Spanish Harlem, Fifth Avenue at 105th Street

Mary Sargent © 2008 .... click to enlarge

The renovation is to El Museo del Barrio, just one of the museums on Museum Mile. But that's for another walk. Just now I'm interested in how this woman has dressed for her surroundings with style and panache, right down to her shoes.

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Spanish Harlem, 106th Street Between Park and Madison Avenues

Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

This blast of color is on the school yard of the Jackie Robinson Educational Complex. That's the Park Avenue viaduct behind. Time Out called this The Graffiti Hall of Fame, so now I've been looking at websites and videos, and getting all excited and involved and spending way too much time on this. The Hall of Fame apparently refers to the famous graffiti artists who've painted there. And it changes every summer. Look at this:



Isn't that great? I was finally motivated enough to learn how to include videos.

This is what I love about doing this. I go somewhere and see something I think is interesting and then I try to find out something about it and sometimes I find out that a lotta, lotta people already know about it, just not anybody I know, there's just this whole group of other people really interested and involved. Then I compare that and what I now know with remembering me just walking along, innocent and clueless, and thinking, wow, that's interesting, I wonder if anyone knows about that? You know what I mean? It's like there's so much out there and if you look a little further, you find out there's even more. This is a great, great, great city.

Here's something else I'm thinking and this is mainly for us artists of the studio type. You know how they've been saying for years that painting is dead? And we've, some of us, just kept on painting anyway (I was a painter before this)? Well, this stuff out here on the walls is the real answer to that. What could be more alive? Let me hear from you, you artists! Anyone else, you too, of course.

Spanish Harlem, 106th Street Between Lexington and Park Avenues

Mary Sargent © 2008 ……….. click to enlarge

Turning onto 106th Street, we see important buildings. I can't identify this one, though. One source says that it's P.S. 72, but P.S. 72's online address is at East 104th Street. What's a blogger to do at 12:02 a.m.? Leave it to you, of course. Someone out there must know.



Mary Sargent © 2008 …………click to enlarge

This one is easy: St. Cecelia's Church, built in 1883-87 by Napoleon LeBrun & Sons. The AIA guide to New York City calls it "one of East Harlem's special treasures." I agree.



Mary Sargent © 2008 ……… click to enlarge

And this one? I'll just have to find out and bring it back to ya.


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Spanish Harlem, Lexington Avenue Between 107th and 106th Streets

Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

Checking the boundaries of Spanish Harlem in Wikipedia, I see someone has changed them and I think I like these boundaries better. This makes East Harlem and Spanish Harlem one and the same, so now there's no more East Harlem (on the blog, I mean).

New boundaries: northern: 141st Street at the Harlem River; eastern:, the East River; southern: 96th Street; western: Fifth Avenue.

I'm reserving the right to change the northern border, other alternatives are 125th or 116th Streets.


Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

If you enlarge this photograph, you can see the changes that were made to the building. See how the doorway is split in half by the turquoise paint? So it seems that on the painted side of the building, the stairway was removed, the door was closed up and made into a window, and the entrance was put on the ground floor. This may or may not interest you.

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Spanish Harlem, 108th Street at Lexington Avenue

Mary Sargent © 2008 …….. click to enlarge

Posting early and in haste. The photograph wasn't in haste, however. Isn't it a beauty?

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Spanish Harlem, Lexington Avenue Between 109th and 108th Streets

Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

Cousin Claire said I MUST go to the Conservatory Gardens while the weather was still good. I try to please, and so last Wednesday after a visit to my podiatrist, noticing how good it felt to walk without pain, I decided to nip on up. I was at 54th and Lex and I took the No. 6 train up to 110th Street to get a short photowalk in.

Lexington Avenue up here does not have the charm it has farther downtown. The avenue seems wider and is flanked by big blank apartment houses. This was the first interesting spot I came to.

And here's a closeup of the menu in the window.


Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

Notice the only English word on this menu is Lunch.
Uh, words, I mean, like Lunch Special. Chocolate. Tea. Oh, never mind.

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Spanish Harlem, 110th Street at Madison Avenue

Mary Sargent © 2007 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

I'm going to end it here although I had a few more shots to show you. It's spring now and you don't want to be looking at snow any more, I know.

By this time in the walk, Bill and I had stopped for cappuccino and coffee at La Tropezienne, a French café located on First Avenue at 110th Street. Gentrification, I thought, ever alert. But, no, they've been there for, I think they said, six years, and it didn't look like anything had changed in that time.

And we had had lunch at St. Francis de Asis (unless that's the name of a church), but no, Chowhound has a posting about it and calls it San Francisco de Asis. I wasn't too hungry so thought I'd just have guacamole, but that order caused some consternation and the waitress seemed to be telling me it wasn't good. Either that or the Spanish version of "you no like." I once again told myself: just learn Spanish dammit. So I had a soft taco with spicy pork, which was fine. Wouldn't go back though, as the music was unrelenting and loud. I have forgotten what Bill had but I do remember that the music didn't bother him. You decide.

When we left the restaurant, the weather had changed to cold and windy, no more blue skies, as you can see in photo above.

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Spanish Harlem, 111th Street Between Second and First Avenues

Mary Sargent © 2007 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

Window guards are very common in New York, especially at street level, but I don't believe I've ever seen them painted pink before. And not only that, the metal covers in the sidewalk are pink. Truly inspired. And now I'm craving to come back at dusk when those globe lights come on.

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Spanish Harlem, 111th Street Between Third and Second Avenues

Mary Sargent © 2007 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

Now we're in Spanish Harlem which is part of East Harlem. Boundaries are 96th Street to 125th Street, Park Avenue to East River. All I can say is somewhere in Spanish Harlem is a genius colorist who put those two colors together.

For more evidence, view abstract photos one and two.

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Spanish Harlem, 111th Street Between Madison and Park Avenues

Mary Sargent © 2007 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

This is the side of last night's building. Behind the fence, what looks like a junk yard is actually the winter time look of a community garden. Obviously this would make a good summertime visit. Not all community gardens have such a good backdrop.

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Spanish Harlem, Madison Avenue at 111th Street

Mary Sargent © 2007 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

We've crossed Fifth Avenue and here is Madison; that means we're in East Harlem now. Here's one of those buildings that gets to me every time.

One more photo: La Pequena Grocery at the base of the building.

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