125th Street Branch, NYPL, July 18, 1928. Constructed as the Harlem Branch in 1904, the library on East 15th Street is a McKim, Mead & White building. It was given its current designation when a new library was named the Harlem Branch upon completion in 1909. (That branch is on West 124th Street.) The three-story facade is of an Italian Renaissance palazzo style. The semi- circular decorative sections over the second floor windows (called tympanum) depict iconography of classical architecture such as laurels and anchors. The one over the center window depicts a shield with part of the seal of the City of New York: a four-blade windmill (representing the Dutch settlers), two beavers, and two flour barrels (symbolizing the two most important exports of New Amsterdam: furs and flour).

Welcome! This is a digital tour companion for our 2024 Jane's Walk tour on May 4th, 2024, led by Kathy Benson-Haskins, co-founder of Landmark East Harlem (landmarkeastharlem.org). For those who don’t know, Jane’s Walk is a global festival of volunteer-led walks inspired by urbanist Jane Jacobs and occurs annually during the first weekend in May. And the Municipal Art Society of NY hosts the largest of the fests right here in New York City—this year some 165 tours over the three days. This walk focuses on the original village of Nieuw Haarlem, established by the Dutch in 1658 when New York was New Amsterdam. We are currently standing two blocks south of the village center, but I wanted to start here because there are two interesting sites that I want you to see beforehand. The first is one of the three most recent buildings to be designated New York City landmarks.

New York Public Library, 125th Street Branch ARCHITECT: McKim, Mead & White DATE: 1904 STYLE: Renaissance Revival McKim, Mead & White’s philosophy was that the libraries were designed to serve two purposes: to be specific to their neighborhood yet universal in character, and to be expressive of a municipal building type. The striking Renaissance Revival-style building is of the palazzo type. The building is clad in rusticated Indiana limestone and is three stories high and three bays wide. Large arched windows dominate the first floor with an entrance offset to the right with an arched glass transom above. The tall second-floor window openings are topped by arched decorative transom panels. The third floor has three small square windows that pierce the façade, creating a clerestory.

Accident on Lexington Avenue at the intersection of 121st Street, July 21, 1915.

Storefront law offices in East Harlem, May 18, 1938. These law offices, run by the two sons of founder David Flam, occupied 165 East 121st Street for 25 years. Located directly across the street from the Harlem Courthouse, the firm offered an array of court-related services. A variant image shows two lawyers, perhaps the brothers Flam, standing at the front door. Abbott rejected this version, however, in which the men detracted from the colorful names stenciled on the plate glass. Only weeks after Abbott’s photograph, the firm moved to larger quarters at 181 East 121st Street. Today no. 165 is an overgrown vacant lot, and the rest of the block is largely abandoned. The imposing courthouse, built in 1891 and long neglected, was granted landmark status in 1967 and is under renovation.

Former Italian Savings Bank 204 East 116th Street Designed by C. P. H. Gilbert 1923 Presently the R. G. Ortiz Funeral Home, this handsome structure was originally the Italian Savings Bank, whose name was engraved in the limestone façade where the funeral home’s name is now located. The building, which has undergone some alterations, was designed by noted architect Cass Gilbert, whose many commissions include the Woolworth Building in Lower Manhattan. The former bank, resembling a triumphal Roman arch, stands as one of many reminders of East Harlem’s formerly sizable Italian immigrant population.

125th Street approach to the Triborough Bridge, 1937.

My Archive Spring 2019 "A photo in front of our house, Fourth of July 2007. Dan Evans in Uncle Sam tails, Roxana Evans, and Mugsy the dog." —Dan Evans

151 East 116th Street Henry Devoe 1870 Since 1948, Casa Latina has sold sheet music and instruments to patrons from all over the city. In addition to being the longest-running music store in East Harlem, it also bears the distinction of being the nation’s first Spanish-language music store. Its founder, Bartolo Alvarez, was a Puerto Rican musician and record executive. The business moved to this location in 1962 and its colorful storefront has been a neighborhood icon and an important meeting place ever since. The building in which the store resides was built in 1870 as one in a row of brownstones, and has been heavily altered over the years.

Kopper House, ca. 1920. Referred to as the "oldest house in Harlem" at the beginning of the 20th century, the Kopper House was built in 1790 by architect Johann Hermann Raub for his family. As can been seen pointedly in this photograph, the front of the house (the porch at right) was constructed in brick, while the rear was clapboard. The front of the house was rendered in the more expensive material and the eventual layout of the street (here 124th Street) provided the stark view of the two halves. Originally the house would have been surrounded by a large plot of land and an orchard of fruit trees brought to this country by its builder. The house, referred to as "Haunted House" in a 1924 NY Times article about it, survived into the early 1930s but it is unclear when it was finally demolished.