
Harlem
The enduring architectural and musical capital of Black America.
Stretching from 110th Street north toward the Harlem River, Harlem is one of the world’s essential cultural neighborhoods. Along 125th Street, the neon marquee of the Apollo Theater and the research vaults of the Schomburg Center anchor a century of artistic revolution, while the surrounding historic districts—from Mount Morris Park to Strivers’ Row—preserve some of the finest late-nineteenth-century brownstone architecture, parlor jazz clubs, and Southern & West African dining rooms in the United States.
Must-Visit Spots
The Apollo Theater
Since 1934, the proving ground where Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown, Lauryn Hill, and Stevie Wonder made history. Catch Amateur Night on Wednesdays.
253 W 125th St
125th St (A/B/C/D/2/3)
Bill’s Place & Room 623
Hear acoustic bebop inside a 133rd Street Swing Street brownstone parlor where Billie Holiday sang, or behind the velvet curtain at Room 623.
148 W 133rd St & 271 W 119th St
135th St (2/3) / 116th St (A/B/C)
Amy Ruth’s & Melba’s
Golden, crisp fried chicken and waffles named after Harlem icons at Amy Ruth’s, or southern comfort classics at Melba Wilson’s neighborhood table.
113 W 116th St & 300 W 114th St
116th St (2/3/B/C)
Mount Morris District & 1856 Watchtower
Stroll blocks of 1880s Romanesque Revival brownstones framing Marcus Garvey Park, crowned by NYC’s lone surviving cast-iron fire watchtower.
Mount Morris Park West & W 120th St
116th St or 125th St (2/3)
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
A world-renowned NYPL research institution with free rotating exhibitions, Langston Hughes’s ashes beneath the cosmogram floor, and rare archives.
515 Malcolm X Blvd (at 135th St)
135th St (2/3)
The Studio Museum in Harlem & Strivers’ Row
Explore Harlem’s visual arts vanguard alongside the Stanford White-designed 1891 Renaissance Revival townhouses of West 138th and 139th Streets.
W 125th St & W 138th–139th Sts
125th St or 135th St (2/3/B/C)
Stories from Harlem

The Golden Brownstones of Mount Morris: Harlem’s Enduring Architectural & Musical Soul
Surrounding the rocky acropolis of Marcus Garvey Park, Harlem’s Mount Morris Historic District pairs some of America’s finest nineteenth-century architecture with legendary live jazz and soul food.