Harlem at a Glance:

• Settled by the Dutch in early colonial days, Harlem remained for centuries a sleepy Manhattan suburb.
  
  
• The neighborhood was later transformed into a 19th century Irish and Italian immigrant community before black entrepreneur Philip Payton, Jr. single-handedly transformed the neighborhood into a black enclave beginning in 1904.
  
  
• For decades a symbol of America's urban blight, Harlem continues to undergo a major building boom first begun in the 1990's as major retail chains like Starbucks and Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream opened their doors for the first time on 125th Street, luring young college students & urban professionals moving into the area.
  
  
• Bus and walking tours of the neighborhood are highly popular with both American and European tourists featuring major stops at the Mount Vernon Hotel Museum, The Studio Museum in Harlem, Columbia University, Sylvia's Restaurant, the Apollo Theater and Abyssinian Baptist Church.
  

How to get to Harlem by subway: Metro North from Grand Central to 125th Street; IRT 4 or 5 express or 6 local to 125th Street and Lexington Avenue; A, B, C, D, 2 or 3 train to West 125th Street.

More about Harlem around the Web:

Harlem Photo Tour

Harlem - Wikipedia