Harlem
The main, east-west thoroughfare portion of 116th Street begins at the eastern edge of Morningside Park and runs east through central Harlem. A large West African immigrant community has developed in central Harlem with stores, bakeries and cafés along 116th Street west of St. Nicholas Avenue. This community has been called Little Senegal or Le Petit Senegal.
At Lenox Ave., the street runs past the Malcolm Shabazz Mosque, formerly the Muhammad Temple of Islam. The building was erected as the Lenox Casino.
East of Fifth Avenue, 116th Street has historically been the primary business hub of Spanish Harlem. From Lexington Avenue to First Avenue, the street is lined with businesses selling food, clothing, and other specialty and ethnically specific goods to a Spanish-speaking clientele. East 116th Street terminates at FDR Drive, the site of the East River Plaza, a retail mall complex with large commercial tenants Costco, Target, Best Buy and Marshalls.
Read more about this topic: 116th Street (Manhattan)
Famous quotes containing the word harlem:
“When I got [to Hollywood], all the movie moguls claimed to be astounded by the reality of my films. How did I do it? And I’d say, “Well, it wasn’t hard to make Harlem look like Harlem.””
—Shirley Clarke (b. 1925)
“I could take the Harlem night
and wrap around you,
Take the neon lights and make a crown,
Take the Lenox Avenue buses,
Taxis, subways,
And for your love song tone their rumble down.”
—Langston Hughes (1902–1967)
“It doesn’t do good to open doors for someone who doesn’t have the price to get in. If he has the price, he may not need the laws. There is no law saying the Negro has to live in Harlem or Watts.”
—Ronald Reagan (b. 1911)