Here is a quick rundown of what’s been happening in Harlem:
Profile feature on Joe Holland of Uptown Partners and Fifth on Park [BSN]
Oklahoma Smoke on 145th Street has opened its doors to the public and it seems that their “smoky-sweet” flavor is a big hit. [comments/tips] “If you insist on smoke, then head for Oklahoma Smoke BBQ, 231 West 145th Street, where by Saturday, Jeffrie Toney, the chef, and his partners, Paul Packard and Gary Smith, will be selling ribs, chicken, potatoes and specials like salmon lightly infused with woody fragrance ($4 to $18). With only six seats, the simple storefront is mainly for takeout, but an outdoor cafe and a separate dining room are in the works: (212) 862-5335″ [NYT] See also: NYMag
A tipster informed us that M&G has undergone renovations and should be back this the week: “M&G will re-open on Wednesday, July 25th after the renovation.” However, when I peeked into the window yesterday the place looked like it had a good scrub down but no actual renovations. [comments/tips]
Continuing on the DOH trail, Jive and Juice on Lenox was plastered with a big yellow sticker. I didn’t get the details but maybe a tipster can fill in the blanks.
Dave from Eating in Translation hipped us to the fact that Famous Seafood is slated to open in the next week or two at 567 West 125th St., just east of Broadway. No word as to whether they are affiliated with Famous Fish on St. Nicholas and 145th, but Dave did mention that they have two other locations — Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn and Teaneck, NJ. (Click picture to enlarge image) [Photo courtesy of EIT]
Copeland’s will be closing their doors for good “Gentrification has pushed away many of the black families who used to patronize his business. “The white people who took their place don’t like or don’t care for the food I cook,” he said. “The transformation snuck up on me like a tornado.” [NYT] see also, New York Daily News [NYDN]
The Amsterdam News picked up on our discussion about the drummers in Marcus Garvey Park and made mention of “Harlem bloggers” in their article.
Doug spotted a new pizzeria opening in his nabe: “Noticed this on the Northwest corner of 118th Street and Madison Avenue.” Giovanna’s Restaurant Pizzeria (pictured above right).
Foodies have their cake and eat it too [Foodies R Goodies]
Old school on 145th Street to finally be developed [NYSUN]
African culture thrives in Harlem [NYT]
Will of Dawson’s Ink recapped the screening of the new Don Cheadle film “Talk to Me”. [DI]
Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the loss of Harlem born poet and performance artist Sekou Sundiata who died of heart failure last week. [ChiTrib] See also: Sundiata’s funeral [BSN]
Anonymous
July 25, 2007
I think it’s kind of funny. The topics are serious but we can infuse a little humor into them to lighten things up. We can’t be mad all the time. LOL
divine1906
July 25, 2007
What an idiot…
anon
July 25, 2007
I’ve actually signed the online petition to have some of these North-South corridors renamed. “Malcolm X Boulevard” will become “Wayne Brady Boulevard”. White people like Wayne Brady cause he makes Bryant Gumble look like Malcolm X.
divine1906
July 24, 2007
#11 – Biased? Me? Is that your version of “the best defense is a good offense”?
The new tactics these days include accusing anyone who calls out folks on their bs of promoting a “victim mentality” among Black folksor reducing them to the “angry black” caricature who uses expressions like “white oppressor”(how retro is that?). Well I’m not going for the neo-conservative okey-doke.
And where do you see me defending the AmNews story? I merely rejected the idea that the NYT was some bastion of high journalistic integrity who has a corner on the truth market.
I read the AmNews with the same skepticism that I read the New York Post, but I do read them.
To #13, I don’t have the inclination to “invent” things. It is definitely a rumor I heard on the street. And if I heard it, others have heard it and will hear it.
anon
July 24, 2007
“I’ve also heard that some newcomers don’t like the north-south corridors named after historical African-Americans, i.e. Fredderick Douglass, Malcolm X, etc” Is this another rumor, or did you invent that one?
anon
July 24, 2007
divine-it was a turn of phrase. obviously i dont sit home crying for nice white people. didnt realize the literal police were trolling the board.
Mindful
July 24, 2007
Divine, I was just pointing out your bias and that the journalism that you were seemingly defending was bunk.
Ironically, what you said about pressure building in Harlem around gentrification and displacement is something that I very much DO see.
What I have tried to do on these issues is show you and others how the issues that are being pointed out (the record store owner (the music business sucks right now everywhere), Copeland’s (Amy Ruths and others are doing just fine), the drummers (they’ve been moved before for the same noise reasons)) have NOTHING to do with gentrification or displacement. These are life-in-the-city and normal business issues.
What I do recognize is that there are a number of folks out there with fears of displacement and who feel threatened by gentrification. While I can understand that, I won’t condone those fears causing people to make vocal assumptions on people’s motives, claims of conspiracies and supposed attacks on and hatred of Harlem’s culture.
I am white and I don’t have any motivations to displace anybody or change Harlem’s vast cultural history. I just wanted to find a home that I could afford, maybe raise a family, and do it in NYC where transportation was close by. I want a safe neighborhood and if the neighborhood looks pretty, all the better. I wouldn’t mind having more restaurant options and I’m dying to find a decent drycleaner who delivers (or have Aphrodite get their act together). I love having kids in the Park using the playground equipment and just wish that the drug dealers and users would leave the hill (the mountain?). Oh, and I really don’t like that a 30 story building is being built at 120th and 5th, but don’t mind that it may spur more restaurants and services in our community. Oh, and if I can take in Harlem’s cultural offerings and enjoy living in such a historical place, all the better. Maybe this sounds all “white oppressor” to you, but I can’t even oppress my cat (nor have I tried; I know she’d win). To be honest, I’d be surprised to find out that most people of whatever color don’t want the things I’ve listed above.
Oh – for the record, I was never on the high school debate team. Do you think I’d have been any good?
divine1906
July 24, 2007
#9-You’re welcomed to feel sorry for whoever you like.
For my part, I’ll save my sympathy for
children born into dysfunctional families who end up being dysfunctional themselves.
I feel sorry for the kids who have to attend poorly funded schools with teachers who believe they have no potential. They’ll never be competitive in today’s economy (but maybe that’s the idea).
I feel sorry for all the unemployed and unemployable inner city males who’s desperation usually ends up in crime, violence and prison.
I feel sorry for families breaking under the strain of crushing poverty.
I believe those “whites” and others who come to Harlem with an open spirit and a modicum of respect for Harlem’s history will be generally well received and will be just fine.
anon
July 24, 2007
i fear you are right divine. it does sell papers, so it will just continue. in the meantime, it’s fanning the flames of hatred in our community and it has the potential to get ugly. i feel bad for the white people who move to the area, mind their own business, stay out of shit and just live their lives. one of them could very easily step into quite a shit storm.
then again, it is harlem! welcome to the neighborhood!
divine1906
July 24, 2007
Mindful…all your high school debate team counterpoints don’t move me.
What you’re failing to see (maybe because you don’t care to) is that there is pressure building in Harlem around issues of gentrification, displacement, etc.
So when issues like the drummers come up, a whole bunch of other stuff get’s tied in.
So if you want to just focus in on the drummers per se and how the AmNews writes a story, you’re missing the forest for the trees.
divine1906
July 24, 2007
ac-I’ve only heard it as a rumor so I haven’t paid it much attention. I’ve also heard that some newcomers don’t like the north-south corridors named after historical African-Americans, i.e. Fredderick Douglass, Malcolm X, etc.
Conspiracy theories are always out here, but it’s incumbent upon us to try to deal in facts and not in muddled headed thinking.
I read the AmNews article and see it as the same kind of sensational reporting that some of our dailes engage in.
The kind that sells papers.
Mindful
July 24, 2007
Drummers fight for Marcus Garvey Park
by LESLIE ANN MURRAY
Special to the AmNews
Originally posted 7/19/2007
Harlem bloggers and their faithful readers are all commenting about the supposed rumor that the new white residents in Harlem are pushing to change the Marcus Garvey Park back to its original name, Mount Morris Park.
>>WHICH BLOGS? WHERE?
“I have[n’t?] heard anything officially, I have heard chatter about changing the name of Mount Morris Park,” said Neil Clark, chair of the Community Board 10 in Harlem.
>>OKAY, THEY’RE REPORTING ON THE COMMUNITY BOARD CHAIR ACKNOWLEDGING THAT HE HEARD PEOPLE DISCUSSING A RUMOR. DOES THIS GIVE THE RUMOR LEGITIMACY?
Clark who has jurisdiction over the park added, “I doubt that my board would go along with the name change if there was one.
The rumors were all started when residents of the new upscale apartment complexes near the park started complaining to the local NYPD about the loud drumming coming from Marcus Garvey Park.
For the past 20 years, drummers from across the African diaspora have convened at Marcus Garvey Park on Saturday afternoons, drumming until sunset.
>>YES, BUT THEY HAVE MOVED ALL OVER THE PARK, AS PEOPLE HAVE COMPLAINED ABOUT THE NOISE. SEVERAL YEARS AGO, THEY WERE ASKED TO MOVE BY THE RESIDENTS OF MAPLE COURT NEAR MADISON AVE.
According to State Sen. Bill Perkins, the drummers are seen as equilibrium in the Harlem community, sections of which are often visited by violence.
“To some extent they [are] the safety in the neighborhood, their present and spirituality attributes one of the most positive forces present in the park,” Perkins said.
>>IN THEIR NEW LOCATION, MORE PEOPLE CAN HEAR THEM (BUT THEY’RE JUST NOT ON ANYONE’S DOORSTEP NOW). THAT’S A GOOD THING, RIGHT?
In early June 2007, the drummers were confronted by the police and told to stop their drumming because the residents of 2005 5th Avenue, which is across from the park complained about the noise.
>>NOT AN UNREASONABLE REQUEST GIVEN THE NOISE LAWS. DOES THE USE OF THE WORDS “CONFRONTED” AND “TOLD TO” CORRESPOND TO WHAT REALLY HAPPENED?
A spokesperson for the drummers told the police, ‘We have been drumming every week until nine p.m. for the last 30 years and we will continue until 9pm.”
When the drummers didn’t budge, the police called back up, and the spokesperson continued, “It’s our culture from Africa.”
After a long process of back and forth from the police officers and the drummers, they left them alone to drum on.
>>SO, THE POLICE OFFICERS WERE PERSUADED BY THE LOGIC “IT’S OUR CULTURE FROM AFRICA”? WHEREEVER THE CULTURE IS FROM, THERE WERE PEOPLE BEING DISTURBED IN THEIR OWN HOMES BY THE NOISE. WHY IS THIS A CULTURAL ISSUE ANYWAY – IT WAS NEVER A CULTURAL ISSUE WHEN THEY MOVED FROM IN FRONT OF MAPLE COURT.
The drummers have been bouncing around several locations in the park as the community changed over the years, and Perkins has been working with the drummers to help them find a permanent space in the park to call their own.
>>AH, THE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. BUT IT DOESN’T SAY WHY THEY’VE BEEN “BOUNCING AROUND”. IT’S BECAUSE PARK RESIDENTS NEAR WHERE THEY WERE LOCATED COULDN’T TAKE THE CONSTANT NOISE. NOW THAT SOME WHITE PEOPLE HAVE COMPLAINED ABOUT THE NOISE IT BECOMES A CULTURAL ISSUE? C’MON!
“This is another effort to morph Harlem into something else that it’s not, said 38-year-old Vincent Morgan from Harlem.
>>A PLACE WHERE NEIGHBORS CAN REASONABLY AGREE ON WAYS TO CO-EXIST? AND WHO IS VINCENT MORGAN?
Morgan believes this issue will create more divide between the indigenous population and new white residents in Harlem.
>>HOW? THE DRUMMERS HAVE BEEN “BOUNCING AROUND” THE PARK FOR A REASON. WHY IS IT AN ISSUE NOW?
He suggested the drummers in the park be more regulated to create an even symmetry between the old and new Harlem.
>>THIS ONE REALLY SLAYED ME. SO THE DRUMMERS GET “MORE REGULATED” AND THERE WON’T BE PEOPLE UP IN ARMS? OKAY…
>>DID THIS STORY REALLY STOP TALKING ABOUT THE SUPPOSED NAME-CHANGE AFTER ONLY 3 SENTENCES? DIVINE, IS THIS “REAL JOURNALISM”?
ac
July 24, 2007
divine-have you heard of any organized movement to change the name of the park by white newcomers to the area? or do you agree that the article is based on rumor along, linking together the noise complaints about drumming to this imaginary movement to change the name of the park?
im only asking because you have said yourself on this board that you are active in the community and with the marcus garvey park alliance, so i would imagine you would have heard of this if it was happening.
divine1906
July 24, 2007
#3 represents the typical attitude. This issue does touch on class and race (like many others in this society), but the ususal tact by white folks with power is to ignore both issues because they’re “tired” of hearing about it. And when the issues do get raised they dismiss those who do so as having a “victim mentality”. It’s the same “let me piss on your face and call it rain” routine.
Looking to the New York Times as some paragon of objectivity is laughable. Like most corporate media today, it reflects the views of the ruling elite. There’s little “real journalism” going on there.
Don’t worry about Harlemites and truth. The truth of what’s happening is all around us.
anon
July 23, 2007
The Amsterdam news article is inflammatory, one sided, plays to class and race, and exploits the victim mentality.
Is this journalism, propaganda or simply feeding their readers with what they want to hear. This serves only one purpose, it gives the reader a one sided argument, a reason to get mad and be a victim once more.
It would be great if a real journalist (NY Times) could write about these issues, giving both sides of the argument and some objectivity.
I fear many Harlemites are not interested in the truth, just open to any argument that smacks of victimization.
ROB
July 23, 2007
I don’t think stopping or lessening the drumming activity has anything to do with “cultural” or “racial” aspect of things. It’s more having to do with respecting the neighbors and giving them the right to have peace and quiet in their homes. To ignore such request from the residents is just plain ignorant.
snowe
July 23, 2007
The food at Oklahoma Smoke is awesome. I love the pulled pork, greens and bread puddding (so yummy)
Dont’ take my word for it…go try it.