At times, central Harlem seems to be an urban scene straight out of central casting: Step off the No. 2 or 3 train at the 116th Street stop one evening, and the air is filled with the snap-snap of double Dutch jump ropes hitting the pavement and girls tensely debating just whose turn it is. Old men hunker down over folding domino tables, and young men preen and spar with one another. But mixed with these Spike Lee-esque vignettes is another Harlem, chugging on in defiance of the recession. It includes slick boutiques and cafes, bars that attract Hollywood types and places for music that make you wonder when exactly Harlem’s Renaissance happened — then, or now?
4:30 P.M. At the start of World War I, said Jeffrey S. Gurock, the author of “When Harlem Was Jewish, 1870-1930,” central Harlem had a Jewish population of 125,000. That heritage lives on at Lee Lee’s Baked Goods, 283 West 118th Street, (917) 493-6633, where Alvin Lee Smalls bakes the most buttery rugelach (70 cents each, but try and buy just one) in a small bakery appointed like a country kitchen. Mr. Smalls, who is black, is known for his old tongue-in-cheek window sign that once advertised the cinnamon and raisin pastry as “rugelach by a brother.”
5 P.M. Sit at the communal butcher-block tables at Society Coffee, 2104 Frederick Douglass Boulevard, (212) 222-3323, and wash down the rugelach with the house Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee ($1.75 small, $2.25 large) or a single shot of espresso from Trieste, Italy ($1.50). With all the media types inking movie deals at the tables, you’ll want to double-check that you’re not on the set of “Entourage.”
4:30 P.M. At the start of World War I, said Jeffrey S. Gurock, the author of “When Harlem Was Jewish, 1870-1930,” central Harlem had a Jewish population of 125,000. That heritage lives on at Lee Lee’s Baked Goods, 283 West 118th Street, (917) 493-6633, where Alvin Lee Smalls bakes the most buttery rugelach (70 cents each, but try and buy just one) in a small bakery appointed like a country kitchen. Mr. Smalls, who is black, is known for his old tongue-in-cheek window sign that once advertised the cinnamon and raisin pastry as “rugelach by a brother.”
5 P.M. Sit at the communal butcher-block tables at Society Coffee, 2104 Frederick Douglass Boulevard, (212) 222-3323, and wash down the rugelach with the house Ethiopian Yirgacheffe coffee ($1.75 small, $2.25 large) or a single shot of espresso from Trieste, Italy ($1.50). With all the media types inking movie deals at the tables, you’ll want to double-check that you’re not on the set of “Entourage.”
