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Harlem, Manhattan

Harlem
Neighborhood of Manhattan
Brick townhouses along a street, which is lined with trees.
Stately Harlem apartment buildings adjacent to Morningside Park
Nickname(s): "Heaven", "Black mecca"
Motto: "Making It!"
Country  United States
State  New York
County New York
City New York
Founded 1658
Named for Haarlem, Netherlands
Area
 • Total 10.03 km2 (3.871 sq mi)
Population (2000)
 • Total 335,109
 • Density 33,000/km2 (87,000/sq mi)
Economics
ZIP codes 10026–10027, 10029–10031, 10035, 10037, 10039
Area codes 212, 917, 646

Coordinates: 40°48′32.52″N 73°56′54.14″W / 40.8090333°N 73.9483722°W / 40.8090333; -73.9483722

Harlem is a large neighborhood in the northern section of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Since the 1920s, Harlem has been known as a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands. Harlem's history has been defined by a series of economic boom-and-bust cycles, with significant population shifts accompanying each cycle.

African-American residents began to arrive in large numbers in 1905 as part of the Great Migration. In the 1920s and 1930s, Central and West Harlem were the focus of the "Harlem Renaissance", an outpouring of artistic work without precedent in the American black community. However, with job losses in the time of the Great Depression and the deindustrialization of New York City after World War II, rates of crime and poverty increased significantly. Harlem's African-American population peaked in the 1950s. In the second half of the 20th century, Harlem became a major hub of African-American businesses. In 2008, the United States Census found that for the first time since the 1930s, less than half of residents were black, comprising only 40% of the population.


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