Harlem travel guide

Harlem, United States

By the Travel Wiki editorial team

Harlem

Introduction

Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City, bounded roughly by the Hudson River to the west, the Harlem River and 155th Street to the north, Fifth Avenue to the east, and 110th Street to the south. The greater Harlem area reaches beyond these lines, taking in several other neighborhoods and stretching west and north to 155th Street, east to the East River, and south to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Central Park, and East 96th Street.

Before you go

Harlem is not one neighbourhood but several, and its character shifts almost every few blocks. Spanish Harlem, or El Barrio, on the East Side between 96th Street and the Harlem River, is the historic heart of Puerto Rican culture in the United States and today a polyglot mix, with West African immigrants and a Latino community that is now more Mexican than Puerto Rican. Centred on 125th Street is the Harlem of the Harlem Renaissance, still the centre of African-American culture, where the Apollo Theater keeps going strong alongside famous churches such as the Abyssinian Baptist Church, some with gospel choirs. The west side divides into Manhattanville, being developed as a Columbia University campus; Hamilton Heights, home to City College; and Sugar Hill, long associated with African-American culture. Further north, Washington Heights is the centre of Dominican culture in New York, with The Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park at its northern end, and beyond it lies Inwood and its marshy, forested hill park.

Learn the street names before you arrive: the avenues officially designated Frederick Douglass Boulevard, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and Malcolm X Boulevard are commonly called 8th Avenue, 7th Avenue and Lenox Avenue, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard is almost always just 125th Street. Violent crime has declined dramatically, and most tourist destinations are very safe, but as anywhere in the city, exercise caution walking at night, consider staying on main thoroughfares after dark, and don't let that stop you from going out. Subway stations are generally safe and patrolled by uniformed and undercover police.

Getting there

Harlem is well served by the subway, with lines running up both sides of the neighbourhood and through its centre. The A, C and 1 climb the West Side toward Manhattanville, Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, Inwood and Fort Tryon Park, while the 2 and 3 run up Lenox Avenue and the 4, 5 and 6 cover the East Side. The B and D follow 8th Avenue and St. Nicholas Avenue alongside the A and C as far as 145th Street before crossing under the Harlem River to Yankee Stadium and the Bronx. During the day the A and D are express trains that run from 59th Street straight to 125th Street, and the 4 and 5 skip from 86th Street to 125th Street in a single stop. If you have time, the 168th Street and 181st Street stops on the 1 are among the prettiest stations in the system.

Metro-North Railroad stops at 125th Street and Park Avenue, with easy connections to and from the Hudson Valley and Connecticut. MTA buses also reach the area: the M4 crawls up to the Cloisters from Midtown via the East Side, across 110th Street and on via Broadway and Fort Washington Avenue — a fine way to watch Manhattan change, though a slow one — while the M5 runs uptown to Washington Heights via the West Side. For New Jersey and Rockland County, the George Washington Bridge Bus Station sits under the bridge ramps at 178th Street between Broadway and Fort Washington Avenue, reachable by an underground tunnel from the 175th Street stop on the A line. Jitneys wait in the parking lanes outside the Fort Washington Avenue doors of the station's lower level and are an inexpensive option for communities in northern New Jersey such as Fort Lee, Englewood, Teaneck and Paterson. Long-distance buses also call at the terminal, and curbside vans serve the Poconos, Lehigh Valley and Northeast Pennsylvania.

Getting around

Harlem is well served by New York City's public transit, and most trips within the neighborhood and to the rest of Manhattan can be made by subway, bus, or on foot. Subway lines are laid out broadly by side of the neighborhood: the A, C, and 1 run up the West Side, serving Manhattanville, Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, Inwood, and Fort Tryon Park; the 2 and 3 run up Lenox Avenue through the center of Harlem; the 4, 5, and 6 serve the East Side; and the B and D run alongside the A and C as far as 145th Street before continuing toward Yankee Stadium and the Bronx. Some of these are express trains during the day, which makes them considerably faster for longer hops. If you are sightseeing rather than commuting, the 168th Street and 181st Street stops on the 1 are among the prettiest stations in the system.

Buses are a good way to see the neighborhood at street level, though they are slow. The M4 runs to the Cloisters from Midtown via the East Side and offers a nice way to see the changing face of Manhattan, but it is a very slow way to travel; the M5 runs uptown to Washington Heights via the West Side. Metro-North has a station at 125th Street and Park Avenue, useful if you are arriving from or heading to the Hudson Valley or Connecticut. At the northern edge of the area, the George Washington Bridge Bus Station, reached by an underground tunnel from the 175th Street stop on the A line, is where jitneys wait in the parking lanes outside the Fort Washington Avenue doors of the lower level — inexpensive and a very good option for trips to and from communities in northern New Jersey — and where long-distance buses and vans call. Harlem is a walkable neighborhood, and a chain of large linear parks, including Morningside Park, St. Nicholas Park, Jackie Robinson Park, Rucker Park, and Marcus Garvey Park, makes it practical to walk between sections rather than always relying on transit. For fares and passes, use the standard New York City transit fare system, which covers both subway and local bus travel.

Where to stay

Lodging in Harlem is limited, so plan ahead if you want to base yourself in the neighbourhood. The Harlem YMCA on West 135th Street offers rooms and has a health and wellness centre plus a heated swimming pool, making it a practical option if you want to stay active during your trip.

Food & drink

Harlem rewards eating that ranges from counter stools to white-tablecloth rooms. For soul food, head to Amy Ruth's on West 116th Street, where the cooking is classic and the service friendly. Sister's Cuisine on East 124th Street serves Anglo-Caribbean plates, and further uptown El Malecon on Broadway is the flagship of a Dominican restaurant known for its pollo a la brasa — order the rotisserie chicken and a fresh-squeezed juice, with Latin music on the jukebox. For Puerto Rican cooking, Lechonera La Isla on East 125th Street is a throwback luncheonette with little more than counter stools, praised for roast chicken glazed in a tasty sauce (garlic sauce on the side), pernil, and daily specials; ask for the "hot sauce," which is really a slaw of lightly pickled onions, tomatoes and hot peppers. Mike's Bagels on Broadway makes its bagels in-house daily, and Lee Lee's Baked Goods on West 118th Street bakes rugelach in chocolate, apricot and raspberry.

Patsy's Pizzeria on First Avenue is old-school New York coal-oven pizza: keep the toppings simple and get a plain pie to appreciate the thin, charred crust. Red Rooster on Lenox Avenue, Marcus Samuelsson's restaurant, mixes soul food with Swedish, Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian influences — book ahead, as tables are hard to come by without a reservation. Settepani is also on Lenox Avenue. For a drink, Londel's sits on Frederick Douglass Boulevard at West 140th Street. Jazz is woven through the neighborhood's history, and you can still catch it several nights a week: American Legion Post 398 on West 132nd Street is a genuine juke joint, a dive bar with basic soul food and jam sessions, with Sunday the night for good musicians on the Hammond organ. Bill's Place on West 133rd Street is saxophonist Bill Saxton's basement apartment, where a small crowd of aficionados hears his Coltrane-like performances; it's BYOB, so bring cups, and reserve by leaving a voice message. Ginny's Supper Club, downstairs from Red Rooster, is the upscale option for live jazz and other music, with a classy space, room for dancing and a gospel brunch on Sundays that requires reservations.

What to see and do

Harlem rewards slow wandering as much as museum-going. Start with the museums clustered along Fifth Avenue's Museum Mile: El Museo del Barrio, devoted to Puerto Rican culture, and the Museum of the City of New York, whose collections document the city's long history and include a trove of 19th-century dollhouses. Further north, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture holds exhibitions on themes of black history and culture, while the Studio Museum in Harlem focuses on artists of African descent. Near 141st Street, Hamilton Grange National Memorial preserves Alexander Hamilton's 1802 home, and on Jumel Terrace the Morris-Jumel Mansion, the oldest house on Manhattan Island, served as George Washington's headquarters and now displays colonial and Revolutionary War decorative arts. At the island's northern tip, the Cloisters displays medieval art and the famous Unicorn Tapestries in a building overlooking the Hudson.

Three days in Harlem

Day one: Start in central Harlem, where the neighbourhood's identity is bound up with the Harlem Renaissance and the African American cultural life that made it famous. Walk the length of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Fifth Avenue, and take in the Apollo Theater and the Abyssinian Baptist Church, both landmarks of the area's history. End the day with a stroll along the Hudson River or the Harlem River for a view back over Upper Manhattan.

Day two: Head north through Manhattanville, Columbia University and Hamilton Heights, then on to City College and Sugar Hill, where the streets climb and the architecture shifts. Continue further into Washington Heights, where the Dominican community gives the neighbourhood its character, and finish at The Cloiters in Fort Tryon Park, with Inwood beyond it at the northern tip of Manhattan.

Day three: Turn east to Spanish Harlem, also known as El Barrio, on the East Side, where Puerto Rican, Latino and Mexican influences shape the food and street life. From there you can reach Central Park and the East River, and learn how the area's many communities, including West African and other New Yorkers, have layered their own traditions onto the neighbourhood.

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