☞ WALK: An East Side Block of a Future President

The signs up along East 116th showcasing famous East Harlem residents also has the image of Barack Obama on them so we decided to walk the street where the future president once lived.  Based on an old New York Times article, the address in question is actually a couple of blocks pass the outskirts of East Harlem at 339 East 94th Street in what is known today as Yorkville (second photo down shows No. 339 in the shadows).  During the 1980's, East Harlem's south border at 96th Street might not have been so clear since this transitional area of the Upper East Side also had a substantial Puerto Rican population according to the president's memoirs: LINK   

President Obama had lived in the then rough neighborhood during his years studying at Columbia and for some times afterwards but today it looks like most blocks in this wealthier zip code of Manhattan.  In the opposite direction on the Second Avenue side, high rises loom overhead and the construction for the various entrances of the new 96th Street subway station can be seen set in full motion (third image from top). The last photo of the series shows the major public housing project at the east end of the block of the famous apartment (looking at First Avenue) which is probably the only thing that will remain constant in this quickly transforming part of the city.