The Backend of Harlem

I’m from the city, “the big city”, yup, that’s right, I’m from New York City. Even more specifically, I’m from Harlem and the city’s basically anywhere I can get with my metro card. For $2.75, I can travel between all 5 of the boroughs that divide this city. Even though they're all part of the same city, after a while the differences between the boroughs becomes painfully obvious. Besides the slight differences in architectural styles and street design, the local communities and cultures are what make up the major differences between the boroughs. I can visit my Italian friends and family in Staten Island or Queens, yet I can do the same thing with my Spanish family and friends in the Bronx, but in Harlem things are changing. Most people wouldn’t know that by just walking through the streets or taking the train, because on any street of the city, you can find faces from all over the world. This happens because it is the big city. People all over the world don’t have to think too hard to figure out where New York City is, though this may seem like a problem for some people, it’s what gives the city it’s vibrant diversity and character. Harlem is starting to become increasingly recognizable, so much so that a lot of us used to think of Harlem as it’s own borough, but I’ve noticed from coming back every Summer, that what I used to see as Harlem is shrinking away. I can climb up to the 13th floor of my apartment building located near the very edge of Harlem, in Pologrounds, and see how things change as I look through the streets and down the block. I live on 155th street and my old high school, Frederick Douglass Academy is on 149th street, about 15 blocks away off to the left of my street view. From my window I can see parts of the Bronx and nearly all of Harlem seemed to be laid out in front of me. I can see the local businesses change, as the Starbucks and 7/11s become less frequent, the Deli shops become more frequent. I can see the faces change too, as the Starbucks and 7/11s become less frequent so do the caucasian faces. As the street numbers get lower, the prices get higher, and the faces get lighter. These are obviously signs of gentrification but it’s not so bad because I get to feel safer as I walk through the front of my home. My barber may have gotten fired and my friend may need to move but my favorite things about home remains the same. My favorite thing about home is an empty path behind my home, it’s probably the only thing in Harlem I can’t see from my window, and it’s one of the last things separating Manhattan from the Bronx. My best friend thinks I’m torturing myself back there because I constantly use that path to go running, ironically enough I almost died there and he got stomped out back there on a separate occasion. I never thought that path would ever change but it might be the only thing that should.