Spanish Harlem, "EL BARRIO" is more PUERTO RICAN Than Puerto Rico

Spanish Harlem, also known as El Barrio and East Harlem, is a neighborhood sandwiched in the northeastern corner of Manhattan that has historically been home to several immigrant communities. With a population of nearly 120,000 it is today one of the largest predominantly Latino communities in New York City and includes the area formerly known as Italian Harlem, which still harbors a small Italian American population along Pleasant Avenue. The neighborhood boundaries are Harlem River to the north, the East River to the east, East 96th Street to the south, and 5th Avenue to the west.

The construction of the elevated transit to Harlem in the 1880s urbanized the area, and led to an influx of German Irish, Italian, Lebanese and Russian Jewish immigrants. In East Harlem, Southern Italians and Sicilians predominated and the neighborhood became known as Italian Harlem, predating the better known Little Italy in southern Manhattan as the Italian American hub of the city. Puerto Rican immigration after the First World War established the first enclave of Latinos in Italian Harlem, and this small area became known as El Barrio. The area slowly grew to encompass all of Italian Harlem, as Italians moved out and Latinos moved in during another wave of Latino immigration after the Second World War. Since the 1950s, East Harlem has been dominated by residents of Puerto Rican descent, sometimes called Nuyoricans, who are second and third generation descendants of Puerto Rican ancestry.