Central Harlem & Spanish Harlem
I went back to Harlem again this weekend. First I finished off 117th - 124th St. east of Lenox Ave. and then did 125th St. - 135th St. east of St. Nicholas Ave. About 19 miles (would have been 20 miles, but I accidentally missed 123rd St. east of Marcus Garvey Park - rookie mistake).
Today's walk
This walk was similar to last week's walk in a lot of ways. The general feel of the neighborhood was similar and it shared the same history. The most notable feature, architecturally, was all of the great brownstones; most had been well maintained, others had been restored or were being restored (and in some cases, interestingly modernized), and unfortunately some others were in need of repair. One of these was Langston Hughes's home on 127th St., which is still standing but could use some work.
The other thing I noticed was a lot of old Catholic churches, which were originally built by the area's former German, Irish and Italian communities in the late 1800's.
Finally, I feel obligated to mention how friendly everyone was. More people said "good morning" to me today than in the entirety of my other three years in New York.
