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 he
first stop on the Harlem Spirituals, Inc., bus tour is the
farmhouse of Alexander Hamilton, the father, some say, of
American capitalism.
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Suzanne Lyons from
London and Catherine Worsley from Northern Ireland on
a Harlem Spirituals Gospel Tour.
PHOTO: J.Apostle
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That his farmhouse is tucked between two
blocks of dense apartment buildings in a mostly black neighborhood
surprises some tourists on the bus. That a tour of black churches
starts with a stop at the house of the nation’s first secretary
of the treasury in the center of a neighborhood trying to
win a battle against poverty raises no eyebrows.
Harlem Spirituals and its largest competitor
Grayline Tours, brings thousands of mostly white, mostly European
and American, tourists to black churches in northern Manhattan.
For from $33 to $45 visitors are picked up in Times Square,
driven to Harlem in buses, led into a church to hear gospel
singing, led out part way through the ceremony and driven
off. For an extra $25 they can be let off at one of several
soul-food restaurants. Another bus will pick them up an hour
later.
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one particular chilly Sunday in early March close to 200 people
are lined up in Times Squre waiting to board one of five coaches.
The busses must each go to a different church and visit Harlem's
historical attractions in shifts, so as not to congest any
one area. The tours are conducted in at least four languages,
including Italian, French, English and Spanish.
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The bus unloads.
PHOTO: J. Apostle |
"I took the tour because I thought it
would show me the good parts of Harlem," said Catherine
Worsley from London, one of 46 people on the English-language
bus.
The tours are popular with not only tourists
but also most of the church ministries. But unlike visitors
in other parts of Manhattan, these tourists contribute very
little to the local economy.
Some shop owners report that they do not
stop in and shop. Some churches report that the tourists’
contributions are negligible.
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