You are currently browsing the stories about the Harlem neighborhood
Harlem Girls
by BreeanneDaniels 09/21/2011Neighborhood: Harlem, Uncategorized
I love this train station. 125th St. The 1 is sentimental, alluring. It’s Ice T’s shadow in the credits of Law and Order SVU, It’s an isolated and spectacular scene that rises from below at 125th street, and Harlem is unfolded from panoramic elevation. I stood on 125th street, listening the rumble above me as the [...]
The Day the World Did Not End
by Robin Kilmer 07/08/2011Neighborhood: Harlem, Uncategorized
The world was supposed to end on May 21, 2011. One man I spoke to at a bar was a little disappointed when Earth was still turning at 12:01 AM on the 22nd. I guess that’s what you would expect from someone who is sitting by himself. His face was ruddy with alcohol and he was [...]
Inventorying Hidden Spaces
by J.W. Rogers 03/07/2011Neighborhood: Harlem, Upper West Side
In the basement of the Museum of American Indian there was a caretaker’s apartment. You got to it by walking down a side stairwell, beyond the main entrance of the museum, or by going past the work space beyond the gift shop, through a utility room, and then down a side hallway. The door was [...]
The Super With The Toy Face: Redux
by Ennis Smith 12/31/2006Neighborhood: Harlem
[When the site first published Ennis Smith's "The Super With The Toy Face," its impact was felt immediately--not just on the site, but on the literary history of the United States. Smith has sent us a revised version of the piece, which we are happy to publish below. We're going to keep the original up, [...]
Thanksgiving With The Blonde in The Brown Jacket
by Timothy Braun 10/31/2006Neighborhood: Harlem
If you find yourself awakened by an eccentric, foul-tempered neighbor called el Jefe in the hallway of an apartment building known for its vermin while fully installed with a vodka hangover and reeking of pizza-flavored snack treats, be as pleasant as possible. Especially if you are seeking assistance in the forcible entry of your own [...]
The Super With The Toy Face
by Ennis Smith 10/24/2006Neighborhood: Harlem
[A few months after this piece was originally published, Ennis Smith sent us a revision which we have also published here. Look at the two versions side by side and see if you learn anything about how revision figures in the writing process. --Ed.] They called him the neighborhood watchdog. He was the super of [...]
Scrambling Along the Roots and Rocks
by Jessica Allen 08/10/2006Neighborhood: Harlem
We took the train to the very top of Manhattan, exiting the subway into a neighborhood of large boulevards and boarded-up storefronts. Black sedans cruised by and occasionally stopped to ask us if we needed a taxi. At 9:30 on a Sunday morning, it was already steamy. This was only our fifth Sunday in the [...]
Dispatch from under the Overpass
by Steven Tweddell 01/12/2006Neighborhood: Harlem
It’s weird, how often you’ll find in out-of-the-way urban areas—below an overpass, next to a river or stream, next to railroad tracks—a pair of jeans, a pair of shoes, unmatching dirty socks, filthy underwear, cast off as if these places were just other rooms, were the private dressing quarters of the damned. I’ve always wondered [...]
Brand New Leather Jacket
by Wayne G. 09/23/2005Neighborhood: Harlem
It was a beautiful November afternoon. I was relaxing in my house located in Wagner Projects, when I realized that I had enough money saved up to buy the leather jacket I wanted. So I went in my sneaker box, where I had $500 saved and went to a store called Jan’s. Jan’s is located [...]
B-Man: The Next Door Neighbor From Hell
by Kristin B. 05/27/2004Neighborhood: Harlem
I live next to the neighbor from hell. B-man is about 5/10, slim and dark skinned. He always wears a black kango and one of his old black suits. I can tell they’re so old because of all the wrinkles in it,cand besides that its faded. On the east side of Harlem on 129th Street [...]
Spare Change with Bullets
by Peter L. Strauss 01/31/2004Neighborhood: Harlem
A slightly built African-American man in a standard-issue beige trenchcoat murmured as we passed on the street. “Say, you wouldn’t mind giving the time of day to a Black man?” “What can I do for you?” “Well, I’m just here at St. Luke’s, you see, for the methadone program, and I have to get home, [...]
Do Black Children Scare You?
by Michelle J. Lee 01/30/2004Neighborhood: Harlem
I sit in a tree with pen and paper in hand, planning to writing a letter. The branches under me are smooth and rough in patches, warped like an elephant’s trunk. The shade of the tree, the cool breeze and warm sun make me feel good, and calm, and in control. An elderly man stands [...]
