Harlem has been a Mecca for African-American culture and life for more than a century. By the turn of the 20th century, black New Yorkers started moving uptown into Harlem's apartment buildings and town houses. The neighborhood prospered and by the 1920s, Harlem had become the most famous black community in the United States, perhaps in the whole world. Today the neighborhood is well on the way to new glory days: Young people and families are moving into the newly restored brownstone and limestone buildings, and the combination of architectural treasures, crackling vitality (even Bill Clinton chose Harlem for his post-presidential office!), great music and culture, and honest-to-goodness, lip-smacking soul food makes Harlem a must-see New York City destination. Harlem's main thoroughfare is 125th Street. The Apollo Theatre, a concert venue for luminaries as well as a rite of passage for rising musicians, is on 125th Street. Count Basie, Bessie Smith, Nat King Cole, Marvin Gaye, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Aretha Franklin have all played here and past winners of its weekly, wild and crazy amateur night include Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, and the Jackson Five. The Harlem Week/Harlem Jazz & Music Festival is an annual summer festival taking place August 1-18, 2002 with food tasting, art exhibits, concerts, seminars, music, street entertainment, sporting events, and an auto show. The Urban World Film Festival takes place in August every year. The lovely row houses of Hamilton Heights (often called Sugar Hill) that have been home to Count Basie, Chief Justice Thurgood Marshall, and boxing great Sugar Ray Robinson; and Striver's Row (a reference to the upward mobility of the doctors, lawyers and other middle-class professionals who purchased homes here) on 138th and 139th Streets, an elegant row of early 20th-century town houses designed by famous period architects such as Sanford White.
Once you're done walking around and experiencing Harlem's sites, satisfy those hunger pains and stop for a taste of Southern hospitality and stomach-and-spirit satisfying soul food at a restaurant such as Sylvia's, Amy Ruth's, or Bayou - barbecued ribs, black-eyed peas, and pecan pie, anyone? Hopping nightspots include Jimmy's Uptown and the Lenox Lounge.
Harlem has been a Mecca for African-American culture and life for more than a century. By the turn of the 20th century, black New Yorkers started moving uptown into Harlem's apartment buildings and town houses. The neighborhood prospered and by the 1920s, Harlem had become the most famous black community in the United States, perhaps in the whole world. Today the neighborhood is well on the way to new glory days: Young people and families are moving into the newly restored brownstone and limestone buildings, and the combination of architectural treasures, crackling vitality (even Bill Clinton chose Harlem for his post-presidential office!), great music and culture, and honest-to-goodness, lip-smacking soul food makes Harlem a must-see New York City destination. Harlem's main thoroughfare is 125th Street. The Apollo Theatre, a concert venue for luminaries as well as a rite of passage for rising musicians, is on 125th Street. Count Basie, Bessie Smith, Nat King Cole, Marvin Gaye, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Aretha Franklin have all played here and past winners of its weekly, wild and crazy amateur night include Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, and the Jackson Five. The Harlem Week/Harlem Jazz & Music Festival is an annual summer festival taking place August 1-18, 2002 with food tasting, art exhibits, concerts, seminars, music, street entertainment, sporting events, and an auto show. The Urban World Film Festival takes place in August every year. The lovely row houses of Hamilton Heights (often called Sugar Hill) that have been home to Count Basie, Chief Justice Thurgood Marshall, and boxing great Sugar Ray Robinson; and Striver's Row (a reference to the upward mobility of the doctors, lawyers and other middle-class professionals who purchased homes here) on 138th and 139th Streets, an elegant row of early 20th-century town houses designed by famous period architects such as Sanford White.