The East Harlem tenements in the late 19th and early part of the 20th century attracted many of the poor working class from Europe was when Harlem was Irish. The photo above describes a East Harlem tenement building at 1791 Lexington Avenue (below photo) which still had a mix of Irish and Italian neighbors during her childhood.
By that time, Italians started becoming the largest group but East Harlem’s Little Italy would eventually shift into El Barrio by the 1950′s as the area became predominantly Puerto Rican (East Harlem is now predominantly residents of Mexican descent).
The Church of the Annunciation (above photo) was founded at Convent Avenue and 131st Street by the Irish community in West Harlem that came to work on the Hudson River Railroad back in the 1850′s but only small pockets of that demographic would remain up into the mid 20th century. Over in Hamilton Heights, there existed micro-neighborhoods of Irish with the Vinegar Hill neighborhood being the most notable. Street signs and buildings still have the Vinegar Hill moniker in the mid West 130′s and Amsterdam today even though that population moved out decades ago. There’s not too much out there on Harlem’s distant and more recent Irish population but today it seems like everyone is Irish uptown no matter what background they come from.
Bob left a comment saying, “An important to point to remember as Harlem continues to evolve. No New York neighborhood was ‘always’ one thing or another, the private preserve of one group or another; but, rather, a constant evolution … resulting only in perpetual change.”
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The 2010 Census shows Puerto Ricans still outnumber Mexicans by a wide margin within East Harlem. The total percentage of Latinos has grown indeed, but it is false to claim Mexicans outnumber Puerto Ricans in East Harlem. Please study the data carefully and correct this erroneous information.
What is visible at street level is not the same as what is the substance of the population’s heritage.
Mexican migration to NYC appears to have stopped on its tracks in light of federal policies, while Puerto Ricans can easily come & go.
Here the official figures just for 10029 zip code:
Mexican 7,374 9.7%
Puerto Rican 21,074 27.7%
As you can see Puerto Ricans outnumber Mexicans 3 to 1 within 10029. (East Harlem is 10029, 10035, and 10037).
Even if the count was off, there is no evidence Mexicans “outnumber” Puerto Ricans. What may be a perception or anecdotal hearsay is not supported by the facts.
Again the Mexicans in East Harlem may be more “visible” because there are more food venders & food services, this does not make the resident population any different from the data of the 2010 Census.
Here the numbers for 10035:
Mexican 3,649 10.7%
Puerto Rican 7,961 23.4%
In this zip code it is still 2 to 1. For every 1 Mexican there are 2 Puerto Ricans.
In 10029 for every 1 Mexican there are 3 Puerto Ricans.
Finally here is zip code 10037:
Mexican 142 0.8%
Puerto Rican 1,221 7.0%
In this area for every 1 Mexican there are 7 Puerto Ricans.
El Boricua,
Yes, we’ll be breaking down the Census information for Harlem as time passes.
Thank you,
HW
What makes Harlem great is the incredible diversity of our neighbors and our neighborhoods, it’s a microcosm of this great nation.
We love Harlem!
Thank you,
HW
My family was among the Irish in Harlem, from at least 1850 until the 1920s. Some family members lived in Harlem until the 1940s. I’ve found there isn’t a lot of information on the Irish in Harlem. They lived in “shanties” or small houses at first and later in the tenements. Thanks for the post.
We’re looking for more info all the time.
Thank you for visiting.
HW
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