Change has come

Lenox Lounge (Photo credit: joseph a)

Lots of changes in African-American neighborhoods in New York. Restaurants, stores, points of interest are disappearing. So sad. Restaurants/clubs that I grew up with in Harlem have closed. M&G’s Diner on the corner of West 125th Street and Morningside Ave is gone. Lenox Lounge is gone. More mainstream stores like H&M from downtown have moved in. For years, no one was interested in Harlem. It was left to its own resources. No more affordable housing. Condos in Harlem where I grew up are priced in the 7 figures. Stores are being priced out by rents that doubled and tripled when leases were up. And the landlords don’t care that they are shutting the doors on neighborhood icons. All about the Benjamins. Is this progress or genocide?

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