7th Ave was "African Broadway" when this was Tenderloin until the 1900s-1910s, from 24th to 42nd St.
The peaked roofline of Penn Station (closed 1963) on the left can be seen. Its construction drove thousands out of this entertainment district by 1905.
The "B" of Barricini Candy can be seen at 202 W 34th St (right). Only 7 Pennsylvania Plaza (tall building, far left) still stands at 31st St.
Tenderloin locals moved North in 1905. Irish to Hell's Kitchen. African Americans to San Juan Hill (settled earlier by Black vets who fought in the 1898 Spanish–American War), now Lincoln Square.
San Juan Hill became the 1923 birthplace of the Charleston and 1944 birthplace of bebop. Thelonious Monk, Herbie Nichols (Lady Sings The Blues) and Barbara Hillary (1st African American woman to reach North Pole and South Pole) lived in SJH.
After WW II, Puerto Ricans moved into San Juan Hill, which became the setting for West Side Story (1961). Erik Estrada (CHiPs) was born in 1949 in San Juan Hill.
San Juan Hill was then leveled for Lincoln Center (1955-1969) driving locals North. African Americans to Harlem. Puerto Ricans to Spanish Harlem.
In 1951, Robert Moses had also cleared out the community of Billie Holiday who lived at 9 W 99th St at the peak of her career in the 1940s to create Manhattantown (now Park West Village).
Seneca Village (1825-1857) used to be at Central Park West and 82nd St. From 1853, 34,000 lots were cleared out for Central Park via buyouts, intimidation (made up news scandals) and Eminent Domain. It was once the most powerful Black community in the City. As property owners, Black men could vote before the 1866 right to vote for the propertyless.
Irish and German laborers also lived in Seneca Village, one of the most integrated communities in NYC history. Church pews were shared by Irish, Germans and African Americans.
The history of Black New Yorkers began with New Amsterdam. From 1643, many became wealthy in the Land of the Blacks north of Wall Street, covering Greenwich Village and parts of SoHo, Little Italy and Chinatown.
Dutch slavery ended with land grants outside the Wall (Wall Street) of New Amsterdam. The Lenape had driven the Dutch back behind the Wall. The Dutch wanted a buffer zone with Land of the Blacks. Black children and women were never enslaved. Men could still have part-time jobs, wed free women, successfully sue the Dutch and were freed after a limited term, with a land grant.
But when British rule arrived, British Blacks revolted in 1712, after seeing privileges Dutch Blacks had. As a result, the British took away property rights from Dutch Blacks in 1716. Slavery was finally abolished in 1827.
Little Africa remained a major Black community (now South Village). Washington Square was owned by Black farmers where a Potter's Field buried 20,000 people (still there without commemoration in signage).
In 1825, the cemetery was closed and the land was bought by the City and paved over in 1826 for a military parade ground to honor George Washington.
By 1830s, houses were built for elites with British heritage north of Washington Square. Blacks in Little Africa south of WS became their domestic workers.
Irish then arrived during the Great Famine (1845–49), living in Little Africa. 1890s Jacob Riis photos of Black and Tan saloons are from that era.
1863 saw the Draft Riots as elite Protestants could afford to pay a substitution fee to avoid being drafted for the Civil War. Irish working-class could not afford to pay it and revolted. The riots saw 120 dead and 2000 hurt - deadliest civil unrest in US history. The Dead Rabbits featured in Gangs of New York (2002) participated.
Private Robert Gould Shaw had joined 7th New York Militia and marched down Broadway on Apr 19, 1861. After leading Irish soldiers, he would later lead the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment in 1863, 1st African American unit from the Northeast, dramatized in the movie Glory (1989).
Frederick Douglass' sons Lewis and Charles joined Shaw. Shaw's family lived on Staten Island at 1124 Richmond Terrace 1855-69. Shaw got married May 2, 1863, and honeymooned in the orphanage seen in Cider House Rules (1999), owned by his wife's family.
He died soon after in battle in July 18, 1863. His sister Josephine Shaw Lowell in 1912 became the 1st woman in NYC honored with a monument, the fountain at Bryant Park. She helped separate women from dangerous men in prisons and shelters. One shelter became a training school for orphan Ella Fitzgerald.
Over time, Little Africa became more known as Greenwich Village to honor British heritage and Little Africa ended by 1900s. Irish and African Americans were driven out to the North to Tenderloin. In the 1890s, merchant-class immigrants had become the new landlords (mostly Italian). Their families would later rent to Beat Poets 1940-50s and folk musicians 1960s.
By 1968, the Fair Housing Act in the Civil Rights Act forbid real estate covenants restricting backgrounds. New Yorkers were free to live anywhere.
1950s-60s Photo Garry Winogrand.
