Chelsea/E. Harlem

This page provides a brief history and summary of the cultural and politics of the Chelsea and East Harlem neighborhoods in New York. Click here for an in depth comparative analysis of the two beats.

Walking along Chelsea’s High Line, an elevated railway converted into a pedestrian friendly park, a tourist might notice a wide array of sights in the surrounding area. The many apartment buildings—some modern & extravagant, others historic & modest—suggest an affluent neighborhood. Traversing the path north, the Chelsea Elliot Houses, combined housing projects consisting of stock brick buildings, become more apparent, perhaps indicating a history not always rooted in wealthy privatization. Below the elevated walkway between 18 th and 27 th Streets, a flurry of art enthusiasts traffic the Chelsea Galleries, a concentration of high profile art galleries open to the public. Art in Chelsea—be it street art or private galleries—gives way to a vibrant aesthetic that largely defines the area. Further south, tourists take photos outside of Google’s New York offices, a massive full block Art Deco multiuse building. The neighboring industrial buildings reflect a history of industrialization and urban renewal. Directly across the street from Google, crowds of people flock to the abundance of vendors inside the Chelsea Market, a block long indoor food hall and shopping center. The exposed brick walls inside sing of times in which the building was more of a local market and less of a commercial tourist site. The Chelsea Market stretches all the way to Tenth Avenue, just a short walk from the Hudson River. Along the river, joggers, cyclists, and passersby enjoy the footpaths of the Hudson River Park. A series of piers along the waterfront give way to the Chelsea Piers, a sports and entertainment complex, boasting film and television production facilities. After a full day of covering the area, it becomes obvious that Chelsea is a conglomeration of pieces derived from a history of ups and downs.

(To jump to E. Harlem, click here) 🙂

Before the industrial buildings, tenements, converted railway, and modern day facilities that now comprise Chelsea, just two and a half centuries ago, the area existed as rural farmland. The neighborhood has “always been the locus of food in the city, beginning with the Algonquin Indians, who traded their game and crops on the banks of the Hudson River” (ChelseaMarket.com). Following the arrival of Europeans, Jacob Somerindyck and his wife owned a farm that “covered a parcel bounded by what became 24 th Street, 8 th Avenue, and 21 st Street, and by the Hudson River, the eastern bank of which lay along what is now 10 th Avenue” (Jackson 209). On August 16, 1750, the farm was bought by Thomas Clarke, a retired British army captain. He named the area after the Chelsea Royal Hospital, an old soldiers’ home built by Sir Christopher Wren in the Chelsea borough of London (Wolfe 291). Clarke’s daughter Charity and her husband, Benjamin Moore extended the area to what is now 19th street. The couple “opposed a plan of 1807-11 to add streets north of 14 th Street and in 1813 deeded the property to their son, Clement Clarke Moore” (Jackson 209).

It was Moore who brought fame to Chelsea, as he is remembered for his classic Christmas poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” written in 1822. Not only did he help popularize Santa Claus, but he also “did much to influence the development and character of the neighborhood through foresight and wise urban planning” (Wolfe 291). After donating some of Chelsea’s land to the diocese, he “established guidelines for local residential zoning” which have largely defined Chelsea’s urban makeup since (291). As the neighborhood grew into a peaceful residential area, immigrants influenced the area’s expansion. In the 1820s, Scottish weavers developed businesses, in addition to the German, Italian, and British enclaves (Jackson 209).

The neighborhood remained relatively quiet. By the mid-nineteenth century, the “tranquility of the neighborhood was shattered” with the “arrival of the city’s liveliest entertainment district” on 23 rd Street (291). Music halls, theaters, and late night venues rocked the once unhurried street. The laying of the Hudson River Railroad in 1847 brought with it freight trains, warehouses, manufacturers, lumber yards, and truckers into the neighborhood. A large amount of “of Irish settled in Western Chelsea, working at the rail yards, while Spanish migrated to Eastern Chelsea, getting jobs in the manufacturing trade” (Salkaln). Following this, in 1871, the Ninth Avenue El, the city’s first elevated railway, was unveiled in the Chelsea district. Chelsea quickly became the commerce center of the city, as shopping centers and department stores opened along Sixth Avenue. At 30 th street, the ‘Haymarket’ found its “reputation of being the most raided den of vice in the city’s history” (292). As the 19 th century came to an end, the motion picture industry paved the way for studios just east of Sixth Avenue. The sounds, sights, and people of the area contributed to Chelsea’s bustling nature, and in about 1900, “the population peaked at 85,000” (Jackson 209). In 1907, the Chelsea Piers were built and “handled much of Trans Atlantic luxury passenger lines up until 1935, when the ships moved further uptown” (Salkaln).

In 1934, the High Line, an elevated train line, was built in conjunction with an elevated West Side Highway to protect people on the streets of Chelsea from accidents, as Tenth Avenue had become known as “Death Avenue” (Salkaln). This railway would later become the High Line in 2009. Following World War II, the construction of the Chelsea Elliot Housing Project “became the first public housing project built in the city” (209). Puerto Rican immigrants increased significantly, and the northern neighborhood soon became crowded. Similarly, in 1962, the Mitchel Lana Housing Program, Penn South, gave way to a ten building complex with affordable units between Eighth and Ninth Aves and 23 rd and 29 th Streets (Salkaln). Though the Chelsea neighborhood experienced growth, much of the commerce began to decline. The theatres moved uptown, the film industry moved to Hollywood, the great department stores relocated or folded, and the trains became defunct.

Today, New York’s Chelsea neighborhood on the West Side of Manhattan is bounded to the south by West 14th Street and to the west by the Hudson River. The northern boundary is roughly 30th Street, while the eastern boundary is considered to be 6th Avenue (Jackson 209). The area is not as crowded as it once was, though it still echoes vibrant life. After the departure of commerce, the neighborhood began to decline and the buildings began to decay. Gentrification reprieved the area as artists began to construct galleries in the 1980s and new inhabitants restored the vacant buildings increasingly in the 90s. In a 1995 New York Times article, Lori Bezahler, the director of development at the Hudson Guild, a then 100 year old Chelsea settlement house, was quoted as describing the evolving nature of Chelsea as follows: “Chelsea is a fabulous microcosm of what I like to think New York City is”.

Cultural Life in Chelsea

In some way or another, Chelsea has always been a site for art and commerce to coincide. At the turn of the 20th century, the Chelsea area was filled with affluent European visitors who would dock at the piers just west of the major shopping district ( Chelsea Hotel ). Before the high end galleries, the park on the High Line, and copious amounts of brunch spots, Chelsea truly gained its footing as a district when it made room for artists. The Hotel Chelsea, founded in the late 1800s, became a destination for wayward rockers, lost poets, and rambunctious artists of the 20th century. The hotel “originally [was] conceived as a socialist utopian commune,…the top floor was given over to 15 artist studios” (Rich, Vanity Fair). Artists had the space to breath, as well as party, in Chelsea, separating it from the more crowded areas of the city.

Originally the Elgin Theater, now called the Joyce, served as a movie theater for both art house and, later, adult films, for the Chelsea population. The Joyce is a popular dance and performance space since it was reopened in 1982 (Kisselgoff, NYTimes). Many old art house cinemas found themselves converted into performance spaces around the 70s and 80s to suit the theater scene that was emerging downtown. Old warehouses near the water were repurposed to suit the New York club scene of the 80s, with spaces,“ like mushrooms after a rain, …pop[ping] up as fall near[ed]” (Gross, NYTimes). What was so special about Chelsea during this period was the area’s acceptance and celebration of all mediums of art, allowing musicians, painters, writers, and filmmakers to share their work in an open environment.

The cultural shift in Chelsea happened when the galleries of SoHo required more space in order to take on the expanding art market. By the early 90s, Chelsea saw gallery owners moving west, scouring the area for the remaining artists of the Hotel Chelsea era and the up and comers that could bring in sales. The first wave of gallery owners in Chelsea saw the area as a cheaper alternative to SoHo, which “had become increasingly crowded and expensive” (Holusha, NYTimes). After owning a space for many years in SoHo, gallery owner Betty Cuningham explained that she couldn’t “go uptown…, [she had] to go to Chelsea” (Kennedy, NYTimes). In 1997, there were around 39 galleries that had been set up in “unused former garages and warehouses” (Holusha, NYTimes). Today, there are over 300 galleries in the area and that number continues to go up as Chelsea has become the art district of the city.

Politics in Chelsea

Reflecting Chelsea’s current state of super gentrification, the 2010 U.S. Census reports that Chelsea’s population has increased moderately since 2000, with a current total of roughly 38, 242. West Chelsea has experienced dramatic population increase, rising by roughly sixty eight percent, which points towards the more recent process of gentrification that has occurred along the Hudson River. Within the total population, Chelsea is over sixty percent white, under ten percent black, under twenty percent latino, under ten percent asian, and the remaining is of miscellaneous ethnic groups.

The political makeup of Chelsea is historically liberal. Following the police raid of Greenwich Village’s Stonewall Inn, many within the LGBT community fled to Chelsea in the 1970s, contributing to a strong gay and lesbian presence today that promotes a more liberal mindset (Salkaln). Chelsea became “representative of tolerance and the rebellion against sexual orientation discrimination” (Liang).

<img class=”ngg-singlepic ngg-none” src=”https://bpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/wp.nyu.edu/dist/4/2424/files/nggallery/armour-hanna-2/Armour-Hanna-2_2.png” alt=”Chelsea Beat: W 26th Street–Appleton Pictures, Insulin Bottles ” width=”201″ height=”312″> A piece by Appleton Pictures depicts insulin bottles and a child injecting insulin.

According to the NYC Election Atlas, the data covering the Chelsea/Clinton/Midtown neighborhoods shows that the population is roughly sixty four percent Democratic, roughly eleven percent Republican, roughly twenty percent with no party affiliation, and roughly four percent independent. To reflect this notion, in the 2013 Electoral Mayoral primary, roughly forty two percent of the area’s population voted for Bill de Blasio (Democratic), while thirty eight percent voted for Christine Quinn (Democratic), and twelve percent voted for William Thompson (Democratic). That being said, the turnout for the area saw only twenty seven percent of registered Democrats, even though roughly seventy eight percent of the population is eligible to register to vote. The Presidential election in 2012 saw a higher turnout with a roughly sixty-one percent voter turnout. Of those who voted, eighty two percent of the voters voted for Barack Obama.

 

E. HARLEM

When looking at East Harlem today, most would associate it as a neighborhood of Latin American immigrants. It is often referred to as Spanish Harlem, as well. A slight misnomer, as few Spaniards from the Iberian peninsula have actually immigrated to the area, but rather people\ who speak Spanish from the Americas. The music overheard from the small three story walkups or the cars driving by are often the beats of r eggaeton , b achata, or b omba , much like the ones you could hear in the Hispanic Caribbean, or South and Central America today, demonstrating a continued relationship with the region of origin. This construction of East Harlem, though, obscures the rich history of immigration the area has received, including but not limited to immigrants of Jewish, Italian, and West Indian descent.

Before European settlement, the Weckquaesgeek tribe lived in what we now call East Harlem. After the arrival of Europeans to the Americas, the village Nieuw Haerlem was settled in 1658 by the Dutch, long before the region was known as New Amsterdam. The area was mainly home to farmers, but during the 18t h century they began to move out and allow the spaces to deteriorate (Bell 4). The emigration of farmers and deteriorating real estate allowed for the new immigrants to find an area of low demand to move into during the 19t h and 20t h centuries, and create communities to be called their new homes.

East Harlem as we know it received its name when in “1811 New York city was laid out in a grid plan” and 5th Avenue was chosen to demarcate the boundaries between East and West (Bell 4). Around the same period of time, there was an advance in transportation that also brought changes to the neighborhood. Throughout the 19t h century, “the neighborhood transportation system changed from… horsedrawn carriages… to steam locomotives that traveled along Fourth Avenue tracks” (5). It was only in the 1880’s though, that an elevated subway line built was built along Second and Third Avenues. The increased immigration of the time as well as improved transportation system transformed the rural farmlands into a more urban setting, yet Harlem “was still a remote neighborhood” (5). The elevated subways “reduced commuter time between East Harlem and City Hall to 45 minutes”, nearly half of the time it took beforehand. The increase in immigration brought increased the demand for housing, and real estate developers gained interest in East Harlem. A loophole in the Tenement House Act from 1901 allowed builders to cut corners on building regulations such as ventilation and fire escapes, and together with the booming number of immigrants looking for affordable housing living conditions in East Harlem were deplorable, to say the least (Bell 6, 7).

Today East Harlem continues to be associated as a neighborhood of immigrants, with a predominantly Hispanic and black population. According to the 2010 census published in the New York Times, on average 66% of the population of East Harlem selfidentifies as Hispanic, while 22% as Black, and around 10% as White (2010 Census, New York Times). Historically, though, there were large waves of Jewish and Italian immigrants to East Harlem as well (Bell 9).

The first Jewish immigrants who arrived came during the 17t h century, as the Sefardis took refuge in the Netherlands and Dutch territory (Bell 9). German Jews arrived during the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries, followed by several groups of Eastern European Jews as well. Jewish immigrants built thriving communities through their many synagogues and Hebrew schools, as well as other adult organizations such as the Young Men’s Hebrew Association (YMHA) (1113).

Italians began to arrive in East Harlem at the end of the 19t h century as well. Nearly 4,000 Italians lived between 3r d Avenue and the East River, and from 102n d street to 120t h street. This area became known as Italian East Harlem, or Little Italy, the former a phrase that sounds nearly paradoxical. Italians maintained strong ties between their families and their communities, and replicated many aspects of Italian life here in New York as well. Small family business lined the streets, and meals were made by the a few women while all of the men worked, as well as most of the other women. The tenements of Italian East Harlem were deplorable places to live in, and the sheer number of people living in cramped spaces made it necessary to organize their life in a cooperative manner with the other Italian immigrant families around them (Bell 2128).

The Latin American immigration to East Harlem has predominantly been from Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans immigrated into the US in the 1700’s as well as the late 1850’s and 1890’s, but most have arrived as of the 20t h century (Bell 31). From several of the oral histories collectedin East Harlem Remembered , Puerto Ricans describe the colonias , “dense enclaves that helped Puerto Ricans adjust to life in New York City and keep their social identity” (33). As immigration and population density increased, East Harlem became known as “El Barrio,” or “The Neighborhood” to the Puerto Ricans living in New York City. Like the Jewish and Italian immigrants, the organizations and societies created by the Puerto Ricans created a stronger sense of community identification, which remains very visible today.

Free African Americans settled in East Harlem as farmers shortly after the abolishment of slavery in the mid 19th century (Bell 40). Due to the extremely difficult social situation in the southern United States postslavery, many Black families immigrated to the North, some settling in East Harlem. Unlike the Italians and Latinos, African Americans did not settle within specific boundaries of East Harlem, but rather dispersed throughout (41). In the 1920’s and 1930’s though, immigrants from the Caribbean West Indies were the main demographic to come to East Harlem. They mainly arrived from “Jamaica, Barbados, Bermuda, Martinique” and other small Caribbean islands (43). Although there was a sense of fraternity between West Indian immigrants, there was less of a bond than the aforementioned communities, most likely due to the different languages (French or Spanish) (44). Consequently, they communicated in English, which might have affected the vibrancy of their immigrant communities in comparison to Puerto Ricans.

Even in this limited scope on East Harlem’s immigration history, it is evident that this New York neighborhood has been home to diverse communities, often during overlapping times. Although today the area is predominantly hispanic, it is useful and necessary to recognize and understand the immigration patterns that have taken place in the neighborhood over the centuries.

A Brief History of the Arts in East Harlem

East Harlem, commonly referred to by its residents as El Barrio, has a rich cultural history. From the first wave of Italian immigrants in the 1890s to the wealth of musical legends that came about from the “mambo era,” East Harlem has been a stage for arts and culture for over 100 years. The neighborhood was once known as “Little Italy” or “Italian Harlem” as it contained the largest Italian population in New York City for a time. Although there are still traces of that heritage, notably, Patsy’s Pizzeria on 1st avenue, which was famously “endorsed” by Frank Sinatra, and has been an Italian landmark since 1933, East Harlem is now most commonly referred to as, “El Barrio,” and has been since the 1930s with the influx of the Puerto Rican community. Mambo, the musical predecessor to Salsa, was moving hips in El Barrio with no shortage of great musicians or places to dance. Latin music legends such as Tito Puente, Ray Baretto, and Charlie Palmieri were local heroes and often performed impromptu concerts in parks and handball courts, when they weren’t performing at clubs. Some streets, such as 110thst./Tito Puente Way, have been named after these musical greats and as you visit shops, bakeries and restaurants in the neighborhood, their pictures can be seen hanging behind counters and over tables of their old neighborhood hangouts. Other notable cultural figures of East Harlem include musicians Marc Anthony and Ronnie Spector of the Ronnettes, rappers, Frankie Cutlass, Cam’ron, and A$AP Rocky, actor Al Pacino, and visual artist, Soraida Martinez, known for creating the V erdadism movement, a form of abstraction that is accompanied by a written social commentary. Additionally, the Puerto Rican poet Julia De Burgos, after whom the Julia De Burgos Latino Cultural Center was named, once called East Harlem home. O ne of the few major television studios north of midtown New York, Metropolis, at 106th Street and Park Ave, produced recent programs such as BET’s 1 06 and Park , and Comedy Central’s C happelle’s Show .

The neighborhood also contains a number of cultural and historical institutions such as the Museum of the City of New York, El Museo del Barrio, The National Jazz Museum in Harlem, and The Graffiti Hall of Fame, which is located in th e playground of the Jackie Robinson Educational Complex on East 106th Street. Founded in 1980 by a local community activist, the purpose of The Graffiti Hall of Fame was to give graffiti artists a permanent place to hone their skills in a safe and open environment. It has evolved to become an internationally known destination for the Who’s Who in graffiti, who still contribute to it, and this past July celebrated its 30th anniversary. In fact, street art is still very much alive throughout all of East Harlem. It seems the neighborhood has a taste for message through mural, illustrated by the colorful, larger than life mosaics by James De La Vega’s that are sprinkled around East Harlem such as, “The Spirit of East Harlem,” which has graced the wall on the southeast corner of East 104th Street and Lexington Avenue for more than 30 years, and Keith Haring’s “Crack Is Wack,” mural on the handball court wall in the park on 2 nd avenue and 128 th t, done in 1986.

East Harlem still fosters its artistic community. El Barrio’s Artspace PS109 is a project which has transformed an abandoned public school building in East Harlem into a community driven arts facility with 89 units of affordable living and working space for artists and their families and 10,000 square feet of complementary space for arts organizations. Additionally, in 2 003, PRdream.com, a web site on the history and culture of Puerto Ricans, founded a media gallery and digital film studio called MediaNoche on 102n d and Park Ave, which presents technology based art, collects oral histories, and conducts screenings, providing exhibition space and residencies for artists and filmmakers.

Politics in East Harlem

Within the umbrella of politics, it is important to highlight the distribution of racial and ethnic groups in East Harlem. In the report issued by the New York Times called “Mapping the 2010 Consensus”, East Harlem has a very clear demarcation of racial and ethnic distributions. An abrupt change happens at 96th street, where suddenly the dots representing White changes to represent Hispanic, with little overlap or transition. On the north and west side, though, there is less of a clear boundary between the overlap of Blacks and Hispanics. This reflects part of the historical patterns of immigration talked about previously.

According to the NYC Election Atlas, the East Harlem community area 74.3% are native-born citizens, and that roughly 25% either cannot speak English or does not speak it well. This indicates that the 74.3% that are native-born citizens are most likely first, second, or third generation immigrants. Of the roughly 117,071 people living in the East Harlem community area (as is defined by NYC Election Atlas), 74,860 are eligible to vote, of which 71,020 are registered to do so. Party enrollment is heavily Democratic, listed at 79% of those registered, while Republicans are only about 5.2%, and no party is listed at 12.7%. For the presidential elections in 2012, there was a 55.5% turnout, of which 94.8% voted for Barack Obama, strongly reflecting the Democratic sentiment amongst the residents of East Harlem.

 

Works Cited

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• Bloch, Matthew, Shan Carter, and Alan McLean. “Mapping America: Every City, Every Block.” The New York Times . U.S. Census Bureau, 13 Dec. 2010. Web. 24 Mar. 2015.
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• Malbin, Peter. “If You’re Thinking of Living In: Chelsea; Gentrified, Yes, but Still
• ” The New York Times [New York] 1 Oct. 1995: 12. NYTimes.com . The New York Times Company. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.
• Rich, Nathaniel. “An Oral History of the Chelsea Hotel: Where the Walls Still Talk.” Vanity Fair. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.
• Salkaln, Donathan. The History of Chelsea . Digital image. Http://crdcnyc.org/ . N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.
• Wolfe, Gerard R. “Chapter 11: Old Chelsea.” New York, 15 Walking Tours: An Architectural guide to the Metropolis . 3rd ed. New York: McGrawHill, 2003. 29192. Print.