QUOTES
Down These Mean Streets
– p. ix “Man! How many times have I stood on the rooftop of my broken-down building at night and watched the bulb-lit world below. / Like somehow it’s different at night, this my Harlem. / There ain’t no bright sunlight to reveal the start naked truth of garbage-lepered streets. / Gone is the drabness and hurt, covered by a friendly night. / It makes clean the dirty-faced kids.”
– P. 24 “I sure missed 111th Street, where everybody acted, walked, and talked like me. But on 114th Street everything went all right for a while. There were a few dirty looks from the spaghetti-an’-sauce cats, but no big sweat. Till that one day I was on my way home from school and almost gad reached my stoop when someone called: ‘Hey, you dirty fuckin’ spic.’”
– P. 46 “The trolley stopped on 114th Street and we got off; Momma wanted to go to La Marketa. The Market ran from 110th to 116th Street on Park Avenue. It splat out on both sides of the street and all the way up the middle, and here wasn’t anything you couldn’t buy there. It was always packed with a mess of people selling or buying, and talking different languages. Most of the vendors were Jewish, but they spoke Spanish like Puerto Ricans.”
– P. 47 “Moving into a new block is a big jump for a Harlem kid. You’re torn up from your hard-won turf and brought into an ‘I don’t know you’ block where every kid is some kind of enemy. Even when he block belongs to your own people, you are still and outsider who has to prove himself a down stud with heart.”
The Madonna of 115th Street
– P. 37 “’The sunlight and fresh air of our mountain home in Luciana were replaced by four walls and people all over and under and on all sides of us, until it seemed that humanity from all corners of the world ha congregated in this section of New York City known as East Harlem.”’ (Leonard Covello)
– P. 48 “We got a lot of growing pains on 115th Street today, a lot of growing pains. If there would be a way of soothing them out, it’s just by talking them out. This is why I think the Legion of Mary [at Mount Carmel] is so helpful… because you go house to house and get to talk [to Hispanic people]… get to really know them and say, you know there’s a God who loves you everywhere and bring them forth.” (Italian American woman)
– P. 155 “My grandfather and his son, my father, came to America to make more money, which he succeeded in doing, but never with the intention of remaining in America. He looked upon America as a place or a heaven where one could make money which could help him live better in Italy.” (Italian Harlem residents)
– P. 161 “Throughout my whole elementary school career, I do nor recall one mention of Italy or the Italian language or what famous Italians had done in the world, with the possible exception of Columbus, who was pretty popular in America. We soon got the idea that ‘Italian’ meant something inferior, and a barrier was erected between children of Italian origin and their parents. This was the accepted process of Americanization. We were becoming Americans by learning how to be ashamed of our parents.” (Covello)
– P. 220 “In 1886 the Italians in East Harlem lived within a radius of about a quarter of a mile. There was only one church to go to and that was what we used to call the ‘American Church’ at East 115th Street (now the renowned Madonna of Mount Carmel Church). In those days we Italians were allowed to worship only in the basement part of the church, a fact which was not altogether to our liking. But the neighborhood became more and more Italian – Now Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church is our very own.” (Italian resident)”
Class: Here are some names/institutions of prominent East Harlem residents/organizations provided by Marina Ortiz (our tour guide). She also listed some local restaurants as well.
Lulu LuLo (Lois Evans Pascale)
331 East 116th Street
New York NY 10035
lululolo@rcn.com
Life-long resident, homeowner, performance artist
Related article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/22/realestate/22habi.html
Raymond Plumey, Architect & Planner, PC
RPlumey@aol.com
Local architect, homeowner, and preservationist
Sandra Morales-De Leon, Deputy Director
East Harlem Business Capital Corporation
2261-63 First Avenue, 3rd Floor
New York NY 10035
(212) 427-6537
smdeleon@ehbcc.org
Homeowner and lifelong resident
Knowledgeable about local economy
Julian Gerena-Quinones, Founder
Barrio Media
barriomedia@gmail.com
Lifelong resident, youth artist/organizer, independent media consultant
Nick Lugo, Owner
Nick Lugo Travel
159 East 116th Street
New York, NY 10035
(212) 348-8270
lvheditor@gmail.com
nick@nicklugotravel.com
http://lavozhispanany.com/nick.php
Lifelong resident, business and property owner
Publisher of La Voz Hispana
Co-Producer of the Annual 116th Street Festival
Sandra Perez, Executive Director
Centro de La Communidad Mexicana (CECOMEX)
(212) 289-6400
NACONOPALERO@aol.com
CECOMEXUSA@YAHOO.COM
Producer of Annual Cinco de Mayo & Dia de Los Muertos street festivals
http://www.myspace.com/cecomex
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=71142994055
Movimiento Para Justicia en El Bariro (Movement for Justice in El Barrio)
movementforjusticeinelbarrio@yahoo.com
http://movementvsdawnayday.org/who-we-are
Lynn Lewis, Executive Director
Picture the Homeless
lynn@picturethehomeless.org
http://www.picturethehomeless.org
Local resident, very knowledgeable about affordable housing issues
Alvin Johnson, President
UPACA Site #7 Tenants Association
aalcap@aol.com
Longtime local resident; President of Tenants Against Tahl-Propp and Chair of Community Board 11’s Housing Committee
Matthew Washington, Chair
Community Board 11
mwashington@cb.nyc.gov
Grew up and has many relatives in East Harlem
George Sarkissian, District Manager
Community Board 11
1664 Park Avenue
New York NY 10035
(212) 831-8929
gsarkissian@cb.nyc.gov
Lives and works in East Harlem
Bob Maida, Giglio Society of East Harlem
bob631@aol.com
Giglio di Sant’ Antonio Feast organizer/webmaster
http://eastharlemgiglio.com/home2.htm
Miriam Medina, Editor
The History Box
miriam@thehistorybox.com
http://mimispeaks.blogspot.com
Local historian
Claudio Caponigro, Owner
Claudio Barber Shop
The shop has been in existence for over 60 years
Related article: http://piven.blogspot.com/2008/09/italian-harlem-claudios-barbershop.html
Maritza Villegas, Guidance Counselor
Manhattan Center for Science and Mathematics
maritzavillegas@msn.com
LOCAL EATERIES:
La Fonda Boricua Restaurant
169 East 106th Street (between Lexington & Third Avenues)
New York, NY 10029-4633
(212) 410-7292
Traditional Puerto Rican food
Latin Jazz Thursdays
Patsy’s Pizzeria
2287 First Avenue (near 118th St)
New York, NY 10035
(212) 534-9783
Founded in 1933. Full menu.
El Paso Taqueria
1643 Lexington Avenue near 104th Street
New York, NY 10029
(212) 831-9831
Traditional Mexican dishes
Itzocan Bistro
1575 Lexington Avenue / 101st Street
New York, NY 10029
(212) 423-0255
French-Mexican cuisine
The Kiosk
80 East 116th Street
New York, NY 10029
(212) 348-9010 Fax:
Moroccan & Mediterrnen Cuisine and Hookah Bar
La Tropezienne Bakery
2131 1st Avenue / near 110th Street
New York, NY 10029-3332
(212) 860-5324
French bakery serving sandwiches, salads, espresso, and pastries
There is also an excellent listing of local restaurants on East-Harlem.com: http://www.east-harlem.com/index.php/Organizations/olisting/category/restaurant
