Harlem

         Harlem is a large neighborhood within the northern section of the New York City borough of Manhattan. Since the 1920s, Harlem has been known as a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands. Harlem's history has been defined by a series of economic boom-and-bust cycles, with significant population shifts accompanying each cycle.

         Harlem is located in Upper Manhattan—often referred to as Uptown by locals—and stretches from the East River west to the Hudson River between 155 Street, where it meets Washington Heights, to a ragged border along the south.

        Central Harlem—Manhattan Community Board No. 10—is bounded by Fifth Avenue on the east,

Central Park on the south, Morningside Park, Saint Nicholas and Edgecombe Avenues on the west and the Harlem River on the north. A chain of three large linear parks; Morningside, St. Nicholas and Jackie Robinson are situated on steeply rising banks and form most of the district's western boundary. On the east, Fifth Avenue and Marcus Garvey Park, also known as Mount Morris Park, separate this area from East Harlem.

        The West Harlem neighborhoods of Morningside Heights, Manhattanville and Hamilton Heights comprise Manhattan Community Board No. 9. The area is bounded by Cathedral Parkway (110th Street) on the South; 155th Street on the North; Manhattan/Morningside Ave/St.Nicholas/Bradhurst/Edgecome Avenues on the East; and the Hudson River on the west.

        East Harlem, within Manhattan Community Board 11, is bounded by East 96th Street on the south, East 142nd Street on the north, Fifth Avenue on the west and the Harlem River on the east.