Tag Archives: HarlemGal

Keep Harlem trees hydrated

Posted on July 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

Jul 13, 2010 @ 15:36

By HarlemGal
Lately it’s been hot and steamy outside where I can barely walk a few hundred feet without needing to quench my thirst. I get real thirsty with this kind of weather. Do you feel like this? If so, let’s imagine what the things around us must feel like, such as trees. You know what I am talking about? Those green things that create shade, reduce air pollution, add beauty and that some of us witnessed being planted throughout Harlem last Fall as part of the MillionTreesNYC. Like us, trees need water too in order to grow and exist in NYC. So what can Harlemites do to keep our trees alive and well?

The NYC Parks Commissioner and members of the Harlem community are urging New Yorkers to keep our street trees hydrated throughout the summer by taking self-action to water our street lined trees-especially the baby trees! Here is what the NYC Parks suggests:

•water each young tree with several gallons of water once a week from May through October!
•use a hand cultivator to loosen the top soil so that the water can reach the roots!
•careful not to dig too deep by using large tools!
•water slowly!
•and if it rains one inch or more in a weeks time period don’t bother watering!

Sounds pretty basic…right? So let’s water our trees in Harlem and urge our fellow New Yorkers to do the same and say “Let’s keep Harlem green!”

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Posted in Community, Harlem

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Harlem’s 115th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd getting a glass makeover

Posted on July 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

Jul 9, 2010 @ 16:24

By HarlemGal

There is so much construction change taking place in the southwestern part of Harlem one would thing it would be impossible to keep up with. That could be the case if it weren’t for readers informing HarlemCondoLife on where to go take that next stroll around Harlem. I am learning to listen to those tips and that’s what I did today (Friday). A reader tipped HCL about a ton of retail construction happening on the southwest corner of 115th Street and Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd., also known as 7th Avenue. I checked it out. Thank you Lynn!

There are two scenarios floating around about what is happening with this retail space in Harlem that I am estimating to be more than 3000 square feet. One worker said that the space is being cleaned out and turned into a laundry mat. Interesting. Not my favorite scenario since most of the buildings in the area have laundry facilities inside the building and there are two other mats close by: one on Frederick Douglass Blvd., and 114th Street and the other on St. Nicholas and 113th Street.

Another person hanging out in front of the construction, said that the owner, who happens to own the entire complex located at 1890 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd., is remodeling the space to get an entire new tenant. It is rumored that the owner of this retail space wants $15,000 in rent. I believe that is 5 thousand less than what is requested on Frederick Douglass Blvd. I hear some commercial space goes for around $20k with a ten-year commitment. Not cheap!

Overall, I hope something unique and interesting moves into this space, such as a diner or another mom and pop drug store. What do you want? Diganos! Who knows…maybe the owner is listening!

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Her Garden balloon and gift store opens joining small businesses in Harlem

Posted on July 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

Jul 6, 2010 @ 10:44

HarlemCondoLife

By HarlemGal

West 116th Street in Harlem became a bit brighter two weeks ago. That’s when Her Garden, a gift and balloon shop, opened up as a small business right here in Harlem. Central Harlem is the second location for the gift and balloon shop. They have one other store in Ridgefield, NJ.

When I went by the store over the holiday weekend, I saw their portfolio of balloon artistry. It was impressive! If you want a bridge full of balloons for major events, such as a wedding or political convention, they can build it for you. If a bouquet of balloons is more your style for a birthday or thinking of you moment, Her Garden in Harlem can create that special gift as well. What if you want a single balloon in the color of your choice, they have that too! At Her Gardens in Harlem, you can spend $2 dollars on a balloon or go as high as $500 dollars for an amazing balloon creation.

There is one unique aspect to this store that really caught my attention and I am interested in purchasing something like this for my Harlem home and that is doll sculptures made from recycled balloons (see photo of doll in slideshow). As balloon artists, they go through a ton of balloons whether it be the color is wrong for a bouquet or the balloon pops when blowing it up. So this store takes those used balloon pieces and creates wonderful dolls. I think this is a unique, green gift. I like it and plan to purse getting one.

If your on 116th Street, between Frederick Douglass Blvd. and Adam Clayton Powell, head on over to Her Garden by foot to order some balloons. Their website is under construction right now so the best way to see their work is to drop by!

Her Garden (Gifts & Balloons)
227 West 116th Street
New York, NY 10026
212-280-2403/917-273-8111

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Posted in business, Harlem

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Air advertisements over Central Harlem

Posted on July 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

Jul 5, 2010 @ 11:00

By HarlemGal

Over the holiday weekend, I saw some white spurts of air dotting the sky. I couldn’t tell at first what it was. Then I kept watching and saw letters come alive that spelled out Geico, insurance and hot summer. That’s all I caught. I had never seen this happen before in Harlem, especially over the Fourth. I have seen it done at the beach, but not much in the City. Does anyone know if this is common in Harlem? Why would Geico do something like this? And did anyone else see this over the weekend? It looked pretty cool! Hmm, hopefully a Geico rep or someone in general will step forward and tell us what this is about?

Hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July!

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Harlem’s Chocolat in hiring mode, plans to open soo

Posted on July 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

Jul 5, 2010 @ 7:30

By HarlemGal

For those of you who inquired about whether Chocolat was continuing with their hiring process, we were told they still are. We stopped by over the holiday weekend to ask and a person on site said they are taking applications today, Monday, July 5 at the home of where Chocolat will be, which is at 2217 Frederick Douglass Blvd.

If your interested in working there, head on over. They are hiring cause they expect to open in about three to four weeks according to a worker on location. From the photos below, looks like they’re on track! Excellent. Another place for us to hang!

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Posted in Harlem, restaurant row, restaurants

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Experience the three C’s in Spanish Harlem

Posted on July 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

Jun 30, 2010 @ 7:30

By HarlemGal

I recently had the opportunity to experience the three C’s at the Museum of the City of New York located at 103rd and Fifth Avenue in Spanish Harlem. What do I mean by the three C’s? I am talking about Cars, Culture, and the City, the first exhibition to explore the Big Apple’s century-long relationship with the automobile. I was fortunate enough to see Cars, Culture, and The City at the beginning of the week (June 28), along with a one time special event at the Museum called Designing Women. (See slide show of the exhibit below!)

The special event was about how female designers at General Motors (GM) have had a critical impact on car design. Christine Park, one of the lead designers at GM, gave an in-depth demo on how they sketch at the company. It was very impressive to see Park sketch especially when she created an initial sketch of a car right before the audience’s eyes and then revealed what the final product looked like in real form. Pure talent comes to mind when thinking about Park. And it was interesting to see that talent; however, the actual exhibition at the Museum about cars and its connection to New York City was much more fascinating. Call me biased, but I am a New Yorker and I enjoy learning about the ‘Greatest City in the World!’

Cars, Culture and The City explains in visual detail how the automobile entered the Big Apple in the early 1900’s, the introduction of automobile shows, which are still in existence today in NYC I believe at the Javits Center, cars designed in New York, futuristic design, NY films and cars, and the car challenges of New York. There is so much to see and learn at this exhibit. I found the entire exhibit fascinating and it caused several ah-ha moments for me. My favorite portion of the exhibit was the compilation shown high up on a white wall of all the amazing movies that have featured New York City and the car. The looped video showed films and television, such as Solid Gold Cadillac, Midnight Cowboy, Taxi Driver, The Godfather, Vanilla Sky, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Seinfeld, Saturday Night Fever, When Harry Met Sally, and much more.

If you like history, cars, Hollywood films, sketching or would like to experience a museum on Museum Mile that is not crowded or expensive ($10 bucks a visit), then go see Cars, Culture and The City exhibit in Spanish Harlem at the Museum of the City of New York. It’s there until August 8!

Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd St.
New York, NY 10029
212.534.1672

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Posted in Harlem, history, New York, New York City, NYC

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Target set to open in East Harlem

Posted on July 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

Jun 28, 2010 @ 10:12

By HarlemGal
The last Sunday of July 2010 is the day Target, a major consumer good store in the U.S., is opening it’s ba-gillionth location in East Harlem in the East River Plaza, which sits at the far east end of East 116th Street. The exact date is July 25th according to this sign being hung up today at the 116th subway stop of the B/C line.
Together with Target opening soon and Costco and Best Buy already operational, the only shops left to open are Marshalls, Old Navy and Pet Smart. Did I leave anyone out?
To date, we have shopped at Costco in East Harlem. We have gone to Costco mainly for bulk paper goods. We find Costco useful for this type of goods cause we experience long term savings and these are the only items we are passionate about in making room in the apartment, but not much else. We don’t have the room.
As for Target, I am looking forward to shopping there! I really like their clothes. They have cute stuff for women! And there kitchen ware is not bad either. I generally like to buy Calphalon at Target. It’s much less there than at places, such as William Sonoma.
Amid Target opening in East Harlem soon, there is really no reason to head to the outer boroughs to shop. I believe we have all that we need right here in Harlem!

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Posted in fashion, Harlem, shopping

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Experience free canoeing at Harlem Meer

Posted on July 5, 2011 | 1 comment

Jun 27, 2010 @ 17:08

By HarlemGal

Walking along Central Park North on Sunday, I discovered several red canoes in the pond at Harlem Meer. I wonder what was up…so I headed on over to Lasker Rink where there was a sign-in desk. There I saw New York City Urban Park Rangers helping people put on life jackets, placing them in a canoe and pushing them off into the pond at Harlem Meer. Urban Park Rangers were offering free canoeing all day on June 27 from noon until 3 PM. New York City Department of Parks and Recreation offer it every summer on select Sundays. One of the Park Rangers on site said to check the schedule online regularly to see when they’re offering free canoeing again. The Park Ranger said it will happen again soon! There is free canoeing offered about three or four times throughout the summer. How fun! I am going to try it!

So if your interested in canoeing at Harlem Meer one Sunday this summer, check the online schedule and then head on up to Harlem Meer, which is located in Central Park near 110th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Blvd!

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Posted in Community, Events, Harlem

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Harlem’s Bier International taking shape

Posted on July 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

Jun 23, 2010 @ 13:03
By HarlemGal
During my usual stroll along Frederick Douglass Boulevard, I was able to capture the latest construction happenings with Bier International, Harlem’s first (alleged) beer garden. The beer garden, expected to debut soon at 2099 Frederick Douglass Blvd., is starting to take shape.
In one of the photos below, you can see where the bar is going to be placed, which is what the rendering indicated. Also, there are workers on site every day now and what appears to be management standing outside late evenings. I have seen management hanging out in front lately reviewing the days construction.
So stay tuned, this place is expected to open while the 2010 World Cup is on!

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Posted in Bars, Harlem, restaurant row

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Frederick Douglass Circle in Harlem has new rules

Posted on July 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

Jun 21, 2010 @ 15:22

HarlemCondoLife

By HarlemGal
Two weeks after it officially opened to the public, Harlem’s Frederick Douglass Circle has new rules. No biking, rollerblading or skateboarding are allowed on the gorgeous circle that is a pin wheel to 110th Street running east to west; and 8th Avenue running north and south. And there are signs hanging on several light posts that don the Circle to inform visitors of the these new rules.
On top of the new rules, there are assigned staff from the Central Park Conservancy, who guard the circle. I saw two patrolling around the Circle this past weekend!
These new rules, I believe, are partially due in part to some blog readers voicing their strong concern about safety and preservation of the Circle on this site. Maybe the dialogue that occurs on blogs around interesting topics can provoke change? What do you think?
If you have not visited the Frederick Douglass Circle yet, go see it. It’s a wondeful experience. Just take the B/C or 2/3 to 110th Street.

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