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When Harlem Was ‘as Gay as It Was Black’

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When Harlem Was ‘as Gay as It Was Black’

Two Black men, in tuxedos, clasp hands and dance in a smoky foreground in a scene from “Looking for Langston,” the 1989 film that reevaluated gay and lesbian contributions to the Harlem Renaissance.

A map of Manhattan with a boundary drawn around Harlem, just north of Central Park.

A map shows the borders of Harlem, which, south to north, extends from the top of Central Park to the area above 145th Street, and, west to east, from St. Nicholas Park to Fifth Avenue.

A black-and-white photograph of Ma Rainey’s Georgia Jazz Band. Ma Rainey, in a dress and headband, is surrounded by five Black male musicians playing, from left, trombone and trumpet.

JP Jazz Archives/Redferns

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On Stage and Off

Many L.B.G.T. performers and entertainers of the Renaissance used their artistry to express their sexuality. Others went to great lengths to keep their private lives hidden. Only recently have scholars been able to unpack their complicated lives, providing a brighter, clearer vision of who they were.

A map highlighting various points in Harlem.

A map of Harlem with a location labeled “Ma Rainey at the Lincoln Theater” near 135th Street and Lenox Avenue.

Map with location labeled “Gladys Bentley at the Clam House” near 135th Street.

Map with location labeled “Bessie Smith at Hotel Olga” in the northernmost part of Harlem.

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Map with a location labeled “Jimmie Daniels” on 116th Street, and a photograph of Jimmie Daniels Restaurant.

Map with a location labeled “Ethel Waters” near Colonial Park in northwest Harlem, and a photograph of 580 St. Nicholas Avenue, where she lived for a time.

Map with a location labeled “Edna Thomas” in south Harlem, and a photograph of 1890 Seventh Avenue, where she lived.

Map with a location labeled “Georgette Harvey” south of 116th Street.

Map with a location labeled “Alberta Hunter” north of 135th Street, and a photograph of 133 West 138th Street, where she lived.

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Patrons of the Savoy Ballroom dancing the Lindy Hop and other dances.

Out and About

As the period flourished, so did the number of public and semi-public spaces for L.G.B.T. life — theaters, lodges, cabarets, salons, nightclubs, parks, bathhouses, streets — developed, said Shane Vogel, a professor of English and African American Studies at Yale University and the author of “The Scene of Harlem Cabaret: Race, Sexuality, Performance.”

Each location “created spaces for people in Harlem to experience new kinds of social contacts and erotic possibilities that weren’t as widely available in the decades before the Harlem Renaissance,” he said.

Patrons of the

Map with a location labeled “Hamilton Lodge at Rockland Palace” at the very top of Harlem, and a photograph of 280 West 155th Street, where the venue was located.

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Map with a location labeled “Ubangi Club” at 131st Street and Seventh Avenue, and a photograph of the building where the venue was located.

Map with a location labeled “Swing Street” at West 133rd Street, running between Lenox and Seventh Avenue, and a photograph of The Nest, one of the nightlife venues on that block.

Map with a location labeled “The Cotton Club” at 142nd Street and Lenox Avenue, and a photograph of the exterior of the club, with a large marquee and cars in the foreground.

Map with a location labeled “Clam House” at West 133rd Street, near Seventh Avenue, and a photograph of the exterior of the club, with an awning, flanked by two cars.

Map with a location labeled “Savoy Ballroom” on Lenox Avenue, between 140th and 141st Streets, and a photograph of the exterior of the club, with a large marque that reads “SAVOY.” Pedestrians walk in the foreground.

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Map with a location labeled “Mount Morris Bathhouse” at 28 East 125th Street, just outside the east parameter of Harlem, and a photograph of the building, with a man crossing the street in the foreground.

Map with a location labeled “Harlem Y.M.C.A.” at 180 West 135th Street, near Seventh Avenue, and an illustration of the building, which rises high above its neighbors.

Map with a location labeled “Hotel Olga” at Lenox Avenue and 145th Street, and a photo of the building.

Map with a location labeled “Lafayette Theater” at 2247 Seventh Avenue, and a photo of the exterior of the theater, with a marquee, arched windows and a sign or flag hanging above them.

Robert W Kelley/The LIFE Picture Collection, via Shutterstock

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The Smart Set

While race was commonly explored among the artists, thinkers and writers of the Renaissance, some openly broached the subject of sexuality, which was viewed as scandalous. For others, any references may have been carefully coded and more difficult to detect.

Map with a location at the far bottom of the map labeled “Alain Locke,” “Washington D.C.” and an icon pointing down.

Map with a location labeled “Nella Larsen” at 236 West 135th Street, near Eighth Avenue.

Map with a location labeled “Langston Hughes” at 20 East 127th Street, north of Mount Morris Park, just outside the parameters of Harlem.

Map with a location labeled “Countee Cullen” at 104 West 136th Street, near Lenox Avenue.

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Map with a location labeled “Richard Bruce Nugent” at 267 West 136th Street, near Eighth Avenue.

Map with a location at the far bottom of the map labeled “Carl Van Vechten,” “150 West 55th Street” and an icon pointing down.

Map with a location labeled “Harold Jackman” at 7 West 134th Street, just outside the east perimeter of Harlem.

Map with a location labeled “Maurice Hunter” at 254 West 135th Street, between Seventh and Eighth Avenues.

Map with a location labeled “Claude McKay” at 147 West 142nd Street, between Seventh and Lenox Avenues, and a photograph of the exterior of the building.

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A photograph of the Alexander Gumby Book Studio, with a semi-circle of people sitting and chatting or reading.

Alexander Gumby collection, Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Columbia University

Behind Closed Doors

Private spaces in Harlem — mainly homes and apartments — opened doors to the kind of intimate socializing and sexual experimentation that could not exist at large nightclubs or segregated venues. Away from the public eye, these spaces held invite-only soirees or rent parties that were primarily spread through word of mouth.

Map with a location labeled “A’Leila Walker and the Dark Tower” at 108 West 136th Street, on the far east side of Harlem, and a photograph of the exterior of the building.

Map with a location labeled “Wallace Thurman” at 267 West 136th Street, near Eighth Avenue, and a photograph of the block, with a car coming toward the camera.

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Map with a location labeled “Iolanthe Sydney” at 267 West 136th Street, near Eighth Avenue.

Map with a location labeled “Alexander Gumby Book Studio” at 2144 Fifth Avenue, on the far east side of Harlem.

Map with a location labeled “409 Edgecombe Avenue” at the far north section of Harlem, and a photograph of a cluster of three high-rise buildings.

Harlem in 1938.

Looking Back, Through a Fresh Lens

Efforts to reexamine Harlem’s queer history have helped audiences reimagine Renaissance-era spaces and celebrate aspects of its everyday life that were underground.

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Video: Hochul and Mamdani Announce Plan for Universal Child Care

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Video: Hochul and Mamdani Announce Plan for Universal Child Care

new video loaded: Hochul and Mamdani Announce Plan for Universal Child Care

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Hochul and Mamdani Announce Plan for Universal Child Care

Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a plan on Thursday to vastly expand free and low-cost child care for families across the state in the coming years and add programs for 2-year-olds.

“Today, we’re working together with the mayor at this incredible place to announce the first major steps to make child care universal — truly universal — here in New York City, transforming the lives of children and parents all across the state.” “We will build on the city’s existing three-K program, and say, no longer will a family in Flatbush be offered a seat, but have to find out that seat is in Astoria. We will add seats in the neighborhoods where demand has not been met. This will be felt by expanded subsidies for tens of thousands of additional families. It will be felt when parents look at their bank accounts at the end of the year, and see that they have saved more than $20,000 per child.” “And today, I’m proud to announce that New York State is paying the full cost to launch 2-care. For the first time — universal daycare for 2-year-olds, as proposed by Mayor Mamdani. We’re not just paying for one year of the program. We don’t usually go one year out in our budget, but just to let you know how serious we are, we’re taking the unprecedented step to not just commit for the 2027 budget, which I’m working on right now, but also the following year as well to show you we’re in this for the long haul.”

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Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a plan on Thursday to vastly expand free and low-cost child care for families across the state in the coming years and add programs for 2-year-olds.

By Meg Felling

January 8, 2026

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Vote on the 17 Ways Mamdani Could Improve NYC

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Vote on the 17 Ways Mamdani Could Improve NYC

A new mayor, a fresh start — you know the drill. There are as many ideas out there for how Zohran Mamdani can now improve New York’s urban environment as there are New Yorkers.

I canvassed a few dozen planners, architects, academics, community leaders, neighborhood organizers, developers, housing and transit experts and former city government officials. I gave them no budgets or time lines. They gave me a mayoral to-do list of ideas big, small, familiar, deep in the weeds, fanciful and timely.

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What follows is a small selection, with some kibitzing by me. You can vote “love it” or “skip it” below and help determine the ranking of priorities. Feel free to leave eye rolls and alternative proposals in the comments section.

Check back in the coming days to see how the ranking has changed and we will let you know the ultimate results on Jan. 13.

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Get your votes in before polls close on Jan. 12, 2026.

1

Create many thousands more affordable housing units by converting some of the city’s public golf courses into mixed income developments, with garden allotments and wetlands.

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2

Deck over Robert Moses’s Cross Bronx Expressway and create a spectacular new park.

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3

Devise a network of dedicated lanes for e-bikes and electric scooters so they will endanger fewer bicyclists and pedestrians.

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4

Pedestrianize Lower Manhattan. Not even 10 percent of people there arrive by car.

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5

Build more mental health crisis centers citywide.

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6

Provide more clean, safe public pay toilets that don’t cost taxpayers $1 million apiece.

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7

Convert more coastline into spongy marshes, akin to what exists at Hunter’s Point South Park in Queens, to mitigate rising seas and floods.

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8

Dedicate more of the city budget to public libraries and parks, the lifeblood of many neighborhoods, crucial to public health and climate resilience. The city devotes barely 2 percent of its funds to them now.

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9

Follow through on the Adams administration’s $400 million makeover of once-glamorous Fifth Avenue from Central Park South to Bryant Park, with wider sidewalks, reduced lanes of traffic, and more trees, restaurants, bikes and pedestrian-friendly stretches.

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10

Do away with free street parking and enforce parking placard rules. New York’s curbside real estate is priceless public land, and only a small fraction of residents own cars.

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11

Open the soaring vaults under the Brooklyn Bridge to create shops, restaurants, a farmers’ market and public library in nascent Gotham Park.

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13

Persuade Google, JPMorgan or some other city-vested megacorporation to help improve the acoustics as well as Wi-Fi in subways, along the lines of Citibank sponsoring Citi Bikes.

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14

Overhaul freight deliveries to get more 18-wheelers off city streets, free up traffic, reduce noise, improve public safety and streamline supply chains.

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15

Rein in City Hall bureaucracy around new construction. The city’s Department of Design and Construction is full of good people but a longtime hot mess at completing public projects.

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16

Convert more streets and intersections into public plazas and pocket parks. Like the pedestrianization of parts of Broadway, this Bloomberg-era initiative has proved to be good for businesses and neighborhoods.

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17

Stop playing Russian roulette with a crumbling highway and repair the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway before it collapses.

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Congestion pricing after one year: How life has changed.

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Congestion pricing after one year: How life has changed.

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Since congestion pricing began one year ago, about 11 percent of the vehicles that once entered Manhattan’s central business district daily have disappeared.

This may not seem like a lot. But it has changed the lives — and bank accounts, bus rides and travel behavior — of many.

“There’s less traffic and more parking.”

“I only drive if I have to move something large or heavy.”

Sometimes I skip lunch at work to make up for the driving tax.”

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“I visit my elderly parents less often.”

“I complain to myself every time I have to pay the fee and I’m STILL 100% in favor of it.

“I am returning my leased car six months before the lease expires.”

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One year after the start of congestion pricing, traffic jams are less severe, streets are safer, and commute times are improving for travelers from well beyond Manhattan. Though these changes aren’t noticeable to many, and others feel the tolls are a financial burden, the fees have generated hundreds of millions of dollars for public transportation projects. And it has probably contributed to rising transit ridership.

The program, which on Jan. 5, 2025, began charging most drivers $9 during peak travel times to enter Manhattan below 60th Street, has quickly left its mark.

To assess its impact, The New York Times reviewed city and state data, outside research, and the feedback of more than 600 readers with vastly different views of the toll.

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Some groused about high travel costs. Others cheered for a higher toll. Many shared snapshots from their lives: quieter streets, easier parking, costlier trips to the doctor.

Many findings from a Times analysis a few months into the experiment have held up. The program so far has met nearly all of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s goals, although more evidence is needed on some measures. And one question remains unresolved: whether a federal judge will decisively shield the program from efforts by the Trump administration to end it.

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“Despite the threats to shut it down,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said in an interview, “the cameras are still on, and business is still up, and traffic is still down. So it’s working.”

Here’s the evidence one year in:

1. Fewer vehicles

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About 73,000 fewer vehicles are entering the central business district each day, a number that has added up in the first year to about 27 million fewer entries. The decline, compared with traffic trends before the toll, has been remarkably stable across the year:

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Average daily entries to the central business district

The central business district includes the congestion tolling zone and adjacent highways excluded from the tolls. Source: M.T.A.

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All other consequences of congestion pricing flow from this one — that fewer people are choosing to enter the area by private vehicle.

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“I never drive into the city anymore. I only take the subway. It’s a relief.”

Philip Zalon Brooklyn

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“I’m much more aware of driving into Manhattan and avoid it unless I have to haul a lot of stuff like a car load of Girl Scout cookies.”

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Jacob White Queens

By influencing that one decision, the policy can also affect commute times, transit reliability, road safety, street life and more (as we’ll get to below).

One clear sign that behaviors are changing: Every weekday, there is now a spike in vehicles entering the zone right before the toll kicks up to $9 at 5 a.m., and right after it declines to $2.25 at 9 p.m.

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Personal vehicle entries into the central business district

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Average weekday entries from Jan. 5 through Nov. 30, 2025, by 10-minute intervals. Source: M.T.A.

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“I’ve decided to get up earlier to get the lower price.”

Eric Nehs Manhattan

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“It is exhausting to plan the trip to cross the line at 9 p.m.

Paul S. Morrill Manhattan

2. Faster traffic

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The first consequence of those fewer vehicles is that traffic is now moving faster for the drivers who remain, and for the buses that travel those same roads. And this turns out to be true inside the congestion zone, near the congestion zone, and even much farther away.

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Change in vehicle speeds, 2024-25

Speeds from January through November of each year during peak toll hours. Source: M.T.A., HERE Traffic Analytics.

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“Taking my kid to [doctor’s] visits in 2024 was a nightmare, every time. … After congestion pricing, it’s been noticeably less aggravating.”

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Josh Hadro Brooklyn

Many readers, however, told us they didn’t believe they could see the benefits; the changes aren’t always easy to perceive by the naked eye. Readers also frequently said they believed the gains from congestion pricing were more apparent in the first months of the year and had waned since. The city’s speed data generally suggests that these improvements have been sustained, although some of the largest gains were recorded in the spring.

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Average vehicle speeds in the congestion zone

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Source: M.T.A., HERE Traffic Analytics.

But for some travelers, the speed gains have been much larger, particularly those who cross through the bridge and tunnel chokepoints into and out of Manhattan:

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Speeds are for the inbound direction of travel. Source: M.T.A., HERE Traffic Analytics.

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“Traffic approaching the [Holland] tunnel has saved me 15-30 minutes on the rides back to New York and given me hours of my time back.”

Salvatore Franchino Brooklyn

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“On a typical 8 a.m. commute, there is so little traffic into the [Lincoln] tunnel that it looks like a weekend.”

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Lisa Davenport Weehawken, N.J.

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“I haven’t used the Lincoln Tunnel all year, probably will never use it again.”

Steven Lerner Manhattan

Improvements have also been more notable for commuters who take longer-distance trips ending in the congestion zone. That’s because those 73,000 vehicles a day that are no longer entering the zone have disappeared from surrounding roads and highways, too.

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Commuters from farther out are seeing accumulating benefits from all these sources: faster speeds outside the congestion zone, much faster speeds through the tunnels and bridges, and then the improvements inside Manhattan. And people who travel roads outside the congestion zone without ever entering it get some of these benefits, too.

An analysis by researchers at Stanford, Yale and Google confirmed this through the program’s first six months. Using anonymized data from trips taken with Google Maps, they found that speeds improved after congestion pricing more on roads around the region commonly traveled by drivers heading into the central business district. That’s a subtle point, but one many readers observed themselves:

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“Noticeably fewer cars driving, even way out in Bensonhurst!”

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Charles Haeussler Brooklyn

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Even across the river in Bergen County, I feel that we benefit.”

Michelle Carvell Englewood Cliffs, N.J.

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“I supercommute weekly from Kingston by bus. Each week, my bus round trip is 30-60 minutes faster than it was before congestion pricing.”

Rob Bellinger Kingston, N.Y.

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3. More transit riders

Public transit will benefit from congestion pricing as its proceeds are invested in infrastructure upgrades; in the first year, the toll is projected to raise about $550 million after accounting for expenses, $50 million more than the M.T.A. originally predicted. But transit also stands to benefit as bus speeds improve on decongested roads and as more commuters shift to transit.

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On bus routes that cross through the congestion zone, speeds increased this year, in notable contrast to the rest of the city. These improvements follow years of declining bus speeds in the central business district coming out of the pandemic.

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Change in bus speeds, 2024-2025

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Local bus routes

Express bus routes

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“The crosstown buses are faster than they used to be, even during peak commuting times.”

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Marc Wieman Manhattan

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“Have gratefully noticed that they’re more on-time.”

Sue Ann Todhunter Manhattan

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“It has significantly improved my bus trips from N.J., cutting about 20 minutes of traffic each way.”

John Ruppert New Jersey

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Paid transit ridership is up this year compared with 2024 across the subway, M.T.A. buses, Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad as transit has continued its recovery from pandemic declines. About 300,000 more people are riding the subway each day — far more than the 70,000 cars that have been taken off the road in the congestion zone. So while congestion pricing is probably contributing to rising transit ridership, it’s not the main driver of it.

All of these added transit riders do, however, help explain why congestion pricing has not dampened activity in the busiest parts of the city, as critics feared. People are still coming, just not necessarily by private car.

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“I finally taught myself to use the subway. Between the tunnel toll, congestion pricing and parking, I’m saving an enormous amount of money, time and inconvenience.”

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Daniel Ludwig Weehawken, N.J.

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“It’s made using the bus for short trips a more appealing option.”

John Buckholz Brooklyn

In fact, overall visits to the business district aren’t down — they were up by about 2.4 percent over the previous year, according to the city’s Economic Development Corporation. And restaurant reservations on the platform OpenTable were up inside the zone as well, by the same amount as the increase citywide.

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Tom Harris, the president of the Times Square Alliance, which represents 2,600 businesses, said he had initially received complaints from some businesses. But he was pleasantly surprised that they soon stopped.

“We’re thrilled we have not seen negative impacts to local businesses,” he said. “It seems like it has been absorbed.”

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4. Better quality of life

These primary shifts — fewer cars, less congested roads, more transit riders — have in turn produced a number of other effects that might more broadly be thought of as changes to qualify of life. Readers described experiencing safer crosswalks, less stressful bike rides and what feels like cleaner air.

In city data, the number of complaints to 311 for vehicle noises like car honking has declined significantly inside the congestion zone, compared with the rest of Manhattan.

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Change in vehicle noise complaints, 2024-25

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From Jan. 5 to Nov. 30 in each year. Source: N.Y.C. 311 data.

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“Sometimes it’s almost — dare I say it? — quiet.”

Daniel Scott Manhattan

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“Midtown is so much quieter now.

Melanie DuPuis Manhattan/Hudson Valley

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“It turns out that mostly when people say ‘New York is noisy’ they really mean ‘cars are noisy.’”

Grant Louis Manhattan

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And the perception that roads have gotten safer is also borne out by crash data. The number of people who were seriously injured in a car crash decreased citywide, but the improvement was more pronounced in the congestion relief zone.

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Change in number of people seriously injured in a crash, 2024-25

Number of people who were seriously injured in a crash from Jan. 1 through Nov. 30 of each year. Source: Sam Schwartz Transportation Research Program/Hunter College analysis of N.Y.P.D. crash data.

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“Nobody’s trying to run me over.”

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Alice Baruch Manhattan

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Fewer cars honking, fewer cars running red lights, fewer cars blocking crosswalks.”

Charlie Rokosny Brooklyn

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“The number of blocked crosswalks have gone down significantly!”

Samir Lavingia Manhattan

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Amid these positive changes, however, other readers described distinct declines in their quality of life, often stemming from the cost of the toll. These deeply personal observations have no corresponding measures in public data. But they make clear that some of those 27 million fewer driving trips weren’t simply replaced by transit or forgone as unnecessary — they’re missed.

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“Sadly Manhattan is no longer an option for many things we once enjoyed.”

Linda Fisher Queens

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“Congestion pricing has made my world much smaller.”

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Justine Cuccia Manhattan

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“I’m more careful about choosing events to attend, so I go to fewer of them.

Karen Hoppe Queens

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“I will not use doctors in Manhattan, limiting my health care choices.”

David Pecoraro Queens

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One final aim of congestion pricing — improved air quality — has the potential to benefit everyone in the region. But the data remains inconclusive so far. A recent study from researchers at Cornell found a 22 percent improvement in one air quality measure over six months. But another analysis, by the Stanford and Yale authors, found little to no effect on air quality using local community sensors and comparing New York with other cities. And the M.T.A.’s own analysis of the program’s first year found no significant change in measured concentrations of vehicle-related air pollutants.

That doesn’t mean benefits won’t become clearer with more time and data. But the open questions about air quality underscore that even one year in, even with all the evidence gathered, there are still some effects we don’t fully understand.

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“As an asthmatic, I can also palpably feel improvements in the air quality.”

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Rob Hult Brooklyn

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“It’s allowed me to believe that perhaps America can change for the better.”

Hanna Horvath Brooklyn

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“As a car owner myself, I think it’s fair that the cost of driving is now being passed from city residents onto the drivers.”

Vincent Lee The Bronx

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“I don’t like the cost but I also can’t deny its effectiveness.”

Jon Keese Queens

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