EAST HARLEM COMMUNITY PLANNING
INFORMATION PACKAGE
Community Outreach Partnership Center for
the James Weldon Johnson Houses Tenant Association
Objectives
During the Summer of 1995 UTAP and the City College Architectural Center
(CCAC) provided planning and design assistance to an East Harlem neighborhood
near East 116th Street, east of Fifth Avenue. For this purpose, UTAP prepared
a community planning information package to assist the initiatives of the
James Weldon Johnson Tenants' Association aimed at enhancing open spaces
in their immediate neighborhood. Using the technical resources of UTAP and
Columbia University's Urban
Planning Program, UTAP staff completed a demographic profile and an
assessment of existing physical conditions as planning context for the project.
This project was supported by the Community Outreach Partnership Center
(COPC).
Context
Beginning as an early railroad suburb, initial development in East Harlem was predominated by housing construction intended for working-class immigrants wishing to relocate from severely crowded conditions in the Lower East Side. Among the earliest waves of immigrants to occupy speculative tenements in East Harlem were German and Irish working-poor. Eastern European Jews and Italians followed. Later in the middle 1900s, poor African-Americans and Puerto Ricans settled in East Harlem.
The present resident profile of East Harlem reflects a mixed racial and ethnic composition that can be traced to its history as an immigrant community. While many of the earlier immigrant groups have left, a strong Puerto Rican community has persisted since the mid-1950s. Today, most residents of East Harlem are either Puerto Rican or African-American. East Harlem serves as both a retail and cultural center of New York City's Puerto Rican community and is often referred to as 'Spanish Harlem' or 'El Barrio.'
The history and built environment of East Harlem is reflected by the
land uses that exist in the neighborhood today. Walk-ups, tenement buildings,
and various forms of public housing provide the physical context for the
neighborhood's residential structure. Commercial uses, both in heavily concentrated
corridors like 116th Street and Lexington Avenue, and in more scattered
sites throughout East Harlem, serve both regional and local retail needs.
Washburn Wire and the School for Mathematics and Science represent large
buildings that reflect both the neighborhood's industrial history and its
representation in New York's institutional future. In addition to these
active land uses, a significant number of vacant lots, both scattered throughout
and concentrated in areas, have become part of the East Harlem's evolving
cityscape.
Results
This study was designed to assist the tenant association in understanding and factoring in the general social, economic and physical characteristics and trends of the larger neighborhood -- beyond the Johnson Houses northward to 125th Street and to the south to 110th Street. Spatial analyses based on field surveys of the physical environment and demographic research of both the larger study area and the Johnson Houses were facilitated with GIS mappings and trend studies. In addition to a written report of findings and conclusions, the tenant association used the maps in the development and evaluation of potential urban design and physical planning policies and programs for the green spaces located on the grounds of the public housing complex.