Ethnic Cleansing Comes To Harlem Analysis

Harlem has been deeply associated with the vibrant life of african americans for more than a century. Harlem is the place where musician and bootleggers lived together, poet and pickpocket ate in the same dining room and preachers, physician all were aristocrats. On the contrary, Harlem 1920-1980s experienced deterioration of housing stocks, high crime rates and devastating effects of Crack and Cocaine. However, major changes have taken place in the last two decades where Harlem is no longer considered a slum, but a modern neighborhood designed to attract wealthy individuals and corporate business. The article “Ethnic Cleansing Comes to Harlem” by Mamadou Chinyelu and Figure 1 illustrate the effects of gentrification through a socio-economic …show more content…
The building depicted is figure 1 is pre-world war I building renovated to attract wealthy families. This building is located on 92 Morningside avenue features Residents Lounge, Children 's Playroom, Attended Lobby, Onsite storage & Bike room and a Pet Spa. It is difficult to afford one of the apartments of this building for an ordinary resident because the rent is boosted by all the added features. The renovated buildings are designed to displace older settlers and attract wealthy working class families that can contribute to the business. The City did not consider ethical side of replacing the people that have living in the community for decades. The Jewish immigrant,upon their arrival, were given apartment and placed on welfare. However, compared to them, Harlemites were treated with lies and and false hope of providing affordable housing. The goal for renovation was to provide affordable housing and improve the livestock of the community, it rather paved a way to displace the older settlers and attract wealthy households. The architecture of the community is also transformed with the displacement of the older settlers. Many developers did not care about preserving the architecture of the community while renovating. In figure 2, after renovation a modern designed floor was added to include all the new features. I find it disturbing because this one of the historic building of New York City, particularly Harlem. The addition of new floor stands out any spectators because the architecture added floor does not match with that of the historic building. The houses in Harlem were built by experienced European craftsman. One cannot find similar architecture in any other parts of the city. Because of Gentrification, the identity and culture of the community has been