Adopt A Neighborhood - Harlem

March 29th

This month my group visited Harlem. Admittedly I had never set foot above 110th street except for our AAN visit last year at The Cloisters and to see friends who live in Inwood. Because Harlem is still a little unsafe and jam packed with history, I thought it wise to sign up for a professional guided tour - a first for AAN.

The tour met on 116th and Malcolm X blvd and was to cover general history. The Harlem Heritage Tours office is located directly across from the Malcolm Shabazz Mosque, formerly know as Mosque #7.

One of the very few tidbits I learned on this tour was that brown street signs indicate historic landmark areas.

It is an understatement to say that we were disappointed with our tour guide, Neal Shoemaker. My group is proficient at wandering and learning things from the internet. What we were hoping for was an in depth history lesson from a local. I wanted to cover a lot of ground to get a feel for the entire neighborhood. Mr. Shoemaker's history was shaky at best, we traveled only 10 blocks, and he was more interested in talking to his neighbors and taking us to stores and bars where he might get a free beer, like the Lenox Lounge.

After wandering around inside the lounge for 30 minutes feeling obligated to buy a drink, Neal took us only a few blocks further up to the Apollo theater on 125th Street. This was by far the highlight of the tour as we got to sneak inside by the theater's tour leader. He seemed knowledgeable friendly and excited to explain the history of amateur night and the current state of the historic site.

Anticipating walking all afternoon, our group had plans for refreshment at Amy Ruth's. Despite our easy stroll, I still managed to cook up an appetite for friend chicken and waffles. This was a much anticipated taste test against Roscoe's Chicken and Waffle's. For kicks, I got a side of mac and cheese and washed the whole thing down with SUPER sugary Kool Aide.

While I prefer Roscoe's, I didn't have any problem with my meal.

Ultimately, I would not recommend Harlem Heritage Tours. However, that won't stop me from returning to Harlem. It is at a cross roads in its history with the dreaded "g" word being tossed around. This was evident on a small scale and seemed to run on a block by block basis. In the grand scheme of fast paced change in New York, I'm going to keep me eye on this area. You can go here to see my full set of photos from the day.