas had a combined population of 115,921, an increase of 1,874 (1.4%) from the combined 114,047 in the [[2000 United States census|2000 Census]].<ref name="PLP5South"/>

=== 2010 census ===
Based on data from the [[2010 United States census]], the population of East Harlem North was 58,019, an increase of 871 (1.5%) from the 57,148 counted in 2000. Covering an area of {{cvt|573.94|acres}}, the neighborhood had a population density of {{cvt|101.1|PD/acre|PD/sqmi PD/sqkm}}.<ref name="PLP5South">[http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/data-maps/nyc-population/census2010/t_pl_p5_nta.pdf Table PL-P5 NTA: Total Population and Persons Per Acre – New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610175331/http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/data-maps/nyc-population/census2010/t_pl_p5_nta.pdf |date=June 10, 2016 }}, Population Division – [[New York City]] Department of City Planning, February 2012. Accessed June 16, 2016.</ref> The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 6.8% (3,936) [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 35.5% (20,625) [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.2% (128) [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 3.0% (1,766) [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.0% (9) [[Pacific Islander (U.S. Census)|Pacific Islander]], 0.3% (185) from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 1.3% (769) from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 52.7% (30,601) of the population.<ref name="PLP3ASouth">[http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/data-maps/nyc-population/census2010/t_pl_p3a_nta.pdf Table PL-P3A NTA: Total Population by Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic Origin – New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610170733/http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/data-maps/nyc-population/census2010/t_pl_p3a_nta.pdf |date=June 10, 2016 }}, Population Division – [[New York City]] Department of City Planning, March 29, 2011. Accessed June 14, 2016.</ref>

Based on data from the 2010 Census, the population of East Harlem South was 57,902, an increase of 1,003 (1.8%) from the 56,899 counted in 2000. Covering an area of {{cvt|389.41|acres}}, the neighborhood had a population density of {{cvt|148.7|PD/acre|PD/sqmi PD/sqkm}}.<ref name="PLP5South" /> The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 17.4% (10,072) White, 24.6% (14,227) African American, 0.2% (96) Native American, 8.3% (4,802) Asian, 0.1% (55) Pacific Islander, 0.4% (218) from other races, and 1.6% (933) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 47.5% (27,499) of the population.<ref name="PLP3ASouth" />

The most significant changes in the racial composition of East Harlem between 2000 and 2010 were the Asian population's increase by 109% (3,427), the White population's increase by 68% (5,689), and the Black population's decrease by 12% (4,625). Although more of the influx of Asian and White residents was in East Harlem South, the greatest percentage growth was in East Harlem North, while the Black population's decrease was evenly split. The Hispanic/Latino population also decreased by 4% (2,485), a decrease almost entirely concentrated in East Harlem South, where it fell from being the majority group to the plurality group. The small population of other races experienced a slight increase of 5% (132).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.urbanresearchmaps.org/plurality/files/RaceEthnic%20Change%20by%20Neighborhood%205-23-11.xls |title=Race / Ethnic Change by Neighborhood |publisher=Center for Urban Research, The Graduate Center, CUNY |date=May 23, 2011 |access-date=March 19, 2020 |format=Excel file}}</ref>

The entirety of [[Manhattan Community Board 11|Manhattan Community District 11]], which consists of East Harlem, [[Randall's Island]], and [[Ward's Island]], had 124,323 inhabitants as of [[New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene|NYC Health]]'s 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 77.3 years.<ref name="CHP2018">{{cite web |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/data/2018chp-mn11.pdf |title=East Harlem (Including East Harlem, Randalls Island and Wards Island) |date=2018 |website=nyc.gov |publisher=NYC Health |access-date=March 2, 2019 |quote=East Harlem's average life expectancy is 3.9 years shorter than NYC overall. - 77.3 Life Expectancy}}</ref>{{Rp|2, 20}} This is 3.9 years lower than the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods.<ref name=":21">{{cite web |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/tcny/community-health-assessment-plan.pdf |title=2016-2018 Community Health Assessment and Community Health Improvement Plan: Take Care New York 2020 |date=2016 |website=[[government of New York City|nyc.gov]] |publisher=[[New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene]] |access-date=September 8, 2017 |archive-date=September 9, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170909004755/https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/tcny/community-health-assessment-plan.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{Rp|53 (PDF p. 84)}} Most residents are children and middle-aged adults: 21% are between the ages of 0–17, while 33% are between 25 and 44, and 23% are between 45 and 64. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 10% and 13% respectively.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|2}}

As of 2017, the median [[household income]] in Community District 11 was $36,770.<ref name="CB11PUMA">{{cite web |url=https://censusreporter.org/profiles/79500US3603804-nyc-manhattan-community-district-11-east-harlem-puma-ny/ |title=NYC-Manhattan Community District 11--East Harlem PUMA, NY |access-date=July 17, 2018 |archive-date=March 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325163107/https://censusreporter.org/profiles/79500US3603804-nyc-manhattan-community-district-11-east-harlem-puma-ny/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2018, an estimated 23% of Community District 11 residents lived in [[poverty]], compared to 14% in all of Manhattan and 20% in all of New York City. One in nine residents (11%) were unemployed, compared to 7% in Manhattan and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 48% in Community District 11, compared to the boroughwide and citywide rates of 45% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, {{as of|2018|lc=y}}, Community District 11 is considered to be [[gentrification|gentrifying]]: according to the Community Health Profile, the district was low-income in 1990 and has seen above-median rent growth up to 2010.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|7}}

=== 2020s census ===
In the 2020 census report, East Harlem's demographics were separated into north and south parts. North East Harlem had between 30,000 and 39,999 Hispanic residents, 20,000 to 29,999 Black residents, 5,000 to 9,999 White residents, and less than 5000 Asian residents. Meanwhile, South East Harlem was more racially diverse with 20,000 to 29,999 Hispanic residents, 10,000 to 19,999 Black residents, 10,000 to 19,999 white residents, and 5,000 to 9,999 Asian residents.<ref>Staff (August 2021) [https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/planning-level/nyc-population/census2020/dcp_2020-census-briefing-booklet-1.pdf "2020 Census Results for New York City: Key Population & Housing Characteristics"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210925151633/https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/planning-level/nyc-population/census2020/dcp_2020-census-briefing-booklet-1.pdf |date=September 25, 2021 }} City of New York Department of City Planning</ref><ref>Keefe, John; Wolfe, Daniel; and Hernandez, Sergio (August 21, 2021) [https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/us/census-race-ethnicity-map/ "Race and ethnicity across the nation"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211004102038/https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2021/us/census-race-ethnicity-map/ |date=October 4, 2021 }} [[CNN]]</ref>

===Ethnic groups===
Community District 11 is a mostly low to middle income area. It is made up of first and second generation [[Puerto Ricans]], [[Dominican Americans]], [[Cuban Americans]], [[African Americans]], [[Italian Americans]], [[Asian Americans]], [[West Indian Americans|Caribbean Americans]] and a growing population of [[Mexican Americans]] and [[Salvadoran Americans]] and other [[Central America]]n immigrants. It has one of the highest concentrations of [[Puerto Rican American|Puerto Ricans]] in all of New York City.<ref name="NYCPlanning"/> As of 2010, the Puerto Rican population was 27.7% in zip code 10029,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.zip-codes.com/zip-code/10029/zip-code-10029-2010-census.asp |title=2010 Census, /zip-code/10029/10029 |access-date=April 3, 2016}}</ref> and 23.4% in 10035. 10035 also has a large Mexican population, at 10.7%.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.zip-codes.com/zip-code/10035/zip-code-10035-2010-census.asp |title=2010 Census, /zip-code/10035/10035 |access-date=April 3, 2016}}</ref>

As noted before, the number of [[Asian Americans|Asians]] in East Harlem more than doubled between 2000 and 2010, largely due to Chinese people moving to East Harlem. Increasing rents in [[Chinatown, Manhattan|Lower Manhattan's Chinatown]] have driven many into public and subsidized housing developments in the neighborhood. Advocates have been calling for Chinese language services to be available in the community centers to accommodate the growing number of Chinese residents in the area. In 2000, the Chinese population in the northern portion was less than one percent, but by 2010, it has gone up to three percent. In the southern part, it rose from 4.6% to 8.4%.<ref name="Mays 2011">{{cite news |last=Mays |first=Jeff |url=http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20110803/harlem/east-harlem-tries-serve-huge-influx-of-chinese-residents |title=East Harlem Tries to Serve Huge Influx of Chinese Residents |newspaper=[[DNAinfo]] |date=August 3, 2011 |access-date=September 19, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130224002454/http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20110803/harlem/east-harlem-tries-serve-huge-influx-of-chinese-residents |archive-date=February 24, 2013}}</ref><ref name="Barron 2013">{{cite news |last=Barron |first=Laignee |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/chinese-population-climbs-200-harlem-east-harlem-10-yrs-article-1.947039 |title=Chinese population climbs 200% in Harlem and East Harlem over 10 yrs |newspaper=[[New York Daily News]] |date=August 8, 2011 |access-date=September 19, 2012}}</ref><ref name="APA 2012">{{cite web |url=http://www.apaforprogress.org/chinese-american-population-harlem-nyc-surges |title=Chinese American Population in Harlem NYC Surges |publisher=apaforprogress.org |access-date=September 19, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109010909/http://www.apaforprogress.org/chinese-american-population-harlem-nyc-surges |archive-date=November 9, 2013}}</ref>

===Social issues===
Social problems, including concentrated poverty, homelessness, overcrowding, substandard housing, language barriers, food insecurity, teen pregnancy, obesity, crime, drug addiction, dropping out of school, and low rates of advanced educational attainment, have long plagued the area. Although crime rates have dropped from the historically high numbers of the [[crack epidemic]], East Harlem suffers from a high violent crime rate, especially in the 25th Precinct above 115th Street. In 2021, the 25th Precinct had the second-highest rates of felony assault and robbery, the sixteenth-highest rate of rape, and the highest rate of murder out of the [[New York Police Department]]'s 77 precincts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://maps.nyc.gov/crime/ |title=NYC Crime Map |access-date=March 21, 2020 |website=www.nyc.gov |publisher=New York Police Department}}</ref>

East Harlem has the highest concentration of shelters and facilities in Manhattan, with eight homeless shelters, 36 drug and alcohol treatment facilities and 37 mental health treatment facilities. It also has the highest jobless rate in the entire city, as well as the city's second highest cumulative [[HIV/AIDS|AIDS]] rate. The asthma rate is also five times higher than national levels.<ref name="nyc.gov" /> The neighborhood also suffers from a high poverty rate.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://home2.nyc.gov/html/ceo/images/misc/chart_5.jpg |title=Archived copy |access-date=March 6, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080627153857/http://home2.nyc.gov/html/ceo/images/misc/chart_5.jpg |archive-date=June 27, 2008}}</ref> [[Union Settlement Association]] is one of the neighborhood's largest social service agencies, reaching more than 13,000 people annually at 17 locations throughout East Harlem, through a range of programs, including early childhood education, youth development, senior services, job training, the arts, [[adult education]], nutrition, counseling, a farmers' market, community development, and neighborhood cultural events.

==Housing==
[[File:Metro North Plaza Houses jeh.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Metro North Plaza Houses]]
[[File:Thos Jefferson NYCHA 1st Av 111 St jeh.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|240px|Jefferson Houses]]
[[File:Wagner Houses.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Robert F. Wagner Houses|Wagner Houses]]]]
[[File:2d Av 103 St Washington NYCHA jeh.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Washington Houses]]
East Harlem is dominated by [[Public housing in the United States|public housing]] complexes of various types, with a high concentration of older [[tenement]] buildings between these developments. The neighborhood contains the second-highest concentration of public housing in the United States, behind [[Brownsville, Brooklyn]].<ref name="Mays 2011 2">{{cite web |last=Mays |first=Jeff |url=http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20110414/harlem/lowincome-parents-worry-cuts-childcare-will-force-them-out-of-work |title=Low-Income Parents Worry Cuts to Childcare Will Force Them Out of Work – DNAinfo.com New York |publisher=Dnainfo.com |date=April 14, 2011 |access-date=September 19, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008003622/http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20110414/harlem/lowincome-parents-worry-cuts-childcare-will-force-them-out-of-work |archive-date=October 8, 2012}}</ref> The total land area is {{cvt|1.54|sqmi|km2}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/lucds/mn11profile.pdf |title=Manhattan Community Board 11 |date=December 2007 |work=nyc.gov |publisher=New York City Department of Planning |access-date=January 3, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130928060104/http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/lucds/mn11profile.pdf |archive-date=September 28, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.census.gov |title=Census Tract 240 |work=[[United States Census Bureau]] |publisher=US Census Bureau |access-date=January 3, 2009}}</ref>

After a wave of [[arson]] ravaged the low income communities of New York City throughout the 1970s, many of the residential structures in East Harlem were left seriously damaged or destroyed. By the late 1970s, the city began to rehabilitate many abandoned tenement style buildings and designate them as low income housing. Despite recent [[gentrification]] of the neighborhood, large numbers of apartment buildings have been deliberately kept vacant by their owners. Although the businesses on the ground floor are retained, landlords do not want to have the trouble involved in residential tenants. In some cases, landlords are waiting for a revived economy, warehousing the apartments so that they can rent them later at a higher rent.<ref name="Sealed Apartments">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/31/nyregion/east-harlem-landlords-keep-apartments-sealed-up.html |title=East Harlem Landlords Keep Apartments Sealed Up |date=October 31, 2011 |work=The New York Times |access-date=October 31, 2011}}</ref>

In 2007, a survey of Manhattan's buildings found that 1,723 were significantly vacant, three-quarters of them north of [[96th Street (Manhattan)|96th Street]]. A 1998 survey found that one-quarter of low-rise residential buildings on avenues or major cross streets in East Harlem had sealed-up residential floors, despite having commercial businesses on the ground floor.<ref name="Sealed Apartments" />

===Public housing projects===

There are 24 [[New York City Housing Authority]] developments located in East Harlem.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycha/html/home/home.shtml |title=NYCHA |publisher=Nyc.gov |access-date=September 19, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525030524/http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycha/html/home/home.shtml |archive-date=May 25, 2015}}</ref> As of 2013, 93.6% of all housing units were renter-occupied, and over 25% of the population resided in public housing units managed by the NYCHA.<ref name="nyc.gov" />

*335 East 111th Street; one 6-story building
*East [[120th Street (Manhattan)|120th Street]] Rehab; one, 6-story rehabilitated tenement building
*[[East River]] Houses; 10 buildings, 6, 10 and 11 stories tall
*Edward Corsi Houses; one 16-story building
*Gaylord White Houses; one 20-story building
*George Washington Carver Houses; 13 buildings, 6 and 15 stories tall
*Governor [[Dewitt Clinton]] Houses; six buildings, 9 and 18 stories tall
*Jackie Robinson Houses; one 8-story building
*James Weldon Johnson Houses; 10 14-story buildings
*Lehman Village; four 20-story buildings
*Lexington Houses; four 14-story buildings
*[[Metro North Plaza]]; three buildings, 7, 8, and 11 stories tall
*Metro North Rehab; 17 6-story rehabilitated tenement buildings
*Milbank-Frawley; two rehabilitated tenement buildings 5 and 6 stories tall
*Morris Park Senior Citizens Home; one 9-story rehabilitated building
*[[Park Avenue (Manhattan)|Park Avenue]]-East [[122nd Street (Manhattan)|122nd Street]], 123rd Streets; two 6-story buildings
*President Abraham Lincoln; 14 buildings, 6 and 14 stories tall
*President George Washington Houses; 14 buildings, 12 and 14 stories tall
*President Thomas Jefferson Houses; 18 buildings, 7, 13 and 14 stories tall
*President Woodrow Wilson Houses; three 20-story buildings
*Senator Robert A. Taft; nine 19-story buildings
*[[Robert F. Wagner Houses]]; 22 buildings, 7 and 16 stories tall
*U.P.A.C.A. (Upper Park Avenue Community Association) Site 6; one 12-story building
*U.P.A.C.A. (Upper Park Avenue Community Association) U.R.A. Site 5; one 11-story building

===Other residential developments===
Other subsidized housing includes:
*Taino Towers<ref>Kadinsky, Sergey {{cite web |title=Taino Towers |website=[[Forgotten New York]] |date=June 8, 2025 |url=https://forgotten-ny.com/2025/06/taino-towers/ |access-date=June 9, 2025}}</ref> – East 122nd Street and [[Third Avenue (Manhattan)|Third Avenue]]. Four 35-story towers, 656 apartments. Opened 1979.<ref>Baldwin, Susan, [http://www.citylimits.org/news/articles/3681/taino-dream-housing "Taino: 'Dream' Housing For Poor Set To Open: From 30 years ago: Long in the making, a unique subsidized housing project finally opened its doors"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213141841/http://www.citylimits.org/news/articles/3681/taino-dream-housing |date=December 13, 2010 }}, ''[[City Limits (New York magazine)|City Limits]]'', January 5, 2009. This includes the original article: Baldwin, Susan, "Taino: 'Dream' Housing For Poor Set To Open", ''City Limits'', February 1979, Vol. 4, No. 2</ref>
*A new 68-story rental tower at 321 East [[96th Street (Manhattan)|96th Street]] was approved in August 2017.<ref>{{cite web |title=City Council committee OKs AvalonBay's 673-foot East Harlem tower |website=The Real Deal New York |date=August 10, 2017 |url=https://therealdeal.com/2017/08/10/city-council-committee-oks-avalon-bays-673-foot-east-harlem-tower/ |access-date=March 25, 2019}}</ref> The {{cvt|1,300,000|sqft|sqm|adj=on}} building, which is currently the site of the School of Cooperative Technical Education, would house three schools and retail space along with a mix of 1,100 affordable and market-rate apartments.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Walker |first=Ameena |url=http://ny.curbed.com/2017/3/23/15042246/east-harlem-rental-building-proposal-approved |title=68-story rental tower approved by East Harlem's community board |date=March 23, 2017 |newspaper=[[Curbed|Curbed NY]] |access-date=March 24, 2017}}</ref>

==Economy==
The neighborhood is home to one of the few major television studios north of midtown,<ref>{{cite web |title=NYC Studios and Stages |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/site/mome/resources/studios-stages.page |website=NYC.gov |publisher=City of New York |access-date=June 14, 2017}}</ref> Metropolis at 106th Street and [[Park Avenue]],<ref>{{cite web |title=NEP Metropolis Studio |url=http://www.nepinc.com/solutions/services/studio_production/studios_in_new_york/nep_metropolis_studio?lang=UK |website=NEP, Inc. |publisher=NEP Group, Inc. |access-date=June 14, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170611114631/http://nepinc.com/solutions/services/studio_production/studios_in_new_york/nep_metropolis_studio?lang=UK |archive-date=June 11, 2017}}</ref> where shows such as [[Black Entertainment Television|BET]]'s ''[[106 & Park]]''<ref>{{cite web |last1=Furman |first1=Phyllis |title=BET Taking its Show to 106th & Park |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/money/bet-show-106th-park-article-1.881803 |website=NYDailyNews.com |access-date=June 14, 2017 |date=July 5, 2000}}</ref> and ''[[Chappelle's Show]]''<ref>{{cite web |title=Dave Chapelle Free TV Show Tickets in New York City |url=http://www.nytix.com/TVShows/Archive/DaveChappelle/ |website=New York Show Tickets |publisher=New York Show Tickets Inc. |access-date=June 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929021039/http://www.nytix.com/TVShows/Archive/DaveChappelle/ |archive-date=September 29, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref> have been produced. PRdream.com, a web site on the history and culture of Puerto Ricans, founded a media gallery and digital film studio called MediaNoche in 2003. It presents technology-based art on Park Avenue and 102nd Street, providing exhibition space and residencies for artists and filmmakers, and [[webcasting]] events.

==Police and crime==
[[File:NYPD 25 Pct E119 jeh.JPG|thumb|upright=1.1|[[New York Police Department|NYPD]]'s 25th Precinct station house]]
East Harlem is served by two precincts of the [[New York City Police Department|NYPD]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Find Your Precinct and Sector - NYPD |website=www.nyc.gov |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/bureaus/patrol/find-your-precinct.page |access-date=March 3, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Feeney, Michael J. |url=http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-05-11/news/31672547_1_violence-east-harlem-community-leaders |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130130134524/http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-05-11/news/31672547_1_violence-east-harlem-community-leaders |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 30, 2013 |title=Plea for peace in East Harlem |newspaper=[[New York Daily News]] |date=May 11, 2012 |access-date=September 19, 2012}}</ref> The area north of [[116th Street (Manhattan)|116th Street]] is served by the 25th Precinct, located at 120 East 119th Street,<ref name="NYPD 25th Precinct">{{cite web |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/bureaus/patrol/precincts/25th-precinct.page |title=NYPD – 25th Precinct |website=www.nyc.gov |publisher=[[New York City Police Department]] |access-date=October 3, 2016}}</ref> while the area south of 116th Street is served by the 23rd Precinct, located at 164 East 102nd Street.<ref name="NYPD 23rd Precinct">{{cite web |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/bureaus/patrol/precincts/23rd-precinct.page |title=NYPD – 23rd Precinct |website=www.nyc.gov |publisher=[[New York City Police Department]] |access-date=October 3, 2016}}</ref>

The 25th Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 72.1% between 1990 and 2024. The precinct reported 8 murders, 16 rapes, 257 robberies, 478 felony assaults, 108 burglaries, 490 grand larcenies, and 109 grand larcenies auto in 2024.<ref name="NYPD 25th Precinct CS">{{cite web |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_statistics/cs-en-us-025pct.pdf |title=25th Precinct CompStat Report |website=www.nyc.gov |publisher=[[New York City Police Department]] |access-date=March 20, 2020}}</ref> Of the five major violent felonies (murder, rape, felony assault, robbery, and burglary), the 25th Precinct had a rate of 1,340 crimes per 100,000 residents in 2019, compared to the boroughwide average of 632 crimes per 100,000 and the citywide average of 572 crimes per 100,000.<ref name="crime map"/><ref name="sevenmajorfelonies">{{cite web |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/nypd/downloads/pdf/analysis_and_planning/historical-crime-data/seven-major-felony-offenses-2000-2019.pdf |title=Citywide Seven Major Felony Offenses 2000-2019 |publisher=[[New York Police Department]] |access-date=March 23, 2020 |website=www.nyc.gov}}</ref><ref name="sevenmajorfeloniesbyprecinct"/>

The 23rd Precinct also has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 63.1% between 1990 and 2024. The precinct reported 7 murders, 21 rapes, 250 robberies, 484 felony assaults, 157 burglaries, 374 grand larcenies, and 85 grand larcenies auto in 2024.<ref name="NYPD 23rd Precinct CS">{{cite web |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_statistics/cs-en-us-023pct.pdf |title=23rd Precinct CompStat Report |website=www.nyc.gov |publisher=[[New York City Police Department]] |access-date=March 20, 2020}}</ref> Of the five major violent felonies (murder, rape, felony assault, robbery, and burglary), the 23rd Precinct had a rate of 819 crimes per 100,000 residents in 2019, compared to the boroughwide average of 632 crimes per 100,000 and the citywide average of 572 crimes per 100,000.<ref name="crime map">{{cite web |url=https://maps.nyc.gov/crime/ |access-date=March 23, 2020 |title=NYC Crime Map |website=www.nyc.gov |publisher=[[New York City Police Department]]}}</ref><ref name="sevenmajorfelonies"/><ref name="sevenmajorfeloniesbyprecinct">{{cite web |url=https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/nypd/downloads/pdf/analysis_and_planning/historical-crime-data/seven-major-felony-offenses-by-precinct-2000-2019.pdf |title=Citywide Seven Major Felony Offenses by Precinct 2000-2019 |publisher=[[New York Police Department]] |access-date=March 23, 2020 |website=www.nyc.gov}}</ref>

{{as of|2018}}, Community District 11 has a non-fatal assault hospitalization rate of 130 per 100,000 people, compared to the boroughwide rate of 49 per 100,000 and the citywide rate of 59 per 100,000. Its incarceration rate is 1,291 per 100,000 people, compared to the boroughwide rate of 407 per 100,000 and the citywide rate of 425 per 100,000.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|8}}

In 2019, the highest concentration of felony assaults in East Harlem was around the intersection of [[125th Street (Manhattan)|125th Street]] and [[Lexington Avenue]], where there were 39 felony assaults. This location is well known as an open-air drug market and hotspot of other crimes.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.citylab.com/life/2018/07/up-to-lexington-one-two-five/564329/ |title=Photographing the Push and Pull of a Harlem Intersection |access-date=March 27, 2020 |date=July 3, 2018 |first=Camilo José |last=Vergara |newspaper=Bloomberg.com}}</ref> The highest concentration of robberies, on the other hand, was around the intersection of 116th Street and [[Third Avenue]], where there were 21 robberies.<ref name="crime map"/> The [[Willis Avenue Bridge]] which connects East Harlem to the [[Mott Haven]] section of the [[Bronx]] has long been a hotspot for robbery.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.theverge.com/22667600/delivery-workers-seamless-uber-relay-new-york-electric-bikes-apps |title=Revolt of the delivery workers |date=September 13, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/12/business/delivery-workers-thefts-neighborhood-watch.html |title=As Bike Thefts Jump, Delivery Workers Band Together for Safety |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 12, 2021 |last1=Marcos |first1=Coral Murphy}}</ref>

==Fire safety==
East Harlem is served by four [[New York City Fire Department]] (FDNY) fire stations:<ref>{{Cite FDNY locations}}</ref> 
*Engine Company 35/Ladder Company 14/Battalion 12 – 2282 [[Third Avenue (Manhattan)|Third Avenue]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Engine Company 35/Ladder Company 14/Battalion 12 |website=FDNYtrucks.com |url=http://www.fdnytrucks.com/files/html/manhattan/e35.htm |access-date=March 14, 2019}}</ref> 
*Engine Company 53/Ladder Company 43 – 1836 [[Third Avenue (Manhattan)|Third Avenue]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Engine Company 53/Ladder Company 43 |website=FDNYtrucks.com |url=http://www.fdnytrucks.com/files/html/manhattan/e53.htm |access-date=March 14, 2019}}</ref>
*Engine Company 58/Ladder Company 26 – 1367 [[Fifth Avenue]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Engine Company 58/Ladder Company 26 |website=FDNYtrucks.com |url=http://www.fdnytrucks.com/files/html/manhattan/e58.htm |access-date=March 14, 2019}}</ref>
*Engine Company 91 – 242 East 111th Street<ref>{{cite web |title=Engine Company 91 |website=FDNYtrucks.com |url=http://www.fdnytrucks.com/files/html/manhattan/e91.htm |access-date=March 14, 2019}}</ref>

==Health==
[[File:SinaiMed crop.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Mount Sinai Hospital (Manhattan)|Mount Sinai Medical Center]] as seen from [[Central Park]]]]
{{As of|2018}}, [[preterm birth]]s and births to teenage mothers in East Harlem are higher than the city average. In East Harlem, there were 108 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 10.8 teenage births per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide), though the teenage birth rate was based on a small sample size.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|11}} East Harlem has a low population of residents who are [[Health insurance coverage in the United States|uninsured]]. In 2018, this population of uninsured residents was estimated to be 3%, slightly less than the citywide rate of 12%, though this was based on a small sample size.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|14}}

The concentration of [[particulates|fine particulate matter]], the deadliest type of [[air pollution|air pollutant]], in East Harlem is {{cvt|0.0082|mg/m3|oz/ft3}}, more than the city average.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|9}} Eighteen percent of East Harlem residents are [[Smoking|smokers]], which is more than the city average of 14% of residents being smokers.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|13}} In East Harlem, 28% of residents are [[Obesity|obese]], 17% are [[Diabetes mellitus|diabetic]], and 34% have [[hypertension|high blood pressure]]—compared to the citywide averages of 24%, 11%, and 28% respectively.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|16}} In addition, 23% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|12}}

Eighty-four percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is lower than the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 76% of residents described their health as "good", "very good", or "excellent", less than the city's average of 78%.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|13}} For every supermarket in East Harlem, there are 17 [[convenience store|bodegas]].<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|10}}

[[Metropolitan Hospital Center]] and [[Mount Sinai Hospital (Manhattan)|Mount Sinai Hospital]] are both located in southern East Harlem. [[North General Hospital]], which formerly served the area as well, is now closed.<ref>{{cite web |title=Manhattan Hospital Listings |website=New York Hospitals |url=http://www.allny.com/health/hosp-manhattan.html |access-date=March 20, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Best Hospitals in New York, N.Y. |website=U.S. News & World Report |date=July 26, 2011 |url=https://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals/area/new-york-ny |access-date=March 20, 2019}}</ref> In addition, [[New York City Fire Department Bureau of EMS|FDNY EMS]] Station 10 is located close to Metropolitan Hospital Center.

===Fresh food===
[[File:Super Associated East Harlem 1968 2nd Av 101 St jeh.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|[[Associated Supermarkets]] on East 101st Street]]
A lack of access to healthy food causes serious hardships to citizens of East Harlem, a neighborhood which is considered to be a [[food desert]]. According to an April 2008 report prepared by the [[New York City Department of City Planning]], East Harlem is an area of the city with the highest levels of diet-related diseases due to limited opportunities for citizens to purchase fresh foods.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/supermarket/index.shtml |title=Socioeconomic & Housing – Going to Market: New York City's Neighborhood Grocery Store and Supermarket Shortage |publisher=Nyc.gov |access-date=September 19, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016051109/http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/supermarket/index.shtml |archive-date=October 16, 2012}}</ref>

With a high population density and a lack of nearby [[supermarkets]], the neighborhood has little access to fresh fruit and vegetables and a low consumption of fresh foods. Citizens of East Harlem are likely to buy food from grocery stores that have a limited supply of fruits and vegetables, which are often of poor quality and generally more expensive than the same products sold at supermarkets. Compared to the [[Upper East Side]], supermarkets in Harlem are 30% less common.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&catID=1194&doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2007b%2Fpr467-07.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1 |title=NYC.gov |publisher=NYC.gov |date=December 18, 2007 |access-date=September 19, 2012 |archive-date=October 16, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016182646/http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&catID=1194&doc_name=http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/2007b/pr467-07.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Without access to affordable produce and meats, East Harlem residents have difficulty eating a healthy diet, which contributes to high rates of [[obesity]] and [[diabetes]].<ref>{{cite journal |title=American Journal of Preventive Medicine – Supermarkets, Other Food Stores, and Obesity: The Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study |date=March 10, 2006 |doi=10.1016/j.amepre.2005.11.003 |volume=30 |journal=American Journal of Preventive Medicine |pages=333–339 |pmid=16530621 |last1=Morland |first1=K |last2=Diez Roux |first2=AV |last3=Wing |first3=S |issue=4 |hdl=2027.42/57754 |url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/57754/1/Supermarkets%20other%20food%20stores%20and%20obesity.pdf|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

In 2011, Manhattan Borough President [[Scott Stringer]] announced a program which would send Veggie Vans to East Harlem senior centers and housing projects.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dnainfo.com/20110208/harlem/veggie-vans-slated-sell-fresh-produce-east-harlem |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120724062246/http://www.dnainfo.com/20110208/harlem/veggie-vans-slated-sell-fresh-produce-east-harlem |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 24, 2012 |title=Veggie Vans Slated to Sell Fresh Produce in East Harlem – DNAinfo.com New York |publisher=Dnainfo.com |access-date=September 19, 2012}}</ref> In 2012, [[Whole Foods Market|Whole Foods]] announced two uptown locations, one being on [[125th Street (Manhattan)|125th Street]] and [[Lenox Avenue]], the other on the Upper East Side.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10000872396390443854204578061032529621890 |title=Whole Foods Plans New Stores for Harlem, Upper East Side |newspaper=Wall Street Journal |date=October 16, 2012 |access-date=October 16, 2012 |last1=Kusisto |first1=Laura }}</ref> In 2010, [[Aldi|Aldi's Grocery]] opened at the [[East River Plaza]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eastriverplaza.com/homepage.html |title=East River Plaza |publisher=East River Plaza |access-date=April 9, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150503165641/http://www.eastriverplaza.com/homepage.html |archive-date=May 3, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> located at E. 117th St. and the [[FDR Drive]], providing access to affordable food for East Harlem's residents. In 2013, a new Super FI Emperior Grocery store opened up in East Harlem on 103rd Street and [[Lexington Avenue]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thesource.com/2013/07/26/super-fi-opens-in-harlem/ |title=Super FI Opens in Harlem |date=July 26, 2013 |publisher=The Source |access-date=July 26, 2013}}</ref>

==Post offices and ZIP Codes==
East Harlem is located in two primary [[ZIP Code]]s. The area south of 116th Street is part of 10029 and the area north of 116th Street is part of 10035. The extreme northwestern portion of East Harlem is also located in 10037.<ref>{{cite web |title=East Harlem, New York City-Manhattan, New York Zip Code Boundary Map (NY) |website=United States Zip Code Boundary Map (USA) |url=https://www.zipmap.net/New_York/New_York_County/Z_East_Harlem.htm |access-date=March 23, 2019 |archive-date=March 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190325163103/https://www.zipmap.net/New_York/New_York_County/Z_East_Harlem.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[United States Postal Service]] operates two post offices near East Harlem:
*Hellgate Station – 153 East 110th Street<ref>{{cite web |title=Location Details: Hellgate |website=USPS.com |url=https://tools.usps.com/go/POLocatorDetailsAction!input.action?locationTypeQ=po&address=10024&radius=20&locationType=po&locationID=1366673&locationName=HELLGATE+STATION&address2=&address1=153+E+110TH+ST |access-date=March 7, 2019}}</ref>
*Triborough Finance New Station – 118 East 124th Street<ref>{{cite web |title=Location Details: Triborough Finance New |website=USPS.com |url=https://tools.usps.com/go/POLocatorDetailsAction!input.action?locationTypeQ=po&address=10024&radius=20&locationType=po&locationID=1480375&locationName=TRIBOROUGH+FINANCE+NEW&address2=&address1=118+E+124TH+ST |access-date=March 7, 2019}}</ref>

==Education==
{{Main|Education in Harlem}}
[[File:Tito Puente PS117 2095 2nd Av 240 E109 St jeh.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|A school named after musician [[Tito Puente]]]]
East Harlem generally has a lower rate of college-educated residents than the rest of the city {{as of|2018|lc=y}}. While 38% have a college education or higher, 25% have less than a high school education and 37% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 64% of Manhattan residents and 43% of city residents have a college education or higher.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|6}} The percentage of East Harlem students excelling in math rose from 25% in 2000 to 51% in 2011, and reading achievement increased from 33% to 39% during the same time period.<ref name=":17">{{cite web |url=http://furmancenter.org/files/sotc/MN_11_11.pdf |title=East Harlem – MN 11 |date=2011 |publisher=[[Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy]] |access-date=October 5, 2016}}</ref>

East Harlem's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is higher than the rest of New York City. In East Harlem, 30% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days per [[school year]], more than the citywide average of 20%.<ref name=":21" />{{Rp|24 (PDF p. 55)}}<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|6}} Additionally, 67% of high school students in East Harlem graduate on time, less than the citywide average of 75%.<ref name="CHP2018" />{{Rp|6}}

As in other parts of the city, some schools require students pass through metal detectors and swipe ID cards to enter school buildings.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://harlemworldmag.com/2010/10/10/east-harlem-harlem-ny/ |title=East Harlem, Harlem, NY &#124; |publisher=Harlemworldmag.com |date=October 10, 2010 |access-date=September 19, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120519231006/http://harlemworldmag.com/2010/10/10/east-harlem-harlem-ny/ |archive-date=May 19, 2012}}</ref>

===Schools===
The [[New York City Department of Education]] operates public schools in East Harlem as part of Community School District 2. The following public elementary schools are located in East Harlem:
{{col-begin}}{{col-break}}
*Central Park East I (grades PK–5)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M497 |title=Central Park East I |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*Central Park East II (grades PK–8)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M964 |title=Central Park East II |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*James Weldon Johnson School (grades PK–8)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M057 |title=James Weldon Johnson |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*Mosaic Preparatory Academy (grades PK–5)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M375 |title=Mosaic Preparatory Academy |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*PS 7 Samuel Stern (grades PK–8)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M007 |title=P.S. 007 Samuel Stern |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*PS 30 Hernandez Hughes (grades PK–5)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M030 |title=P.S. 030 Hernandez/Hughes |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
**PS 38 Roberto Clemente (grades PK–5)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M038 |title=P.S. 38 Roberto Clemente |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*PS 83 Luis Munoz Rivera (grades PK–5)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M083 |title=P.S. 083 Luis Munoz Rivera |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*PS 96 Joseph Lanzetta (grades PK–8)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M096 |title=P.S. 096 Joseph Lanzetta |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*PS 102 Jacques Cartier (grades PK–5)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M102 |title=P.S. 102 Jacques Cartier |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
{{col-break}}
*PS 108 Assemblyman Angelo Del Toro Educational Com (grades PK–8)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M108 |title=P.S. 108 Assemblyman Angelo Del Toro Educational Complex |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*PS 112 Jose Celso Barbosa (grades PK–2)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M112 |title=P.S. 112 Jose Celso Barbosa |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*PS 133 Fred R Moore (grades PK–5)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M133 |title=P.S. 133 Fred R Moore |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*PS 138 (grades K-12)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M138 |title=P.S. 138 |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*PS 155 William Paca (grades PK–5)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M155 |title=P.S. 155 William Paca |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*PS 171 Patrick Henry (grades PK–8)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M171 |title=P.S. 171 Patrick Henry |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*PS/MS 206 Jose Celso Barbosa (grades 3–8)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M206 |title=P.S. 206 Jose Celso Barbosa |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*River East Elementary School (grades PK–5)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M037 |title=River East Elementary |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*[[Tag Young Scholars]] (grades K–8)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M012 |title=Tag Young Scholars |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*The Bilingual Bicultural School (grades PK–5)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M182 |title=The Bilingual Bicultural School |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*The Lexington Academy (grades PK–8)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M072 |title=The Lexington Academy |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
{{col-end}}

The following public middle schools are located in East Harlem:
*Esperanza Preparatory Academy (grades 6–12)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M372 |title=Esperanza Preparatory Academy |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*Isaac Newton MS For Math And Science (grades 6–8)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M825 |title=Isaac Newton Middle School for Math & Science |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*MS 224 Manhattan East School For Arts And Academy (grades 6–8)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M224 |title=M.S. 224 Manhattan East School for Arts & Academics |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*Renaissance School of the Arts (grades 6–8)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M377 |title=Renaissance School of the Arts |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*[[Young Women's Leadership School of East Harlem|Young Women's Leadership School]], East Harlem (grades 6–12)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M610 |title=Young Women's Leadership School |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>

The following public high schools are located in East Harlem:
*Harlem Renaissance High School (grades 9–12)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M285 |title=Harlem Renaissance High School |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*[[Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics]] (grades 9–12)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M435 |title=Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref> – replaced Benjamin Franklin High School, a school which had the smallest graduating class in the city at the time of its closing.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/11/nyregion/a-failed-high-school-preparing-for-renewal.html |title=A Failed High School Preparing For Renewal |work=The New York Times |date=July 11, 1982 |access-date=September 19, 2012}}</ref>
*PS 79 Horan School (grades 6–12)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M079 |title=P.S. M079 - Horan School |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>
*The Heritage School (grades 9–12)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M680 |title=Heritage School, The |publisher=New York City Department of Education |date=2018 |access-date=March 26, 2019}}</ref>

The [[Charter school (New York)|public charter schools]] in East Harlem include: 
*Success Academy Harlem 2 of [[Success Academy Charter Schools]] (grades K–8)<ref>{{cite web |title=Harlem 2, Success Academy Charter School |publisher=New York City Department of Education |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M384 |access-date=March 20, 2020}}</ref>
*Harlem Village Academy (grades K–9)<ref>{{cite web |title=Harlem Village Academy East Charter School |publisher=New York City Department of Education |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M335 |access-date=March 20, 2020}}</ref>
*East Harlem Scholars Academies (grades PK–8)<ref>{{cite web |title=East Harlem Scholars Academy Charter School |publisher=New York City Department of Education |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M168 |access-date=March 20, 2020}}</ref>
*Dream Charter School (grades PK–8)<ref>{{cite web |title=DREAM Charter School |publisher=New York City Department of Education |url=https://www.schools.nyc.gov/schools/M382 |access-date=March 20, 2020}}</ref>

St. Cecilia's School in East Harlem was closed by the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York]] &ndash; which operates Catholic schools in Manhattan and the Bronx &ndash; in 1991.<ref name=NievesSchoolclosed>{{cite web |author=Nieves, Evelyn |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/17/nyregion/archdiocese-will-close-a-bronx-high-school.html |title=Archdiocese Will Close a Bronx High School |work=The New York Times |date=May 17, 1991 |access-date=May 5, 2020}}</ref>

===Libraries===
[[File:NYPL Aguilar Branch, Manhattan.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|The Aguilar Library, part of the [[New York Public Library]] system]]
The [[New York Public Library]] (NYPL) operates two branches in East Harlem:
*The Aguilar branch is located at 174 East [[110th Street (Manhattan)|110th Street]]. The three-story [[Carnegie library]] opened in 1903 and was renovated in 1996. It is named for the author [[Grace Aguilar]].<ref>{{cite web |title=About the 58th Street Library |website=The New York Public Library |date=May 10, 1907 |url=https://www.nypl.org/about/locations/aguilar |access-date=March 23, 2019}}</ref>
*The 125th Street branch is located at 224 East [[125th Street (Manhattan)|125th Street]]. The two-story Carnegie library opened in 1901 and was renovated in 2001.<ref>{{cite web |title=About the 125th Street Library |website=The New York Public Library |date=May 10, 1907 |url=https://www.nypl.org/about/locations/125th-street |access-date=March 23, 2019}}</ref>

Two additional NYPL branches are located nearby. The 96th Street branch is located at 112 East [[96th Street (Manhattan)|96th Street]], at the border with the [[Upper East Side]],<ref>{{cite web |title=About the 96th Street Library |website=The New York Public Library |date=May 10, 1907 |url=https://www.nypl.org/about/locations/96th-street |access-date=March 23, 2019}}</ref> while the [[Harlem]] branch is located at 9 West 124th Street, near the border with Harlem.<ref>{{cite web |title=About the Harlem Library |website=The New York Public Library |url=https://www.nypl.org/about/locations/harlem |access-date=March 14, 2019}}</ref>

==Transportation==
{{multiple image
|total_width=450
|image1=HARLEM RIVER-HARLEM ON LEFT. BRONX ON RIGHT - NARA - 548427.jpg
|caption1=Bridges spanning the [[Harlem River]] between Harlem to the left and the Bronx to the right
|image2=MNRR NH-Line-Train 125th-St.jpg
|caption2=[[Harlem–125th Street station]] on the [[Metro-North Railroad]]
}}
The [[Harlem River]] separates [[the Bronx]] and Manhattan, necessitating several spans between the two New York City boroughs. Three free bridges connect East Harlem and the Bronx: the [[Willis Avenue Bridge]] (for northbound traffic only), [[Third Avenue Bridge (New York City)|Third Avenue Bridge]] (for southbound traffic only), and [[Madison Avenue Bridge]]. In East Harlem, the [[Wards Island Bridge]], also known as the 103rd Street Footbridge, connects Manhattan with [[Wards Island]]. The [[Triborough Bridge]] (officially the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge) is a complex of three separate bridges that offers connections between [[Queens]], East Harlem, and the Bronx.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mta.info/bandt/html/rfk.html |title=Robert F. Kennedy Bridge |date=December 30, 2010 |publisher=Mta.info |access-date=February 2, 2013}}</ref>

Public transportation service is provided by the [[Metropolitan Transportation Authority]]. The [[New York City Subway]]'s [[IRT Lexington Avenue Line]] runs through East Harlem, with an express station at [[125th Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)|125th Street]] (served by the {{NYCS trains|Lexington|type=route}}) as well as local stations at the [[116th Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)|116th Street]], [[110th Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)|110th Street]], [[103rd Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)|103rd Street]], and [[96th Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)|96th Street]] (served by the {{NYCS trains|Lexington local day|type=route}}). There is also a [[Second Avenue Subway]] station at [[96th Street (Second Avenue Subway)|96th Street]] on the {{NYCS trains|Second header|type=route}}.<ref>{{NYCS const|map}}</ref> [[MTA Regional Bus Operations]]{{'}} {{NYC bus link|M15|M15 SBS|M35|M60 SBS|M96|M98|M101|M102|M103|M106|M116}} and {{NYC bus link|M125}} bus routes serve East Harlem as well.<ref>{{Cite NYC bus map|M}}</ref> [[Metro-North Railroad]] has a [[commuter rail]] station at [[Harlem–125th Street (Metro-North station)|Harlem–125th Street]], serving trains to the [[Lower Hudson Valley]] and [[Connecticut]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.mta.info/mnr/html/mnrmap.htm |title=Metro-North Railroad Map |date=2017 |publisher=[[Metropolitan Transportation Authority]] |access-date=May 14, 2017}}</ref>

==Notable people==
{{Category see also|People from East Harlem}}
[[File:Mario Biaggi.jpg|thumb|180px|[[Mario Biaggi]]]]
[[File:Frank Costello - Kefauver Committee.jpg|thumb|180px|[[Frank Costello]]]]
[[File: Frankie_Cutlass_NY_State_Of_Mind.jpg |thumb|180px|[[Frankie Cutlass ]]]]
[[File:F.H. LaGuardia LOC 16457254975 (cropped).jpg|thumb|180px|[[Fiorello H. La Guardia]]]]
[[File:Edward Mosberg.png|thumb|180px|[[Edward Mosberg]]]]
[[File:Al Pacino - Hummel.jpg|thumb|180px|[[Al Pacino]]]]
*[[Jack Agüeros]] (1934–2014), community activist, poet, writer, translator, and the former director of [[El Museo del Barrio]].<ref>King, Chris. [https://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/16/nyregion/a-park-just-made-for-a-poet.html "A Park Just Made for a Poet"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170927000516/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/16/nyregion/a-park-just-made-for-a-poet.html |date=September 27, 2017 }}, ''The New York Times'', September 16, 2001. Accessed September 26, 2017. "Jack Agueros, a translator who collected the poems and translated them for the book, grew up in East Harlem, where he twice saw De Burgos, who lived in New York in the 1940s and early 1950s when she enjoyed a reputation as Puerto Rico's greatest poet."</ref>
*[[Petra Allende]] (1920–2002), community activist<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ventegeat |first1=Felipe Jr. |editor-last1=Knight |editor-first1=Franklin W. |editor-last2=Gates |editor-first2=Henry Louis Jr. |title=Dictionary of Caribbean and Afro–Latin American Biography |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199935796.001.0001/acref-9780199935796-e-46?rskey=ThC0Da&result=43 |year=2016 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |location=Oxford, England |isbn=978-0-19-993579-6 |chapter=Allende, Petra Rosario (1920–2002), community activist}} {{subscription required|via=[http://www.oxfordreference.com/ Oxford University Press]'s Reference Online}}</ref>
*[[Marc Anthony]] (born 1968), singer<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,2044749,00.html |title=Marc Anthony: Biography |date=September 15, 2001 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |access-date=May 10, 2020}}</ref><ref>Rohter, Larry. [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/19/arts/music/19anthony.html "A Master of Crossover Relives '70s Ballads"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191002063219/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/19/arts/music/19anthony.html |date=October 2, 2019 }}, ''The New York Times'', June 18, 2010. Accessed May 9, 2020. "Growing up in the Washington housing project in East Harlem in the 1970s, the singer Marc Anthony came to realize early on that 'every family's identity was based on the music they were blaring out their windows' toward the courtyard below."</ref>
*[[Frankie Cutlass]] (born 1971), DJ and record producer.<ref>Whitlock, Jennifer. [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107346004/frankie-cutlass-of-spanish-harlem/ "Disc Reviews"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810204655/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/107346004/frankie-cutlass-of-spanish-harlem/ |date=August 10, 2022 }},''[[The Morning Call]]'', April 5, 1997. Accessed August 10, 2022, via [[Newspapers.com]]. "Frankie Cutlass also achieves a seamless sound on 'Politics And Bull_____', but his disc stands as a document rather than a concept. The Puerto Rican DJ, born in Spanish Harlem, scored two underground hits with the shout-outs 'Puerto Rico/Black People' and 'Boriquas On Da Set' both of which appear on the disc."</ref>
*[[Arcángel]] (born 1985), reggaeton singer<ref>{{cite web |url=https://music.apple.com/us/artist/arc%C3%A1ngel/28215216 |title=Arcángel |publisher=[[Apple Music]] |access-date=May 10, 2020}}</ref>
*[[ASAP Rocky]] (born 1988), rapper<ref>Feeney, Michael J. [http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/ap-mob-stage-harlem-appollo-theater-article-1.1464588 "A$AP Mob take the stage at Apollo Theater for the first time, call it a 'homecoming' for Harlem-based crew"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228081941/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music-arts/ap-mob-stage-harlem-appollo-theater-article-1.1464588 |date=February 28, 2017 }}, ''[[New York Daily News]]'', September 23, 2013. Accessed February 27, 2017. "Rocky, who was born in Harlem's St. Luke's Hospital and raised mostly in the AK Houses in East Harlem, may currently be one of Harlem's biggest music stars, but he said he doesn't look at himself a role model for kids coming up in the neighborhood."</ref>
*[[Ray Barretto]] (1929–2006), musician<ref>[http://latino.si.edu/virtualgallery/Sabor/bios/Featuredbio_Barretto.htm Ray Barretto] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150327232449/http://latino.si.edu/virtualgallery/Sabor/bios/Featuredbio_Barretto.htm |date=March 27, 2015 }}, Smithsonian Latino Center. Accessed February 2, 2017. "He was raised in the Latin ghettos of East Harlem and the Bronx, in an environment filled with music of Puerto Rico but with a love for the swing bands of Ellington, Basie and Goodman."</ref>
*[[Joe Bataan]] (born 1942), singer<ref>Goodman, Fred. [https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/06/nyregion/the-return-of-joe-bataan-the-boogaloo-king.html "The Return of Joe Bataan, the Boogaloo King"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929091104/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/06/nyregion/the-return-of-joe-bataan-the-boogaloo-king.html |date=September 29, 2017 }}, ''The New York Times'', March 4, 2016. Accessed February 2, 2017. "The great paradox of Mr. Bataan's career as an originator of Latin soul is that he isn't Latino. A self-described mestizo – his mother was African-American, his father Filipino – he was born Bataan Nitollano in 1942 and raised on East 104th Street in Spanish Harlem."</ref>
*[[Walter Berry (basketball)|Walter Berry]] (born 1964), former professional NBA basketball player.<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/30/sports/nets-get-walter-berry.html "Nets Get Walter Berry"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130085149/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/30/sports/nets-get-walter-berry.html |date=January 30, 2018 }}, ''The New York Times'', August 30, 1988. Accessed September 26, 2017. "The trade will bring Berry home. He grew up in East Harlem and played high school basketball at Morris, DeWitt Clinton and Benjamin Franklin."</ref>
*[[Mario Biaggi]] (1917–2015), decorated policeman and US Congressman<ref name=NYTobit>{{cite news |last1=McFadden |first1=Robert D. |title=Mario Biaggi, 97, Popular Bronx Congressman Who Went to Prison, Dies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/26/nyregion/mario-biaggi-10-term-new-york-congressman-who-went-to-prison-dies-at-97.html?_r=0 |access-date=August 15, 2016 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=June 25, 2015 |page=A25}}</ref> 
*[[Frank Bonilla]] (1925–2010), academic of Puerto Rican descent; leading figure in Puerto Rican studies.<ref>Hevesi, Dennis. [https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/nyregion/07bonilla.html "Frank Bonilla, Scholar of Puerto Rican Studies, Dies at 85"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181210115832/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/nyregion/07bonilla.html |date=December 10, 2018 }}, ''The New York Times'', January 6, 2011. Accessed September 26, 2017. "Born in Manhattan on Feb. 3, 1925, Frank Bonilla was one of three children of Francisco and Maria Bonilla, who had moved from Puerto Rico. He grew up in East Harlem and the South Bronx, but for several years lived with family friends in Tennessee and Illinois, where he came face to face with segregation: he was regularly told to sit in the back of the bus."</ref>
*[[Joe Budden]] (born 1980), rapper and member of [[hip hop]] group [[Slaughterhouse (group)|Slaughterhouse]].<ref>Conte, Michaelangelo. [http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/jerseycity/index.ssf?/base/news-11/1287469565272560.xml&coll=3 "Jersey City rap star Joe Budden is on the Hudson County sheriff's chart as a deadbeat dad owing nearly $13,000 in child support"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105035509/http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/jerseycity/index.ssf?%2Fbase%2Fnews-11%2F1287469565272560.xml&coll=3 |date=November 5, 2016 }}, ''[[The Jersey Journal]]'', October 19, 2010. Accessed November 4, 2016. "Born in Spanish Harlem, Budden moved to Jersey City with his family when he was 11 and grew up on the West Side. He now has addresses on Bentley Avenue in Jersey City and River Road in North Bergen."</ref>
*[[Cam'ron]] (born 1976), rapper<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0SUEAAAAMBAJ |magazine=Vibe |title=Harlem Knight |last=Meadows-Ingram |first=Benjamin |date=August 2002 |access-date=March 20, 2020 }}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
*[[Duke Carmel]] (1937–2021), former professional baseball player who played all or part of four seasons in Major League Baseball.<ref>Koppett, Leonard. [https://www.nytimes.com/1965/03/08/archives/yankees-spirits-zoom-in-workout-quips-and-baseballs-fly-keane-is.html "Yankees' Spirits Zoom In WorkouT; Quips and Baseballs Fly – Keane Is Satisfied"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920201517/https://www.nytimes.com/1965/03/08/archives/yankees-spirits-zoom-in-workout-quips-and-baseballs-fly-keane-is.html |date=September 20, 2018 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', March 8, 1965. Accessed September 20, 2018. "'I mean New York,' said Carmel, portraying high contempt. 'Ford is from Queens. Kranepool is from the Bronx. I mean real New York – Manhattan. I grew up in East Harlem.'"</ref>
*[[Daniel Celentano]] (1902–1980), artist<ref>[http://www.americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=4502 Festival] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204003033/http://www.americanart.si.edu/collections/search/artwork/?id=4502 |date=February 4, 2017 }}, [[Smithsonian American Art Museum]]. Accessed February 2, 2017. "Artist Daniel Celentano, an Italian American from the uptown neighborhood called Italian Harlem, saw many a Catholic procession like the one shown here."</ref>
*[[Frank Costello]] (1891–1973), mobster<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NzPHkSi4mXEC&q=Francesco+Castiglia+Cassano+allo+Ionio&pg=PA139 |title=Into the Heart of the Mafia: A Journey Through the Italian South |publisher=Thomas Dunne Books |author=David Lane |year=2010 |isbn=978-1847651990}}</ref>
*[[Leonard Covello]] (1887–1982), educator, founder and first principal of [[Benjamin Franklin High School (New York City)|Benjamin Franklin High School]]<ref name=enc-nyc /><ref>Barbanel, Josh. [https://www.nytimes.com/1982/08/20/obituaries/leonard-covello-94-ex-head-of-east-harlem-high-school.html "Leonard Covello, 94, Ex-Head Of East Harlem High School"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170927000537/http://www.nytimes.com/1982/08/20/obituaries/leonard-covello-94-ex-head-of-east-harlem-high-school.html |date=September 27, 2017 }}, ''[[The New York Times]]'', August 20, 1982. Accessed September 26, 2017. "Dr. Covello was born in Avigliano, Italy, on Nov. 26, 1887. He came to the United States at the age of 9 and grew up in East Harlem."</ref>
*[[Bobby Darin]] (1936–1973), singer<ref>Hinckley, David. [http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/nydn-features/real-bobby-darin-darin-due-article-1.563928 "The Real Bobby Darin; Darin getting his due"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204002923/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/nydn-features/real-bobby-darin-darin-due-article-1.563928 |date=February 4, 2017 }}, ''[[New York Daily News]]'', December 9, 2004. Accessed February 2, 2007. "Born in East Harlem to a family so poor his crib was a bureau drawer, Darin grew up in the tough projects of the East Side."</ref>
*[[Julia de Burgos]] (1914–1953), poet<ref>Gonzalez, Erica. [https://voicesofny.org/2014/02/the-life-and-legacy-of-poet-julia-de-burgos/ "The Life and Legacy of Poet Julia de Burgos"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203164046/https://voicesofny.org/2014/02/the-life-and-legacy-of-poet-julia-de-burgos/ |date=February 3, 2017 }}, ''[[Voices of NY]]'', February 18, 2014. Accessed February 2, 2017. "Julia de Burgos was a daughter of Puerto Rico; she was also a daughter of El Barrio. Along with the wave of Puerto Rican immigrants who came to New York in the 1940s and '50s, she found a home in East Harlem."</ref>
*[[James De La Vega]] ({{circa|1974}}), visual artist best known for his street aphorisms and muralist art.<ref>Urbina, Ian. [https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/26/nyregion/metro-briefing-new-york-bronx-no-jail-time-for-graffiti-painter.html "Metro Briefing; New York: Bronx: No Jail Time For Graffiti Painter"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920201539/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/26/nyregion/metro-briefing-new-york-bronx-no-jail-time-for-graffiti-painter.html |date=September 20, 2018 }}, ''The New York Times'', October 26, 2004. Accessed September 20, 2018. "James De La Vega, left, a street muralist from East Harlem who is also campaigning as a write-in candidate for the 28th District of the State Senate, was sentenced yesterday to 50 hours of community service for spray-painting the side of a Bronx building, according to the Bronx district attorney's office."</ref>
*[[Angelo Del Toro]] (1947–1994), politician<ref>McFadden, Robert D. [https://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/01/obituaries/assemblyman-angelo-del-toro-47-is-dead.html "Assemblyman Angelo Del Toro, 47, Is Dead"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171001050954/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/01/01/obituaries/assemblyman-angelo-del-toro-47-is-dead.html |date=October 1, 2017 }}, ''The New York Times'', January 1, 1995. Accessed February 2, 2017. "Assemblyman Angelo Del Toro, an influential East Harlem Democrat who has represented his community in the State Legislature since 1975, died on Friday at Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan while undergoing a routine kidney dialysis procedure."</ref>
*[[Nelson Antonio Denis]], New York State Assemblyman<ref>Hicks, Jonathan P. [https://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/13/nyregion/in-east-harlem-2-candidates-try-to-end-a-dynasty-as-a-3d-tries-to-uphold-it.html "In East Harlem, 2 Candidates Try to End a Dynasty as a 3d Tries to Uphold It"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203163852/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/03/13/nyregion/in-east-harlem-2-candidates-try-to-end-a-dynasty-as-a-3d-tries-to-uphold-it.html |date=February 3, 2017 }}, ''The New York Times'', March 13, 1995. Accessed February 2, 2017. "Mr. Denis, a 40-year-old lawyer in East Harlem, also said that his goal has been to increase voter awareness so that people turn out at the polls even though it is a special election."</ref>
*[[Dave East]] (born 1988), rapper<ref>Robertson, Darryl. [https://www.vibe.com/2017/01/dave-east-rides-through-east-harlem-with-30-niaz-in-new-video/ "Dave East Rides Through East Harlem With '30 N*ggaz' In New Video"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916010730/https://www.vibe.com/2017/01/dave-east-rides-through-east-harlem-with-30-niaz-in-new-video/ |date=September 16, 2017 }}, ''[[Vibe (magazine)|Vibe]]'', January 11, 2017. Accessed September 15, 2017. "Dave East is winning at life. Last night (Jan. 10), the East Harlem rapper made his acting debut on BET's hit television series Mary Jane."</ref>
*[[Erik Estrada]] (born 1949), actor.<ref>Feldman, Kate. [https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/chips-star-erik-estrada-joins-police-force-reserve-officer-article-1.2702369 "''CHiPs'' star Erik Estrada joins real-life police force as reserve officer in Idaho"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210906022235/https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/chips-star-erik-estrada-joins-police-force-reserve-officer-article-1.2702369 |date=September 6, 2021 }}, ''[[New York Daily News]]'', July 7, 2016. Accessed September 5, 2021. "The East Harlem-born actor said he chose the small town of St. Anthony to avoid the red tape of a larger police department."</ref>
*[[Destiny Frasqueri]] (born 1992), rapper who performs under the stage name "Princess Nokia"<ref>Richards, Hunter. [https://www.harvardindependent.com/2017/06/princess-nokia-throne/ "Princes Nokia on the Throne"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916053214/https://www.harvardindependent.com/2017/06/princess-nokia-throne/ |date=September 16, 2017 }}, ''[[The Harvard Independent]]'', June 30, 2017. Accessed September 15, 2017. "The queer artist and proud Nuyorican (portmanteau of the terms 'New York' and 'Puerto Rican') grew up in Spanish Harlem, drawing from her Afro-Latinx identity and city for her work."</ref>
*[[Giosue Gallucci]] (1865–1915), gangster<ref>Staff. [https://www.nytimes.com/1915/05/18/archives/father-and-son-shot-harlems-little-italy-is-scene-of-another-gun.html "Father And Son Shot.; Harlem's Little Italy Is Scene of Another Gun Fight"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180920201546/https://www.nytimes.com/1915/05/18/archives/father-and-son-shot-harlems-little-italy-is-scene-of-another-gun.html |date=September 20, 2018 }}, ''The New York Times'', May 18, 1915. Accessed September 20, 2018. "Giosue Gallucci, a money lender, proprietor of a bakery and of coffee houses and saloons in Harlem's Little Italy, where for years he has been a prominent figure, left his bakery at 318 East 109th Street shortly before 10 o'clock last night and walked to a coffee house recently opened by his 19-year-old son Luca, at 336 East 109th Street."</ref>
*[[Ron Gilbert (actor)|Ron Gilbert]] (born 1939/1940), actor who is best known for playing Daniel Metzheiser in the 1995 film ''[[The Usual Suspects]]''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.silive.com/news/2023/05/actor-in-godfather-wedding-scene-calls-brando-a-joke-shares-secrets-of-staten-island-film-shoot.html|title=Actor in 'Godfather' wedding scene calls Brando 'a joke,' shares secrets of Staten Island film shoot|first=Tom|last=Wrobleski|work=[[Staten Island Advance]]|quote=Gilbert, now 83, was born and raised in East Harlem and growing up knew the neighborhood wiseguys well.|date=May 19, 2023|access-date=August 1, 2025}}</ref>
*[[Joan Hackett]] (1934–1983), actress who appeared on television, film and stage.<ref>[[Joyce Purnick|Purnick, Joyce]]. [https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/10/obituaries/joan-hackett-49-the-actress-won-1982-oscar-nomination.html "Joan Hackett, 49, The Actress; Won 1982 Oscar Nomination"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200828125415/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/10/obituaries/joan-hackett-49-the-actress-won-1982-oscar-nomination.html |date=August 28, 2020 }}, ''The New York Times'', October 10, 1983. Accessed September 20, 2018. "Joan Hackett, daughter of an Italian mother and an Irish-American father, was born March 1, 1934, in East Harlem. The Hacketts soon moved to Elmhurst, Queens, and that was home when the future actress with the high cheekbones and aristocratic nose dropped out of her senior year in high school to work as a model."</ref>
*[[Langston Hughes]] (1901–1967), writer and social activist<ref>Rampersad, Arnold (1986) ''The Life and Times of Langston Hughes Volume 2: I Dream a World''. New York: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-19-514643-1}}</ref>
*[[Jose Cha Cha Jimenez]] (born 1948), founder of the [[Young Lords]]<ref>Poggio, Marco; and Lestch, Corinne. [http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/e-111th-st-lexington-ave-renamed-young-lords-puerto-rican-social-justice-group-blog-entry-1.1881327 "E. 111th St. at Lexington Ave. renamed 'Young Lords Way' for Puerto Rican social justice group"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203165505/http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/e-111th-st-lexington-ave-renamed-young-lords-puerto-rican-social-justice-group-blog-entry-1.1881327 |date=February 3, 2017 }}, ''[[New York Daily News]]''. July 26, 2014. Accessed February 2, 2017. "The Young Lords now have a permanent home in East Harlem. The intersection of E. 111th St. and Lexington Ave. in front of the First Spanish United Methodist Church was changed Saturday to Young Lords Way, for the group of Puerto Rican youth that have fought for social justice issues since its inception in 1967.&nbsp;... About 100 people, including Rep. Nydia Velasquez (D-N.Y.) and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, attended the renaming ceremony honoring Young Lords members like Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez and founder Jose 'Cha-Cha' Jimenez, who turned his Chicago street gang into a group to raise political awareness among Puerto Ricans."</ref>
*[[Jim Jones (rapper)|Jim Jones]] (born 1976), rapper<ref>Feeney, Michael J. [http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/harlem-rapper-jim-jones-new-music-video-sign-times-article-1.114484 "Harlem rapper Jim Jones' new music video is a sign of the times"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203165459/http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/harlem-rapper-jim-jones-new-music-video-sign-times-article-1.114484 |date=February 3, 2017 }}, ''[[New York Daily News]]'', April 7, 2011. Accessed February 2, 2017. "'I've personally dealt with all of these situations,' said the rapper, who grew up in East Harlem."</ref>
*[[Roger Katan]], architect, planner, sculptor, and activist.<ref>[[Roger Katan|Katan, Roger]]. [http://www.mdpi.com/2076-0752/5/1/1/htm "Participative Mindscapes"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019112246/http://www.mdpi.com/2076-0752/5/1/1/htm |date=October 19, 2017 }}, ''Arts'', March 1, 2006. Accessed October 18, 2017. "At a time of great social upheaval, I decided to teach and spend more time providing free technical advice to the East Harlem community."</ref>
*[[DJ Kay Slay]] (1966–2022), hip hop disc jockey<ref>Kim, Serena. [https://books.google.com/books?id=4CYEAAAAMBAJ&q=+east+river&pg=PA101 "Drama King"], '' [[Vibe (magazine)|Vibe]]'', June 2003. Accessed June 13, 2019. "His mother Sheila, then 23, and father, Eric Grayson, an R&B DJ in Manhattan, decided to entrust him to his grandparents in Harlem's East River Houses."</ref> 
*[[Fiorello H. La Guardia]] (1882–1947), Congressman and mayor of New York City<ref name=enc-nyc />
*[[Burt Lancaster]] (1913–1994), actor and film producer<ref>Beale, Lewis. [http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/burt-lancaster-dies-80-heart-attack-1994-article-1.2403925 "Burt Lancaster, a Hollywood star, dies at 80 after heart attack in 1994"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203165501/http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/movies/burt-lancaster-dies-80-heart-attack-1994-article-1.2403925 |date=February 3, 2017 }}, ''[[New York Daily News]]'', October 22, 1994. Accessed February 2, 2017. " But even as a star, he never forgot where he came from, donating money to East Harlem charities. He was also a steadfast believer in liberal causes and once served as president of the American Civil Liberties Union. Born Burton Stephen Lancaster on Nov. 2, 1913, at Third Ave. and 106th St., the actor was the son of an East Harlem postal clerk."</ref>
*[[Lillian López]] (1925–2005), activist and librarian<ref>[http://centroweb.hunter.cuny.edu/sites/default/files/faids/lopezb.html "Guide to the Lillian López Papers 1928–2005"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228094644/http://centroweb.hunter.cuny.edu/sites/default/files/faids/lopezb.html |date=February 28, 2017 }}, [[Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños]] at [[Hunter College]]. Accessed February 27, 2017. "Born in Salinas, Puerto Rico in 1925, Lillian López spent her early childhood in Ponce. In 1935, she left Ponce with her widowed mother and a younger sister for New York City. There they were reunited with an older sister, Evelina, who had arrived two years earlier. Joining a growing number of Puerto Rican migrants in New York City, they settled in El Barrio (Spanish Harlem)."</ref>
*[[Tommy Lucchese]] (1899–1967), mobster<ref>Harrell (2009) [https://books.google.com/books?id=q8pP80RjPgIC&dq=Gaetano+Lucchese+born&pg=PA99 pg. 99-101] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102005309/https://books.google.com/books?id=q8pP80RjPgIC&pg=PA99&dq=Gaetano+Lucchese+born&hl=en&ei=MvsETc6CBYet8AbLq6z9AQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CD4Q6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=Gaetano%20Lucchese%20born&f=false |date=January 2, 2023 }}</ref>
*[[Lumidee]] (born 1984), rapper<ref>via ''[[The Washington Post]]''. [https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2003-07-24-0307250185-story.html "Uh-ooh, Lumidee's a hit"], ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'', July 24, 2003. Accessed January 12, 2024. "Where 116th Street meets Second Avenue in Spanish Harlem, the street is named Luis Munoz Marin Boulevard, after the beloved Puerto Rican poet and politician. On a cloudy July afternoon, passersby are dazzled by a different kind of neighborhood hero: 19-year-old singer and rapper Lumidee, whose frothy single 'Never Leave You (Uh Ooh, Uh Oooh!)' has become one of this summer's most likable hits."</ref>
*[[Machito]] (1908–1984), musician<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.herencialatina.com/Bobo/Bobo_Eng.htm |title=Remembering Willie Bobo: the famous Salsa musician |last=Salazar |first=Max |work=[[Latin Beat Magazine]] |date=March 1997 |access-date=May 7, 2020}}</ref>
*[[Vito Marcantonio]] (1902–1954), lawyer and politician<ref name=enc-nyc />
*[[Alpo Martinez]] (1966–2021), former drug dealer who rose to prominence alongside [[Azie Faison]] and [[Rich Porter]] in the mid-1980s in [[Harlem]] during the [[war on drugs]].<ref>ex, Kris. [https://books.google.com/books?id=tyUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA157 "Bad Fellas"], ''[[Vibe (magazine)|Vibe]]'', October 2002. Accessed October 18, 2017. "Alpo, who came from East Harlem, began his life in crime sticking up Dominican drug dealers."</ref>
*[[Soraida Martinez]] (born 1956), artist and designer<ref>Johnson, Carolyn D. [https://books.google.com/books?id=2QKeg6Q9KAwC&pg=PA156 ''Harlem Travel Guide''], p. 156. Welcome to Harlem, 2010. {{ISBN|9781449915889}}. Accessed February 27, 2017. "Also, the contemporary artist Soraida Martinez, the painter and creator of 'Verdadism', was born in Spanish Harlem."</ref>
*[[Thomas Minter]] (1924–2009), education official who served in the [[Federal government of the United States|United States government]] and the [[government of New York City]].<ref>Martin, Douglas. [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/nyregion/27minter.html "Thomas Minter, 84, New York and Federal Education Official, Dies"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170927000437/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/27/nyregion/27minter.html |date=September 27, 2017 }}, ''The New York Times'', May 26, 2009. Accessed September 26, 2017. "Thomas Kendall Minter was born in the Bronx on June 28, 1924, and grew up in East Harlem."</ref>
*[[Monifah]] (born 1972), R&B singer-songwriter<ref>Gipson, L. Michael. [http://swervmagazine.com/entertainment-2/entertainment-monifah/ "The Gosepl According to Monifah"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170203163838/http://swervmagazine.com/entertainment-2/entertainment-monifah/ |date=February 3, 2017 }}, ''Swerv'', September–October 2016. Accessed February 2, 2017. "Born and bred in East Harlem, the big-voice girl with the West African name has been in the spotlight since she was in pigtails and Mary Janes, starring in off-Broadway shows and national commercials for such major brands as Hi-C as a child."</ref>
* [[Edward Mosberg]] (1926–2022), Polish-American Holocaust survivor, educator, and philanthropist<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://njjewishnews.timesofisrael.com/remembering-edward-mosberg/|title=Remembering Edward Mosberg|first=Joanne|last=Palmer|website=njjewishnews.timesofisrael.com}}</ref>
*[[Alice Neel]] (1900–1984), painter<ref>[https://nmwa.org/works/tb-harlem "''T.B. Harlem'' by Alice Neel"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226132358/https://nmwa.org/works/tb-harlem |date=February 26, 2017 }}, [[National Museum of Women in the Arts]]. Accessed February 27, 2017. "Like many of Alice Neel's portraits of her Spanish Harlem neighbors, ''T.B. Harlem'' calls attention to poverty as a social issue without sacrificing the subject's individuality."</ref><ref>Farago, Jason. [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/23/arts/design/alice-neel-harlem.html "Alice Neel's Love of Harlem and the Neighbors She Painted There"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225223832/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/23/arts/design/alice-neel-harlem.html |date=February 25, 2017 }}, ''The New York Times'', February 23, 2017. Accessed February 27, 2017. "As Mr. Als points out, she considered the neighborhood 'honky-tonk' – and so with her lover, the musician José Santiago Negrón, she moved into the first of several railroad apartments in Spanish Harlem, just off Central Park."</ref>
*[[Dael Orlandersmith]], actress, poet and playwright known for her [[Obie Award]]-winning ''Beauty's Daughter'' and the 2002 [[Pulitzer Prize]] Finalist in Drama, ''[[Yellowman (play)|Yellowman]]''.<ref>Hampton, Wilborn. [https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/07/theater/theater-review-growing-up-talented-in-harlem-poet-s-tour.html "Theater Review; Growing Up Talented In Harlem: Poet's Tour"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170806183531/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/07/theater/theater-review-growing-up-talented-in-harlem-poet-s-tour.html |date=August 6, 2017 }}, ''The New York Times'', February 7, 1995. Accessed September 26, 2017. "First and foremost, Ms. Orlandersmith is a poet possessed of an exciting new voice. Publicity material for the show says that among the books in the author's own room as she grew up in East Harlem were the works of Rimbaud and Baudelaire."</ref>
*[[Al Pacino]] (born 1940), actor<ref>Labrecque, Jeff. [http://ew.com/article/2010/09/16/al-pacino-martin-scorsese-collaboration/ "Al Pacino and Martin Scorsese have never worked together. What?!"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916052800/http://ew.com/article/2010/09/16/al-pacino-martin-scorsese-collaboration/ |date=September 16, 2017 }}, ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'', September 16, 2010. Accessed September 15, 2017. "Al Pacino was born in East Harlem in 1940 and grew up in the Bronx."</ref>
*[[Tito Puente]] (1923–2000), musician<ref>Siegal, Nina. [https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/06/nyregion/the-new-york-legacy-of-tito-puente.html "The New York Legacy of Tito Puente"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170815160915/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/06/nyregion/the-new-york-legacy-of-tito-puente.html |date=August 15, 2017 }}, ''The New York Times'', June 6, 2000. Accessed February 27, 2017. "He was born at Harlem Hospital, and his family moved frequently, but as a boy in the 1930s he lived at 53 East 110th Street, between Madison and Park Avenues in Spanish Harlem."</ref>
*[[Jim Rivera]] (1921–2017), Major League Baseball player.<ref name=sp>[https://www.sportspressnw.com/2128720/2012/wayback-machine-rajah-rivera-51-rainiers "Wayback Machine: Rajah, Rivera, ’51 Rainiers,"] ''SportsPressNW''.</ref>
*[[Ernesto Quiñonez]] (born 1969), writer<ref>[[Ernesto Quiñonez|Quiñonez, Ernesto]]. [http://www.randomhouse.com/highschool/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780375705892&view=qa ''Bodega Dreams''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228084135/http://www.randomhouse.com/highschool/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780375705892&view=qa |date=February 28, 2017 }}, [[Random House]]. Accessed February 27, 2017. "Q: So, how much of your novel is autobiographical? A: The first chapter, which explores the school years and early friendships of Chino growing up on the streets in Spanish Harlem, is very autobiographical.&nbsp;... Growing up in Spanish Harlem, you learn that in order to not take a beating everyday, you have to fight sometimes."</ref>
*[[Anthony Salerno]] (1911–1992), mobster<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kilgannon |first1=Corey |last2=Mallozzi |first2=Vincent M. |title=On Pleasant Avenue, a Mobbed-Up History Is Hard to Live Down |work=The New York Times |date=January 4, 2004 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/05/nyregion/on-pleasant-avenue-a-mobbed-up-history-is-hard-to-live-down.html |access-date=May 7, 2020}}</ref>
*[[Jonas Salk]] (1914–1995), virologist who developed polio vaccine<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/salk-sabin-and-the-race-against-polio-169813703/ |title=Salk, Sabin and the Race Against Polio |first=Gilbert |last=King |website=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]}}</ref> 
*[[Ray Santos]] (1928–2019), Grammy Award-winning Latin musician.<ref>Slotnik, Daniel E. [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/23/arts/music/ray-santos-dead.html "Ray Santos, a Pillar of Latin Jazz, Is Dead at 90"] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20191024021013/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/23/arts/music/ray-santos-dead.html |date=October 24, 2019 }}, ''The New York Times'', October 23, 2019. Accessed October 23, 2019. "Raymond Santos was born in Manhattan on Dec. 28, 1928.&nbsp;... He grew up, first in East Harlem and later the Bronx, immersed in Puerto Rican music and in big-band jazz, particularly as played by Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and Count Basie."</ref>
*[[Tupac Shakur]] (1971–1996), rapper and actor<ref>Rogovoy, Seth. [http://forward.com/culture/200259/the-secret-jewish-history-of-tupac-shakur/ "The Secret Jewish History of Tupac Shakur"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170124204735/http://forward.com/culture/200259/the-secret-jewish-history-of-tupac-shakur/ |date=January 24, 2017 }}, ''[[The Forward]]'', June 18, 2014. Accessed February 27, 2017. "Tupac Amaru Shakur was born in East Harlem on June 16, 1971, to parents who preached a violent form of black nationalism."</ref>
*[[Gregory Sierra]] (1937–2021), actor known for his roles as Detective Sergeant Chano Amengual on ''[[Barney Miller]]'' and as Julio Fuentes, the [[Puerto Rican people|Puerto Rican]] neighbor of [[Fred G. Sanford]] on ''[[Sanford and Son]]''.<ref>[[Richard Sandomir|Sandomir, Richard]]. [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/26/arts/television/gregory-sierra-dead.html "Gregory Sierra, 83, Actor Known for His Sitcom Work, Is Dead"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127011934/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/26/arts/television/gregory-sierra-dead.html |date=January 27, 2021 }}, ''The New York Times'', January 27, 2021. Accessed January 27, 2021. "Gregory Joseph Sierra was born on Jan. 25, 1937, in Manhattan and grew up in Spanish Harlem."</ref>
*[[Ronnie Spector]] (1943–2022) and [[the Ronettes]], singers<ref>Hoby, Hermione. [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/10676805/Ronnie-Spector-interview-The-more-Phil-tried-to-destroy-me-the-stronger-I-got.html "Ronnie Spector interview: 'The more Phil tried to destroy me, the stronger I got'; Imprisoned by her husband, Ronnie Spector has now turned her tale of survival into a stage show. Hermione Hoby meets the Sixties icon"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140529103205/http://entertainment.ca.msn.com/music/photos/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=24160517&page=7 |date=May 29, 2014 }}, ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', March 6, 2014. Accessed February 27, 2017. "Veronica Yvette Bennett was born in Spanish Harlem in 1943 to an Irish father and half African-American, half Cherokee mother with an enormous extended family."</ref>
*[[Piri Thomas]] (1928–2011), writer<ref>[http://archives.nypl.org/scm/20781 Piri Thomas papers 1957–1980] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228083044/http://archives.nypl.org/scm/20781 |date=February 28, 2017 }}, [[New York Public Library]]. Accessed February 27, 2017. "Author, poet and playwright, Piri Thomas is best known for his autobiography, ''Down These Mean Streets'' (1967) which deals with his early years growing up in East Harlem, the challenges of his Afro-Puerto Rican/Cuban heritage, and his involvement with drugs and gangs."</ref>
*[[Joseph Valachi]] (1904–1971), [[gangster]], notable as the first member of the [[Italian-American Mafia]] to publicly acknowledge its existence, and credited with popularization of the term ''[[Cosa Nostra]]''.<ref>[http://www.mtexpress.com/arts_and_events/arts/local-author-s-new-book-details-mafia-connections-to-jfk/article_94e35568-3d6d-11e6-94b2-fb9521af1785.html "Local author's new book details Mafia connections to JFK assassination; $100 million Martin Scorsese film scheduled for 2017"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118134856/https://www.mtexpress.com/arts_and_events/arts/local-author-s-new-book-details-mafia-connections-to-jfk/article_94e35568-3d6d-11e6-94b2-fb9521af1785.html |date=November 18, 2018 }}, ''Idaho Mountain Express'', June 29, 2016. Accessed October 18, 201. "It was a Genovese [[made man]] from East Harlem, Joseph Valachi, who, betraying the deepest Mafia secrets, had just humiliated the Genovese in televised hearings."</ref>
*[[Marilyn Zayas]] (born 1965), judge who became the first Latina on the [[Ohio District Courts of Appeals]] when she was elected in 2016.<ref>Stichtenoth, Keith (October 9, 2020) [https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2020/10/marilyn-zayas.html "Improbable life story responsible for Law Alumna's Legal Journey"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201129214237/https://www.uc.edu/news/articles/2020/10/marilyn-zayas.html |date=November 29, 2020 }} ''[[University of Cincinnati|UC News]]''</ref>

==In popular culture==

'''Music'''
*[[Ben E. King]]'s song, "[[Spanish Harlem (song)|Spanish Harlem]]" (1961) and the 1966 cover of it by [[The Mamas & the Papas]]<ref>[[William Grimes (journalist)|Grimes, William]]. [https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/02/arts/music/ben-e-king-soulful-singer-with-the-drifters-dies-at-76.html?_r=0 "Ben E. King, Soulful Singer of 'Stand by Me,' Dies at 76"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170730071030/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/02/arts/music/ben-e-king-soulful-singer-with-the-drifters-dies-at-76.html?_r=0 |date=July 30, 2017 }}, ''The New York Times'', May 1, 2015. Accessed February 27, 2017. "Mr. King left the Drifters in 1960 and embarked on a successful solo career. 'Spanish Harlem,' written by Mr. Leiber with Phil Spector, reached the Top 10 that year."</ref>
*[[Bob Dylan]]'s song "Spanish Harlem Incident" from his album ''[[Another Side of Bob Dylan]]'' (1964)<ref>Staff. [https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-bob-dylan-songs-20160524/spanish-harlem-incident-1964-20160523 "100 Greatest Bob Dylan Songs; From 'Just Like a Woman' to 'John Wesley Harding,' we count down the American icon's key masterpieces"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171119163524/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-bob-dylan-songs-20160524/spanish-harlem-incident-1964-20160523 |date=November 19, 2017 }}, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', May 24, 2016. Accessed September 15, 2017. "47. 'Spanish Harlem Incident' (1964) – Dylan performed this brief, tender slip of a song about a crush on a fortune teller exactly once."</ref>
*[[Phil Ochs]]' song "Lou Marsh" from his album ''[[All the News That's Fit to Sing]]'' (1964)
*[[Louie Ramirez]]'s song "Lucy's Spanish Harlem" from his album ''In the Heart of Spanish Harlem'' (1967)
*[[The Velvet Underground]]'s song [[I'm Waiting for the Man]] (1967)<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/north-america/united-states/new-york/articles/The-Velvet-Undergrounds-New-York-in-search-of-the-citys-darker-side/ |first=Chris |last=Leadbeater |title=The Velvet Underground's New York: in search of the city's darker side |date=April 30, 2015 |access-date=March 20, 2020 |work=The Telegraph}}</ref>
*[[Elton John]]'s "[[Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters]]" from ''[[Honky Château]]'' (1972)
*[[Paul Simon]]'s song "Adios Hermanos" from his album ''[[Songs from The Capeman]]'' (1997)
*[[Cocoa Brovaz]], [[Tony Touch]] & [[Hurricane G]]'s song, "Spanish Harlem" (1997)
*[[Van Morrison]]'s song "Contemplation Rose" from his anthology album "[[Philosopher's Stone]]" (1998)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vanmorrison.com/music |title=Music – Van Morrison – Official Website |last=Eyekiller |date=February 25, 2019 |website=Van Morrison}}</ref>
*[[Carlos Santana]]'s songs "Maria Maria" and "Smooth" from his album ''[[Supernatural (Santana album)|Supernatural]]'' (1999)
*[[Beirut (band)|Beirut]]'s song, "East Harlem" (2011)
*[[Edward W. Hardy]]'s composition ''Flying (Dancing in Spanish Harlem)'' for Latin ensemble, alternative version for string quartet (2019)<ref>{{cite web |title=Flying (Dancing in Spanish Harlem) |url=http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/ihas/loc.music.ismn.66405/default.html |website=U.S. ISMN Public Archive |publisher=Library of Congress |date=2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Musical Stories |url=https://www.edwardwhardy.com/musicalstories/Flying-Dancing-in-Spanish-Harlem-Ensemble-p151881065 |website=edwardwhardy.com |access-date=May 12, 2022}}</ref>

'''Literature'''
*[[Piri Thomas]]'s memoir ''[[Down These Mean Streets]]'' (1967)<ref>Rocco, Renata. [https://www.academia.edu/7069749/El_Barrio_Within_New_York_City_-_Piri_Thomass_Down_These_Mean_Street_-_An_introduction "El Barrio Within New York City – Piri Thomas's ''Down These Mean Street'' – An introduction"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102005311/https://www.academia.edu/7069749/El_Barrio_Within_New_York_City_-_Piri_Thomass_Down_These_Mean_Street_-_An_introduction |date=January 2, 2023 }}, [[Academia.edu]]. Accessed September 26, 2017. "The first important Puerto Rican memoir written in English was his ''Down These Mean Streets'', a story of growing up among violence and decay in Spanish Harlem in the late forties and fifties."</ref>
*[[Ernesto Quiñonez]]'s Spanish Harlem Trilogy, ''Bodega Dreams'' (2000), ''Chango's Fire'' (2005), ''Taina'' (2019)
*Salvatore Mondello's novel ''A Sicilian in East Harlem'' (2005)
*[[Nora Roberts]]'s novel ''Salvation in Death'' (2008)

'''Film'''
*The film ''[[Popi]]'' (1969), written by Tina Pine and Lester Pine and directed by [[Arthur Hiller]]
*[[Nelson Denis]]'s film ''Vote For Me!'' (2003)

'''Music videos'''
*[[Frankie Cutlass]]'s "Puerto Rico" music video was shot in Spanish Harlem (1994)
*[[Jay-Z]]'s "[[Death of Autotune]]" music video was shot inside [[Rao's]] Italian restaurant (2009)
*[[ASAP Rocky]]'s "Peso" music video features footage of East Harlem (2011)

'''Video games'''
*In the upcoming video game ''[[Deadlock (video game)|Deadlock]]'', the character Ivy is nicknamed "the savior of Spanish Harlem"

==Gallery==
<div align=center><gallery widths="150px" heights="125px">
File:Museum of the City of New York 1220 Fifth Avenue from north.jpg|[[Museum of the City of New York]]<br />(1220 [[Fifth Avenue|Fifth Ave.]])
File:PS 72 Lex 105 jeh.jpg|Julia de Burgos Latino Cultural Center, formerly P.S. 72<br />(1680 [[Lexington Avenue (Manhattan)|Lexington Ave.]])
File:2013 New York Academy of Medicine 2 East 103rd Street.jpg|[[New York Academy of Medicine]]<br />(2 [[103rd Street (Manhattan)|East 103rd St.]])
File:WTM3 The Fixers 0056.jpg|[[El Museo del Barrio]]<br />(1230 Fifth Ave.)
File:East 105th Street tunnels through Metro-North viaduct from east.jpg|Tunnels through the [[Metro-North railroad|Metro-North]] viaduct<br />([[Park Avenue]] and 105th St.)
File:28th Precinct Hope Community Hall 177 East 104th Street from east.jpg|Hope Community Hall, formerly the 28th Precinct Station house<br />(177 East 104th St.)
File:NYPL 125th Street Branch, Manhattan.jpg|[[New York Public Library]] 125th St. Branch<br />(224 [[125th Street (Manhattan)|East 125th St.]])
File:Nat Mus Cath Art His 443 E115 jeh.JPG|[[National Museum of Catholic Art and History]]<br />(443 [[115th Street (Manhattan)|East 115th St.]])
File:All Saints rcc 129 Madison jeh.JPG|All Saints Roman Catholic Church<br />(47 [[129th Street (Manhattan)|East 129th St.]])
File:Church of the Living Hope 161 East 104th Street.jpg|Church of the Living Hope<br />(161 East 104th St.)
File:Greater emmanuel Baptist Ch Harlem jeh.jpg|Greater Emmanuel Baptist Church<br />(325 [[118th Street (Manhattan)|East 118th St.]])
File:Hellenic Orthodox Church of Sts. George and Demetrios.jpg|Hellenic Orthodox Church of Sts. George and Demetrios<br />(140 East 103rd St.)
</gallery></div>

==References==
===Notes===
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

===Further reading===
{{refbegin|2}}
*Araujo, Richard, (5/3/03), [http://www.voteforme-themovie.com/articles/elnuevodia.pdf ''Comedia Politica desde El Barrio''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717231706/http://www.voteforme-themovie.com/articles/elnuevodia.pdf |date=July 17, 2011 }}, El Nuevo Dia
*Bell, Christopher '' East Harlem Remembered'' McFarland Publishing. 2013
*Bell, Christopher '' Images of America: East Harlem ''. Arcadia Publishing. 2003
*Bell, Christopher '' Images of America: East Harlem Revisited''. Arcadia Publishing. 2010
*Bell, Christopher '' Walking East Harlem: A Neighborhood Experience. Rutgers University. 2025
*Bourgois, Philippe. ''In Search of Respect: Selling Crack in El Barrio''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1995 (2002)
*Cayo-Sexton, Patricia. 1965. ''Spanish Harlem: An Anatomy of Poverty''. New York: Harper and Row.
*Davila, Arlene. ''Barrio Dreams: Puerto Ricans, Latinos and the Neoliberal City''. University of California Press. 2004
*Jennings, James, and Monte Rivera (eds.) (1984). ''Puerto Rican Politics in Urban America'' (Westport: [[Greenwood Press]]).
*Mencher, Joan. 1989. ''Growing Up in Eastville, a Barrio of New York''. New York: Columbia University Press.
*Moreno Vega, Marta (2004). ''When the Spirits Dance Mambo: Growing Up Nuyorican in El Barrio'' (New York: Three Rivers Press).
*Navarro, Mireya, (2003-5-6). [https://web.archive.org/web/20090319214617/http://voteforme-themovie.com/articles/nytimes.pdf "Smile, You're on Candidate Camera: With an Insider's Eye, a Film Skewers Harlem Politics"], ''The New York Times''
*[[Elena Padilla|Padilla, Elena]]. 1992. ''Up From Puerto Rico''. New York: Columbia University Press.
*Quiñonez, Ernesto. ''Bodega Dreams''. Random House (Vintage). 2000
*Salas, Leonardo. "From San Juan to New York: The History of the Puerto Rican". ''America: History and Life''. 31 (1990).
*Thomas, Piri. ''Down These Mean Streets''. Random House (Vintage). 1967
*[[Dan Wakefield|Wakefield, Dan]]. ''Island in the city: The World of Spanish Harlem'' (1959)
*Zentella, Ana Celia (1997). ''Growing Up Bilingual: Puerto Rican Children in New York'' (Blackwell Publishers).
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{commons category|East Harlem}}
*[http://cb11m.org/ Community Board 11]
*{{cite web |url=http://www.nyc.com/visitor_guide/el_barrio_spanish_harlem.75851/editorial_review.aspx |title=El Barrio (Spanish Harlem) |work=nyc.com |access-date=January 3, 2009}}

{{Harlem|state=collapsed}}
{{Manhattan|state=collapsed}}
{{Ethnicity in New York City}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:East Harlem| ]]
[[Category:1860s establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:African Americans in New York City]]
[[Category:Chinatowns in New York City]]
[[Category:Chinese-American culture in New York City]]
[[Category:Cuban-American culture in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Dominican-American culture in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Hispanic and Latino American culture in New York City]]
[[Category:Italian-American culture in New York City]]
[[Category:Little Italys in the United States]]
[[Category:Mexican-American culture in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Neighborhoods in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Populated places established in the 1860s]]
[[Category:Puerto Rican culture in New York City]]
[[Category:Sicilian-American culture]]