Harlem 1980s
h/t MK
Posted in: Video
[...] Watching the above clip only highlights how quickly (20 years is nothing in the grand scheme of things) a community can change. The morale of the story; if you live in the ‘hood and can manage to buy your home, do it. There is no greater investment. [Spotted at Uptown Flavor] [...]
[...] neglected building and antiquated font allude to a different era in Harlem. Uptown Flavor shows Harlem in the 1980s Posted by ZPP Filed in Neighborhood/City, Photography ·Tags: Candlelight III Bar, Harlem, [...]
Humme
May 18, 2009
I grew up in Harlem in the 80′s just like many others did. Of course the cost of living was only one component of why people lived here then, let alone the its cultural refuge from the white establishment. The buildings in this video weren’t occupied, for one thing. It’s not like these hollow shells were populated with po’ folk. My obvious point is that a decayed neighborhood is easier on the pocketbook than a thriving one, and that’s a disgusting reality of the current Harlem.
Heather Walker
May 18, 2009
“How crummy Harlem had to be in order for people to afford living there”? As someone who grew up in Harlem in the ’80s, I can tell you people didn’t live like that because it made it affordable. People lived like that because those in power (government, landlords, and much of the rest of NY) didn’t care. Being poor or low/middle class doesn’t mean you have to live in a wasteland.
narmer
May 18, 2009
How did we survive that negative atmosphere to get to where most of us are at today. We laughed at 3rd World Countries, and all the time Harlem was one!
D. Bell
May 18, 2009
This is just one piece of this artist’s retrospective. We have also featured photos by one of my favorite photographers Jamel Shabazz that shows the beauty and vibrancy of the era.
harlemite
May 18, 2009
I agree what a difference between then and now. But let’s not forget that Harlem was not completely void of beauty in the 1980′s.
Humme
May 18, 2009
It was actually worse than how I remembered it. You would think there was a mass evacuation or an ethnic cleansing going on. I certainly don’t remember the streets being that bare, despite the buildings’ predicament. But when did this start? You can also see the landscape looking torn up in “Shaft,” which came out in 1971. Yet all I can think is that this is how crummy Harlem had to be in order for people to afford living there!
ZPP
May 18, 2009
Wow. Shocking.