Overshadowed by the fame of Harlem and the wealth of the Upper East Side, East Harlem is rarely noted as a historical enclave. However, from the early 1800s through today, East Harlem has welcomed wave after wave of immigrants struggling for a place in the nation's most famous city. African Americans, Irish, Germans, European Jews, Italians, Scandinavians, Puerto Ricans, and Latinos are among the ethnic groups who have shaped this neighborhood, bringing with them their religious, social, and culinary traditions. East Harlem is the first volume to tell this neighborhood's history through images. Photographs of the iron, stone, and rubber factories, the tenements, the 100th Street community, famous politicians such as Fiorella LaGuardia, the Second and Third Avenue elevated subways, St. Cecilia's, and many other subjects capture East Harlem's past in one memorable collection.

Rich with the textures and rhythms of street life, The Tenants of East Harlem is an absorbing and unconventional biography of a neighborhood told through the life stories of seven residents whose experiences there span nearly a century. Modeled on the ethnic distinctions that divide the community, the book portrays the old guard of East Harlem: Pete, one of the last Italian holdouts; José, a Puerto Rican; and Lucille, an African American. Side by side with these representatives of a century of ethnic succession are the newcomers: Maria, an undocumented Mexican; Mohamed, a West African entrepreneur; Si Zhi, a Chinese immigrant and landlord; and, finally, the author himself, a reluctant beneficiary of urban renewal. Russell Leigh Sharman deftly weaves these oral histories together with fine-grained ethnographic observations and urban history to examine the ways that immigration, housing, ethnic change, gentrification, race, class, and gender have affected the neighborhood over time. Providing unique access to the nuances of inner-city life, The Tenants of East Harlem shows how roots sink so quickly in a community that has always hosted the transient, how new immigrants are challenging the claims of the old, and how that cycle is threatened as never before by the specter of gentrification.

Through this heartwarming, real-life success story, Fliegel and James MacGuire make a convincing case for public school choice. They show that if it can happen in East Harlem, it can happen anywhere.

For some 70 years, Leo Goldstein's East Harlembodyof work remained mostly untouched and unseen.The silver gelatin prints were catalogued in 2016,and a selection is gathered here for the first time.The photographs were taken over a number of years,beginning in 1949 when Goldstein was a memberof the Photo League.The East Harlem corpus, edited by Regina Monfort,represents an important and unique addition to thephotographic history of New York City. Because thereare no negatives in existence, it was of particularimportance to preserve the images in book form andmake them available to the public.The selected images reflect the postwar years in theEast Harlem community, which would grow intoa center of Puerto Rican culture and life in the U.S.From the families portrayed gathering on stoops, tothe kids at their shoeshine stations, to youths playingball in the streets, to posters on neighborhood walls,Goldstein's images of East Harlem provide a windowinto the socio-economic, cultural, and politicallandscape of the time.

The community of East Harlem in New York City lays claim to a rich and culturally diverse history. Once home to 35 ethnicities and 27 languages, the neighborhood attracted Irish, Jewish, and Italian immigrants in the early 20th century and later saw an influx of Puerto Rican immigrants and African Americans. In this oral history, former and current residents recount the early days, the post-World War II rise of public housing, the departure of Eastern European inhabitants, the growth of Latino and African American populations, the spirited 1960s, the urban blight of the 1980s, and the more recent resurgence and gentrification. This story of strength and struggle provides a vivid portrait of a fascinating community and the many resilient people who have called it home.

East Harlem Revisited presents a fresh look at this historic neighborhood through rare photographic images. Photographs taken from tenement rooftops, at family gatherings, and of sports and events celebrate a bygone era and the neighborhood's diversity. A neighborhood of many ethnicities and languages, at one time a section of East Harlem made up the largest Little Italy in the country. The landmarks that have been preserved throughout the years detail the importance and impact of architectural development on East Harlem's history. Photographs of the neighborhood's tenements and public housing depict East Harlem's changing landscape, while images of famous residents celebrate the many talented individuals who have called East Harlem home.