From the East to the Harlem

Podwalk Islam
Located on Third Avenue between East 96th and East 97th Streets, the Islamic Cultural Center of New York was the first mosque built in New York City. It contains both a mosque and minaret, where worshipers gather to practice their Islamic faith. The building faces the direction one would travel to reach Mecca, or the Holy City of Islam. Built in the late 1970s, the goals of the Islamic Cultural Center include providing a place of religious worship and knowledge, encouraging the American public to learn more about Islamic faith, providing Muslim American communities with guidance in faith, and promoting good relations between Muslims and non-Muslims. During the mass migration of West Africans from Niger, Ghana, Senegal, Guinea, and Mali, to New York City in the 1980s and 1990s, the mosque represented a religious sanctuary, a sense of comfort for the immigrants, many of whom were fleeing from violence in their home countries.  With its intricate and beautiful architecture, the mosque represents a sense of comfort for all Muslims. The mosque represents both the diversity and unity of the ethnic communities in East Harlem.

East Harlem Rao's
Located on Third Avenue between East 96th and East 97th Streets, the Islamic Cultural Center of New York was the first mosque built in New York City. It contains both a mosque and minaret, where worshipers gather to practice their Islamic faith. The building faces the direction one would travel to reach Mecca, or the Holy City of Islam. Built in the late 1970s, the goals of the Islamic Cultural Center include providing a place of religious worship and knowledge, encouraging the American public to learn more about Islamic faith, providing Muslim American communities with guidance in faith, and promoting good relations between Muslims and non-Muslims. During the mass migration of West Africans from Niger, Ghana, Senegal, Guinea, and Mali, to New York City in the 1980s and 1990s, the mosque represented a religious sanctuary, a sense of comfort for the immigrants, many of whom were fleeing from violence in their home countries.  With its intricate and beautiful architecture, the mosque represents a sense of comfort for all Muslims. The mosque represents both the diversity and unity of the ethnic communities in East Harlem.

East Harlem El Museo de Barrio
This museum, located on 1230 5th Avenue, is the center of Puerto Rican culture commemoration. It was formed in 1960 when the community pushed for a way to educate the youth about diversity within the neighborhood. This region has been the site of different immigrant groups for decades, including nationalities such as Irish, Jewish, Carribean and Puerto Rican. The neighborhood has had moments of disagreement amongst its residents and this museum is a way to both teach the masses about cultures and unite them. Raphael Montañez Ortiz helped create this museum which for the first few years did not have a permanent residence. Eventually it began to expand its exhibits and focus on general Latin American countries as opposed to solely Puerto Rican. It offers group trips for schools and educational opportunities in the neighborhood. It is also a site for performing arts exhibits including spoken word. It functions as a creative hub for East Harlem’s diverse community despite its isolating name.  For directions to the next point, please refer to Community Garden.

The community garden is part of a restoration project to provide the members of the neighborhood a green environment and a location to host gatherings and events. Its purpose is to bring everyone together and to connect the people of east harlem with themselves and the environment. The garden on 105th st called Modesto “Tin” Flores Community Garden exhibits a painted mural by Yasmiin Hernandez. The mural shows Frida Khalos, a Mexican painter, and Julia de Burgos, a Puerto Rican poet, joining hands. The flags of both nations are shown behind each woman. The joining of the hands is a statement of peace to ease tensions between the Puerto Rican and Mexican residents. These tensions began to arise around the 1990’s as a large influx of Mexican immigrants began to settle in East Harlem which was initially dominated by Puerto Ricans. They both may share similar cultures and languages, but they do not share a common bond. Hernandez hopes to catalyze possibly a new connection between the two groups.Building this bond is the purpose of the Modesto Tin Flores garden.