Reader Yojimbot offers some photographs and perspective on the Sunday afternoon shooting where two 63-year-old women were injured on St. Nicholas Avenue near West 113th Street. On his blog Harlem Hybrid, he writes, "This is the 4th mass shooting of the Summer of '08, and it is only by the Grace of God, that no one has been killed yet as a result. It was this latest round, which took place on Sunday at 2pm......

Yesterday at 2:30 p.m., two women leaving an apartment building on St. Nicholas Avenue near West 113th Street were shot when they were caught in the crossfire. The Daily News reports that investigators think two shooters "firing at each other" across St. Nicholas; Donna Davis, who was hit in the buttocks, said they ran and hid between parked cars (her sister-in-law was hit in the neck). One neighbor told WABC 7, "We've had a couple......

Back in January, it was reported Major League Baseball's new TV network would be the anchor tenant at a planned 21-story glass skyscraper on 125th Street and Park Avenue. Then last month, the skyscraper was reportedly undergoing some changes, since developer Vornado was having trouble securing financing. Now, it looks like there's more trouble, as the NY Times says the plan has started to "unravel," because Vornado wants MLB to "take additional space and pay......

Photos by Spencer T Tucker/NYC.gov Late New York composer and Broadway writer Richard Rodgers became world-renowned, but as The NY Post notes, "never forgot his Harlem roots." Yesterday his family donated $1 million to restore the neglected bandshell at Marcus Garvey Park, and as Bloomberg reminded everyone at a press conference--Rodgers also donated the original funds (to the tune of $150,000) to build the facility in 1970. The city has also put forth $4......

Annette Mateo appears to have been one toke over the line last night when she allegedly carjacked an NYPD van and took it for a joyride that almost immediately became devoid of joy. According to the Post, Mateo had gone to file an unspecified complaint at a police station in Harlem and became frustrated with the lackadaisical response from officers there. Storming out of the building at 9:40 p.m., she came upon two rookie cops......

Last October, a faulty gas line caused an explosion in a Harlem apartment building. The explosion killed a woman and severely burned her four daughters, who have been in hospital burn units. Yesterday, six-year-ld Duaa Al Ghaithi was the last of the girls to return home, after many months of rehab (she will need many more years of therapy). According to NY1, she "wears a head-to-toe compression garment 23 hours a day" which also includes......

There goes the neighborhood? Some Harlem residents are distressed at a sudden “epidemic” of Smart Cars parked around the ‘hood. One blogger even came out of retirement to marvel at the sight of a Smart Car parked on the street; apparently it’s a symbol of gentrification on steroids and proof that Harlem is “over.” But at least one commenter on Harlem Fur isn’t having it: “I am a teacher who moved to Harlem last year......

Earlier this year the Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee voted 10 to 1 on a proposal that would create a loan program for displaced small businesses. Now NY1 is reporting that the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Company is offering $750,000 in loans to the dozens of "businesses being uprooted by a controversial rezoning plan." The businesses being forced off of 125th Street can now apply for the no-interest loans. According to locals there are around......

After midnight, a shooting outside 41 West 129th Street wounded four people. According to WABC 7, a group of four people had "walked up to...the victims, who were in front of the building--and opened fire." A man is in serious but stable condition while two men and one women are in stable condition. WNBC reports, "Officers said they are having a hard time gathering information because the victims won't reveal details about the crime."......

The once rosy relationship between Harlem and Bill Clinton may have soured significantly due to some of the tenser moments spawned from the drawn out primary battle between his wife Hilary and Barack Obama. The NY Times has a piece today about black residents still harboring a grudge against the former president who has kept an office in Harlem since 2001. After several highly publicized comments during the campaign from Mr. Clinton that were perceived......

Yesterday, elected officials marched and held a rally over reports of police officers drove an unmarked police car with a black doll's head affixed to the antenna. State Senator Bill Perkins said, "We wanted an apology and we were given an excuse. We wanted an investigation and we got ‘It was a prank.' Without both an investigation and public apology for this demeaning, disgusting and racist action, the distrust between the Harlem community and police......

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Reverend Al Sharpton, and other community leaders gathered in East Harlem yesterday to paint over a mural (pictured) showing a rat with a noose around its neck and the slogan “Stop Snitching.” The phrase has become something of a mantra in recent years in high-crime neighborhoods, where speaking to the police is seen by some as treason that should be violently punished. Sharpton said he was wearing his running suit......

The no-cover daytime jazz club EZ's Woodshed in Harlem is closing after two and a half years. Its owner, Gordon Palotnick, took a quixotic stab at sustaining the music that is identified with Harlem. Instead of a smoky late-night club, Palotnick opened a weekdays-only, daytime juke joint that only served soft drinks; and he didn't charge a hefty cover charge either. Despite his best efforts--immersing himself in hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt and......

"Everyone is super excited about the Target." Everyone! Or at least real estate players like Jessica Armstead of the Corcoran Group, who predicts that the Target store finally coming to fruition in East Harlem will “totally change” the area’s lagging pace of gentrification. "It appeals to everyone," she tells the Sun. "You go in to get toothpaste and come out with three bags. It's amazing." Armstead is already luring condo buyers into East Harlem with the amazing, exciting shopping utopia to arrive any year now....

A teenager walking home from a party was fatally shot near West 127th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard around 2:30 a.m. yesterday morning. Nathan Allsbrook was shot in the shoulder, and the bullet traveled into his heart. Police suspect Allsbrook was was hit by a stray bullet. The NY Times says the shell casing "was found a substantial distance" from where Allsbrook had been standing and the Daily News suggests the shot was......

Two years ago The NY Times visited the changing landscape of Harlem; at the time Maya Angelou told them about her part-time neighborhood, saying, "The hope is there. The minute you look down a street and see a Dumpster, you know that's hope." Earlier this year the paper revisited 125th Street and focused in on long time residents and their apprehension about gentrification and the changes afoot that many cannot benefit from. This was around......

Red Egg: The glittering new Chinatown restaurant pictured above had its share of hassles before finally opening this week – something to do with the construction company failing to get the right permits – but after a six week delay, Red Egg’s staff is finally ready to get cracking. Executive Chef Mei Kun Chen was previously the State Chef for Guangzhou (not exactly a lightweight); second in command is Yu Hua Wu, who did......

Last night, the Reverend Al Sharpton participated in the monthly Critical Mass rally and bike ride. In his introduction of Sharpton, civil rights lawyer Wylie Stecklow noted Sharpton's relentless fight for civil rights and against unfair police practices. Stecklow also pointed out the Sharpton-led May 7 civil disobedience event was much more peaceful and was actually civil, compared to what many Critical Mass riders have experienced (the police didn't use orange fences to contain......

Photograph of police looking for evidence and witnesses in Harlem by David Karp/AP Harlem residents spoke out against the Monday night violence that left 10 people injured. Perfect Peace Ministry's Reverend Vernon William urged the community to come together, "We need to be out here in numbers calling for peace in our community. This type of going on, this type of saying it's alright for people to shoot one another, it's just turned another......

Late last night, a shooter (or possibly shooters) opened fire and shot at least seven people in Harlem. The gunfire started at Marcus Garvey Park at West 124th Street and then headed north to West 131st Street. There are different theories for the violence, like someone wanted revenge for being jumped in Sugar Hill or a fight over girls. One woman in the park told the Post, "All of a sudden, we saw these......

Yesterday afternoon, there were reports of a wall collapse or falling debris from a Harlem building on 116th Street, off Fifth Avenue. It turns out it was not quite a full wall collapse, but it looks to be more than the "construction debris" referred to by fire officials in an AP story. The incident occurred at the recently completed green condominium building, the Kalahari Harlem. "Two stucco-like surface panels"--about three stories high and maybe......

Yesterday at 7 p.m., a van jumped the curb at East 125th Street and Lexington Avenue. The van, traveling south on Lexington, crashed into a 4, 5, 6 subway entrance and hit a number of people--including a child, who was pinned under the vehicle. It's unclear why the van jumped the curb, but witnesses ">said the vehicle wasn't forced off the road and suggested the driver may have passed out or had a heart......

Last night, a fire broke out in an occupied building at 560 West 144th Street around 8 p.m. Fire officials said the fire started in the six-floor building's fifth floor--which is under renovation--and the fire spread to the 6th floor, by way of a dumbwaiter shaft, with flames "going through the roof." According to ABC 7, there were "large chunks of flaming debris falling onto the street." The FDNY does not think the fire is......

Yesterday, the police were called during a charged meeting that saw the City Council approve Harlem rezoning in a 47 to 2 vote. Opponents of the plan yelled "sellout" and "liar," prompting their removal from the Council's balcony. The plan will usher in new development around 125th Street, with denser and taller buildings. City Council member Inez Dickens, who represents the area and decided to approve the plan after the Planning Commission agreed to make......

Yesterday afternoon, a Brooklyn man was apprehended after threatening a City College student and holding what looked like a gun--but turned out to be a pellet gun--against the head of another student. The police convinced him to drop the gun and Kirk Hanley, 22, who had also pointed the gun at his own head, was found with suicide notes and taken to St. Luke's Roosevelt for observation. The incident took place at City College's Harlem......

On Tuesday, a key City Council committee agreed on a rezoning plan for Harlem. The Zoning and Franchises Subcommitee voted 10 to 1 on a proposal that includes, the NY Times reports, limiting new building height to 19 stories (originally it was 29), creating a loan program for displaced small businesses, and $5.8 million to improve Marcus Garvey Park. Additionally, 46% of new housing units will be "income-targeted," to provide more affordable housing--an amount that......

An NYPD officer is accused of using his authority to sexually prey on and assault women. Officer Wilfredo Rosario has been suspended from his position at Harlem's 26th Precinct as he was arraigned on charges of first-degree sexual abuse, official misconduct, unlawful imprisonment and attempted coercion. The charges stem from an incident in which Rosario met a 27-year-old woman with her child while he was in uniform. He told the woman he could help her......

The Fog Rolls in on Harlem, by jschumacher at flickr Harlem resident met with city planners in a public forum yesterday afternoon to discuss whether a major rezoning plan will enhance the historic neighborhood or rip out its heart. The zoning plan, covering 124th, 125th, and 126th Streets, paves the way for condos, a 21-story office tower, a hotel, and more. Rezoning supporters say the plan instills order into the economic transformation the neighborhood......

Spitzer, Paterson, and Passion, by jschumacher at flickr Gov. Paterson appeared in Harlem yesterday, the place he calls home with his wife and the state senate district (30th) he represented before becoming Lt. Governor under Eliot Spitzer. The Governor was joined by a host of politicians--including former Mayor Ed Koch, City Comptroller William Thompson, Nassau County Exec. Thomas Suozzi, and Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion--at Al Sharpton's National Action Network's meeting hall. His reception......

Complaining about the proliferation of bank branches in New York City has almost become cliche, but City Planning officials are taking steps to enact zoning restrictions along 125th St. in Manhattan that would limit the number of bank branches on the main drag of Harlem. The idea is that bank branches can have a deadening effect on pedestrian use of a an area because they take up space that could be used for arts, entertainment,......