East Harlem

Location: For decades, East Harlem's traditional southern border was East 96th street. However, thanks to the arrival of a multitude of market-rate rentals and condos (in new, as well as converted buildings) in the blocks just north of East 96th, the effective border moved up a couple of blocks west of Third Avenue.

Character: Long thought as one of the Manhattan's grittiest areas, East Harlem has been improving its image and its housing stocks for more than a decade. Gentrification started slowly, first "annexing" 96-97th Streets to the Upper East Side,then moving further, creeping up to higher streets. The population became genuinely mixed.

That said, the neighborhood (also called "El Barrio") still retains its Latin-flavored character of yesteryear, with many inexpensive eateries and a largely working-class, Spanish-speaking population.

Demographics: In the late 20th century, East 96th street (the neighborhood's erstwhile southern border) was one of the most famous socio-economic "boundaries" in North America: to the south of it lied the affluent Upper East Side and to the north - the significantly less affluent East Harlem, where within the span of a few blocks, the average household income plunged to only a fraction of its sub-East 96th value. That contrast has been softened and the border blurred somewhat by gentrification of the late 1990s and 2000s, to the point that blocks up to East 98th street are now considered to be part of the Upper East Side.

Gentrification aside, the population of East Harlem remains considerably less affluent than that of its southern neighbor. The neighborhood contains a significant number of housing projects run by the NYCHA (Carver, Lexington, Washington, Clinton, White, Metro North, Lehman, Johnson, Taft, Jefferson, Corsi, Wagner, Robinson, Lincoln).

Apartments & Real Estate

Other than housing developments (so-called "projects") of various sizes, the neighborhood contains mostly standard New York 4-to-6-story "tenement-type" housing. That said, in recent years more than a few "market-rate" rental and condo buildings have been built as well.

Selected Rental Buildings

• 101 East 116th Street (East Harlem) [3 listings, all of them 'no-fee' apts]
  A mid-rise elevator building. The apartments have high ceilings.
• 338 East 100th Street (East Harlem) [3 listings, all of them 'no-fee' apts]
  A mid-rise elevator building.
• Hampton Court (333 East 102nd Street, East Harlem) [2 listings, all of them 'no-fee' apts]
  A mid-rise mixed-use modern building. Designed by The Stephen B. Jacobs Group, with interiors designed by Andi Pepper.
• Riverton Square
  A 12-building complex.
• Tapestry (245 East 124th Street, East Harlem) [4 listings, all of them 'no-fee' apts]
  A modern mid-rise concierge building offering a gym. The 185-unit 50/30/20 mixed-income, rental building features 50% of the apartments set aside for market-rate tenants; 30%....

See all East Harlem Rental Apartment Buildings (101 buildings)

Selected No-Fee Rental Listings

See all East Harlem No-Fee Rental Apartments (34 total)

Condo & Co-op Buildings

• 1405 Fifth Avenue (East Harlem)
  A modern mid-rise walk-up condo building.
• 1465 Fifth Avenue (East Harlem)
  A modern mid-rise walk-up condo building.
• One Carnegie Hill (215 East 96th Street, East Harlem) [7 listings, all of them 'no-fee' apts]
  A large modern condo & rental building that stretches from East 96th to East 97th street, built in 2005 by Related Companies. The Islamic Cultural Center of New York shares th....

See all East Harlem Condo Apartment Buildings (26 buildings)

• 1270 Fifth Avenue (East Harlem)
  A post-war high-rise doorman building offering laundry facilities.
• 1831 Madison Avenue (East Harlem)
  A modern mid-rise doorman elevator building.

See our list of East Harlem Co-op Apartment Buildings (14 buildings)

Additional Links

Please note that the site(s) mentioned below are not affiliated with NYBits

• 08/Dec/2013: Danish architect seen shaking up Harlem (NY Post)
• 29/Aug/2012: East Harlem could lose thousands of affordable units, study reveals (The Real Deal)
• 04/Nov/2007: Harlem Flock Is Staying Put (NYTimes)