6.6.2015
Harlem is my home.
It's where I was mostly raised and no matter where I die, I will always be a Harlemite. I consider every human to be valuable, unique and important. But the people of Harlem, are my "folks." If you take the time to get to know them, the result is that you will inadvertently, know me better.
I will always speak up in the interests of the people of Harlem, Black or White, Jew or Gentile, regardless of who it's against, liberal or conservative, urban or rural.
It's where I was mostly raised and no matter where I die, I will always be a Harlemite. I consider every human to be valuable, unique and important. But the people of Harlem, are my "folks." If you take the time to get to know them, the result is that you will inadvertently, know me better.
I will always speak up in the interests of the people of Harlem, Black or White, Jew or Gentile, regardless of who it's against, liberal or conservative, urban or rural.
The following thoughts and images were birthed from the canal of a conversation I had with a sister of mine. She was ostensibly, complaining about the still-current Mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio. But her rant really wasn't about him. Her topic was the condition of East Harlem, which seems to have turned into to a hopeless skid row recently.
 |
| 125th St. and Lexington Avenue, NYC |
"What's he doing with 125th St.? What's going on there?" My sister asked me one day while I sat in her living room in East Harlem. .
"Whaddya mean?" I asked, knowing full well, what she meant.
"It's like skid row out there! You know what I'm talking about! All types of men out there sleeping all
"Well, sis. I think that the methadone clinics down the block..."
She interrupted me. "PLEASE, Jamal. those clinics have been there for 20 years! They were they when Bloomberg was mayor! But still Harlem didn't look like this when HE was in office! It's a disgrace. This is 125th street!"
125th St. is, for many reasons, considered the "center" of Harlem. It's home to the world-famous Apollo Theater where Michael Jackson, James Brown, and other music legends performed routinely during their "heydays." Tour buses make a business of stopping by the nearby Sylvia's restaurant, which is famous in its own right. Other "hip" restaurants have now popped up.
While known as a prostitute-laden ghetto in the days of my childhood, Harlem saw an economic revival in the 90's due to being designated as an "Empowerment Zone" by Bill Clinton. Soon after, corporate investments and Clinton's after-term office came in to the neighborhood, with the unintended consequence of raising rents astronomically. I'm not an expert, but I think that's called "gentrification."
Even Bank of America came through.
Even Bank of America came through.
There appeared a huge Pathmark supermarket that everybody became excited about, IHop and Magic Johnson Theaters showed up to hire folks. All were hopeful about Harlem's economic future.
But apparently, something went wrong. These pictures are the best evidence I need. Bill Clinton moved his office to downtown, near Wall St. The train must have run off the track somewhere.
Maybe it's the gap between the rich and the poor that I always rail about. There is no middle-class anymore, just working class, and rich people. Maybe that has something to do with why these pictures depict the scene they do.
I often think about what my sister said, and she was right. 125th st., at least the east side of 125th St., is now crappy. And please know, that I'm not really as concerned about the actual street, as I am the people on the street, many who seem to be in a dilapidated condition. In other words, property values are my least worry even though they, too, count.
How did we get here? Who is responsible? Or who will see the need to claim responsibility, if anyone?
My sister named the Mayor as the responsible party. But maybe he's not the one at fault. Or maybe he is. Bill de Blasio is an unabashed liberal. The type of progressive I love. My sister is a little bit more conservative than I. Maybe I'm just being partisan by not not directing this blog post at him.But Someone, should be responsible for this. I agree with my sister on that point, no doubt. Appearance matters. And what hope can the children of East Harlem carry, with so much hopelessness presented around them?
A good friend of mine, who happens to be a white conservative, asked me whether it may be the fault of the community, that 125th is turning out this way.
"I'm not trying to debate you, Jamal. And I certainly am not saying that I know what's going on, or what the solution is, but I'm honestly just asking you. Maybe it's a stupid question," he added.
He's a credible guy, so thought about his point. Strange as it may sound, these people camping out on 125th, have a right to be there, to an extent (legal discussion aside). Nobody can easily order them to remove themselves from the public sidewalk. The solution lies in finding out why are they there? And what can we reasonably do, as a society, to solve this issue?
Were these people between methadone treatments when I took these pictures? I wondered this. What were they waiting for?
I'm not trying to be funny.
Is there some kind of housing situation necessary?
Actually, I get the feeling that most of the people in these pictures have somewhere to live. At least I feel like they did when Michael Bloomberg was mayor. And I'm not his biggest fan. So why are they there, now? Clearly, I have more questions than answers.As I researched my thoughts on this subject, I realized that I wasn't the only one who saw this downward spiral of hopelessness on display in East Harlem.
Something, is wrong here. You can see it in the pictures.But I idn't take these pictures, until my sister, a current Harlem resident raised the issue with me. And she didn't care, the same way I do, whether the responsible party is republican or democrat.
So I ask, who is responsible for this?
So I ask, who is responsible for this?
