Join the East Harlem Facebook Page

It's got a small following so far, but hopefully soon the East Harlem Facebook page will let East Harlemers connect and share info.

18th Annual Ethnic Festival of El Barrio

Celebrated the diversity of East Harlem this Saturday at the Annual Ethnic Festival of El Barrio at 104th St. between 2nd and 3rd Ave. Come out between 11am and 6pm and you'll enjoy music, art and food from a wide vary of cultures including Mexican, Puerto Rican, South American, West African, Caribbean, Arabic and African-American.

Find out more information at the Union Settlement Association Website.

More on the East Harlem Media, Entertainment and Cultural Center

According to a press release from the New York Economic Development Fund the development will include:

* 30,000 square feet of cultural space celebrating East Harlem’s unique and diverse cultural heritage;
* More than 800 total housing units, 600 of which will be affordable to individuals or families with moderate or middle incomes;
* A mid-block public plaza;
* A minimum of 24,000 square feet of landscaped open space;
* 50,000 square feet of retail space reserved for locally-owned businesses at below market rents;
* 250,000 square feet of class A office space;
* A 98,000-square-foot hotel; and,
* A $10 million local investment fund to assist small businesses and entrepreneurs that locate in the new development.

What do you think? Would you want to live in this complex?

East Harlem Media, Entertainment and Cultural Center

A massive $700 million project has broken ground on 125th St and 3rd Ave in East Harlem. GlobeSt and Curbed report that the East Harlem Media, Entertainment and Cultural Center has started construction. The multi-use building will have 800 housing units, a cultural center, office space, retail space for local business and more. The building is expected to be LEED certified.

At the start of construction, GlobeSt quoted Mayor Bloomberg saying, Today's groundbreaking, along with the other projects taking shape along 125th Street, are helping sustain the momentum of Harlem's ongoing renaissance. This major multi-use development –– a major investment and show of confidence in Harlem's future –– will serve the community in a variety of important ways: by creating needed affordable housing, valuable community and cultural space, and new office and retail space. Most importantly in today's economy, it will create thousands of permanent and construction jobs.”

Who Even Knew There Was a Catholic Museum in East Harlem?

Yesterday's New York Times has an article on the rise and fall of the National Museum of Catholic Art and History, which believe it or not was in East Harlem. You didn't know their was a Catholic Museum in East Harlem? Well, that could have lent to the museum's struggles. In case you weren't one of the museum's few visitors, when it was open from 2003 to 2007, the museum was located on 115th St and the building is now for sale. The museum was plagued by money issues as well as other problems, but the museum's director had friends in high places who helped keep it afloat.

Photo: Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times

Welcome the New Neighbors…the Artists

Architect’s Newspaper reported that East Harlem's Public School 109 -- on the far east side of 99th St -- will be the future home of 72 artist’s residences. Artspace, a non-profit that creates affordable housing for artists, is working with financial backing from the Ford Foundation on the the project, which is expected to break ground later this year.