Although Harlem is popularly thought of as New York City’s preeminent black neighborhood, there were earlier, now vanished neighborhoods that were central to black life in the city. One of those was San Juan Hill, an African-American quarter that once pulsed with life where the Amsterdam Houses now stand.
The district’s borders have been traditionally defined as being bounded on the north by 64th Street, to the east by Amsterdam Avenue and to the south by 53h Street.
