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 Harlem
is currently going through rapid transition. This change
unfortunately is displacing many African American families
since the price of real estate is increasing while the amount
of affordable homes is being decreased. Small stores are
currently being shut down as large corporate retailers are
being created, and old apartments are being replaced by
larger and more expensive real estate such as the homes
being built on 110 and 116 streets and the extremely tall
skyscraper-like hotel being built on 125 Street and 3rd
avenue. By so much of the area being altered, Harlem will
start losing many of the things that it is known for especially
if African Americans are forced to move elsewhere. Thus
destroying the memories of the past Harlem.
Harlem is renown for is richness in culture and convenient
location. This is very attractive to the middle and high-income
workers who are beginning to move here. However, this is
bad news for many who live in Harlem since new, more expensive
homes are being built and the rent of current apartments
are skyrocketing. Consequently, Harlem residents are being
forced to live elsewhere. The landowners on the other hand,
see this change as beneficial so they raise the rent become
wealthier by replacing current residents with ones that
make a higher income.
This change is being seen as very racist, since Blacks are
leaving Harlem, Whites with much higher income are replacing
them. Some current Harlem residents who have received poor
maintenance of their apartments by their landowners view
this as an attempt to remove them. Though some residents
have made complaints about government refusal of repairs
to their homes and poor heating in the winter, nothing is
being done to fix these problems. As a result, some apartments
are left without heat many times when the weather is extremely
cold, even water, a necessity, is cold beyond belief. Some
apartment complexes have broken elevators, so those who
live on the high floors have to walk up many times, and
the broken elevators are not repaired for a long time.
East Harlem has and is now also going through transition.
In the early twentieth century, East Harlem was a predominantly
Italian neighborhood. Now in the twentieth century, East
Harlem is a majority Latino community. Now it is the year
2004 and high-priced homes are being built on Third Avenue,
which has backyard and stairs leading up to the door. All
of these fabulous homes are so highly priced most current
East Harlem residents cannot afford them but outsiders can.
Even though, some people are currently paying the same amount
of rent, others are slowly having theirs increased or when
looking for a place to live a lot of the homes available
are too expensive especially since Manhattan in general
is more expensive to live than the other boroughs.
All of Harlem is changing with old buildings being renovated
to create new real estate and corporate retailers. Some
of these changes are good such as the new stores being built
on 125th Street, while others are causing a series of problems
within the community such as many people in danger of being
homeless with all of the expensive homes being created throughout
the area. Additionally, residents are experiencing in their
homes now that land owners care more about money than making
sure that they have a place to live.
The owners of the buildings continually raise the rent and
intentionally make it less affordable and while they are
forced to move elsewhere, new residents move in to make
the landowners pockets fuller. It is unfortunately a possibility
that all of the memorable things about Harlem will be gone
forever.
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