New York City, USA
HARLEM
124th Street ← 125th Street → 126th Street
Take a walk down 125th Street (AKA. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.) in Harlem with me. We’ll start at the Henry Hudson Parkway in the west. (aka The West Side Highway) Listen to the roar of the cars! As we look down 125th street we can’t see very far since it bends off to the left.
First we come to The Cotton Club (656 West 125th Street) this is the famous jazz club that used be be down on 42nd Street (it was called the De Lux Club then) It used to be white only even though all the musicians were black. Thank god for the civil rights movement! The Cotton Club sits on an island in the middle of the road under the shadow of the parkway. The art deco white building looks much as it did when the club first moved up town. You can still go there and catch a good show, Wednesday is swing dance night.
We cross Amsterdam Ave. Things seem to brighten up a bit as we get out of the shadow of the parkway.
As we continue we notice a group of housing projects on the right. There is also a park that’s visible as we cross Covent Ave. That’s morningside park (head in that direction for Columbia University.) We cross St. Nicholas Blvd. Now we are on “Main Street Harlem USA” and we can see that things are very busy. Here is a list of things between each cross st:
St. Nicholas Blvd.
Frederick Douglass Blvd. (8th Ave.)
Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. (7th Ave.)
- Studio Museum of Harlem (Cool Frosted Glass Building)
- Walker’s Men’s Clothing Store (They will fix leather shoes and belts)
Malcolm X Blvd. (Lennox Ave. or 6th Ave.)
Fifth Avenue.
After 5th ave you come to Spanish Harlem. Or “El Barrio” (that means ‘the neighbourhood,’ gringo.)
HARLEM
124th Street ← 125th Street → 126th Street