The El Barrio Deli Superette, a sizable bodega in East Harlem, just a few blocks from the Lexington 116th street station, sells everything imaginable from sandwiches to paper towels. On our uptown visit for the first round of interviews, Rafa and I found a worker in this small business that was willing to be interviewed, a rare occasion because we were struggling to find someone to answer our questions. The daughter of the owner of the bodega spoke to us and provided intricate and interesting details about the store’s history. This family owned and ran bodega has been thriving for more than 20 years ever since her dad purchased it a year after coming to the United States from the Dominican Republic. When we visited, the business was booming with diverse customers and, according to the boss’s daughter, it “sees a lot of footwork on a daily basis.” East Harlem is a diverse community and is a species of an ethnic and economic enclave. The social history of this area of Manhattan has changed in various ways over a ten year period as shown in census data.
The population density per square mile of an area of a city as large as New York tells great stories when you compare the measurements over time. The population density, as according to the 2000 census, was 85,571 people. In 2013 this number increased slightly, as noted by a small increase in the shade of the map. An increase in population can be due to new waves of generations of immigrants joining the East Harlem community. As a hub for immigration,
New York City often sees an increase in population. This increase in population density is also due to increasing birth rates. To look into the effect of immigration on the population, I focused on the total population of foreign and native born in East Harlem. The foreign-born population increased greatly from 1 to 5 thousand in 1990 in the area surrounding Lexington and 2nd avenue. In 1990 however, the population of foreign-born people slightly increased along Le
xington and 2nd, remaining around 30,000 people for that area. The total population of native-born people in 1990 is 5,095 people at 76.882%. According to the 2000 census, there was a decrease to 69.07% with 5,634 people that are native born. Another factor that goes into the social history of this area is income.
The median household income from the 1990 census and the 2000 census shows how East Harlem’s occupants thrive in the community. The median household income for the 1990 census is $19,358 while for the 2000 census the median income is $27,168 for the area around Lexington and 2nd avenue. These values are considerably low when compared with values from the Upper East Side where the median income is greater than $70,000. I then compared the number of families below poverty level over the 10 year period between 1990 and 2000. 19% of families in this area were below poverty level in 2000 while 17% percent were below the poverty level in 1990. Poverty in this area may have been caused by a changing economy, lack of education, overpopulation, unemployment, and a high divorce rate.
A lack of education, such as being a high school dropout, in 1990 and 2000 can impact the poverty level in East Harlem. In 1990 22% of people aged 16 to 19 years were high school dropouts and in 2000 20% of people in the same age group were also dropouts. Unemployment in 2000 of people above 16 years old was 8% while in 2013 unemployment was 6%. In the 2000 census, the employment rate was 42% while in 2010 it was 59%. The values of unemployment and employment do not match up because some may opt out of taking the census. Divorce may also affect poverty levels because the household income comes from one person, no longer two. In family households with one income earner, the rate remained relatively constant at approximately 22%. The social history of East Harlem lends a view into trends that are established to forecast the future of this enclave.
