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The Opposition What is the word for it? Revitalization? Some call it gentrification. Others say what is on the horizon for Harlem is nothing short of displacement. Many longtime Harlem residents could be lost in between the two types of housing in the neighborhood: their incomes are too high to qualify for the so-called low-income housing projects, yet not wealthy enough to afford the steadily rising private market homes. Maddox says it is rare, but sometimes people do ask her: what about the people you are running out?’ “We’re not,” she explains. “We are selling homes, the community will benefit, and the homeowners will benefit when Harlem looks like it used to.” “It’s not like big 'whitey' coming in,” she says. But for some, it is like big whitey coming in. “There is a segment of the population that is fighting the development,” Rivera says. “The notion is – right or wrong – that if you let white folks into the neighborhood, they are not going to allow the black people to continue to reside in the neighborhood.” But the process of gentrification in New York City is not necessarily that black and white. “People are worried about gentrification by race, but there is also gentrification by class,” Rivera says. Some people believe Harlem will retain its character as a largely black neighborhood, and the rising real-estate prices will be fueled if not by whites, then by wealthy African Americans, and the Caribbean or West African immigrants who have been settling there in large numbers in recent years. “Race and racism is an ever-present dynamic in this city,” says Mark Alexander, the executive director of Hope Community, a Harlem-based nonprofit group that helps residents navigate the home-buying process. “Are white people going to move up to Harlem in significant waves? I don’t think so, but anything is possible.The most significant changes are going to be socio-economic.” The only thing most people can agree on is that changes in Harlem have only just begun. “I think Harlem will become higher income,” Rivera says. “I think it will be populated by many more white families and I think that depending on the age bracket and the income of those white families, that is what is going to tell whether there is going to be a harmonious community.” “You can’t have a lily white community in Harlem and not expect there to be turbulence and emotional outbreak."
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Four Hotspots in Harlem Hamilton Heights - the historic district north of City College, West 140th Street to West 145th Street. Named for Alexander Hamilton, who built a farm there in the early 19th century, the neighborhood today is made up of row houses and mansions built in the late 19th and early 20th century. Six story townhouses are currently selling for about $650,000. Strivers Row - a section of 146 row houses along West 138th and 139th Street off Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard. Built in 1891, the terra cotta and limestone facades are broken by gated cross streets and allies once used to lead horses to carriage houses. Homes needing renovations are selling for between $200,000 and $300,000. Homes in move-in condition more than $500,000. Mount Morris Park - A section to the West of Mount Morris Park, the landmark historic district includes the blocks from 121st Street to 124th Street and across Fifth Avenue. The blocks are lined with masonry row houses with large stoops and elegant porticos dating from the 1880s when mass transit was first introduced in Harlem. There are still many dilapidated shells in the neighborhood selling for around more than $200,000. Astor
Row/ Fifth Avenue Area - Recently landmark by the city in 1992,
the homes off Fifth Avenue between 125th Street and 132nd Street
include 25-foot wide row houses as well as some with Savannah-style
porches. Today the homes are in varying conditions, with shells
selling for more than $200,000 and homes in good condition going
for more than $450,000.
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