In 1934, the entire east side of 124th Street, from 2nd Avenue to the Harlem River, went through one of the most drastic changes that a neighborhood would ever face. These brownstone blocks and tenements were the white ethnic neighborhood of East Harlem, home to a mainly Italian and Jewish community. Since the Triborough Bridge (second photo) had been planned to connect the East Side to the Bronx, entire blocks from 124th to 126th Street were razed in the summer of that year. A block further north would house a bus depot that today sits on top of the second African Burial Ground discovered in the city. The block south would eventually be developed into public housing. Archival photo courtesy of NYPL. Current photo by Ulysses
Your historical posts are always endlessly fascinating. And, the latter photograph is quite striking indeed. Well done, Ulysses!
ReplyDeleteYou know it's always a bit shocking to see how there are no trees in the old pictures. If that's 1934 it's at least 40 years since the neighborhood was built and in all that time no one planted even a single tree. You see that over and over again in the old photos.
ReplyDeleteback then, people wanted to make way for cars and industry. not much environmental stuff going on like today.
ReplyDelete