An Italian Harlem Time Capsule

In today's New York Times the Real Estate section has a great piece on a couple who has lived in their East Harlem apartment for 35 years. Their home is a time capsule, full of memories from the time when Italian immigrants were coming to the United States and and living in East Harlem. The couple's relatives were some of those immigrants. East Harlem was known as Italian Harlem back in the early 1900s, some of the last remnants of that time are Patsy's, Rao's and this couple's brownstone. The article is a great history lesson and also a wonderful profile on an interesting couple.

Hat tip: Dad

Local Stop: East Harlem

Earlier this week the New York Times covered East Harlem in their Local Stop section. They visited El Paso Restaurant, the Graffiti Hall of Fame, Metropolis Studios and the Raíces Latin Music Museum, among other stops. I think I would have chosen the Museum of the City of New York and a more off-the-beaten-path restaurant, but nonetheless it's great to see the hood getting some coverage.

What East Harlem stops would you have covered?


Take a look at their slide show of East Harlem haunts.

Photo: Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times

Hat Tip: Levi

One of My Favorite Authors Lives in Harlem

In this Saturday's New York Times Real Estate section there was an article about a family living in the Sugar Hill section of Harlem. I soon realized that family was the Kogans and Deborah Copaken Kogan, the mother, photographer and writer in the article was non-other then the author of Shutterbabe. Shutterbabe is a fantastic novel about Deborah working as a war photographer and struggling to find balance in her life. As a photographer and writer myself, Deborah is an inspiration to me, so, I was very excited to see that she lives near by. Perhaps we'll bump into each other.

Here's a slideshow of their home.

Hat tip to my dad for showing me this article. Thanks Dad!

Photo from The New York Times, Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times