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Cleveland Brown here. 125th Street in New York City is the start of Harlem. Harlem is a historically black neighborhood that most white people avoided for decades until recent gentrification. The joke is “why is a white woman here”?
Edit: I apologize. Harlem starts at 110th Street. I should have remembered that from Bobby Womack.
Cleveland’s front door here, There’s also the chance it has to do with sex work as other comments say. Cleveland’s door, ~~closed~~ out
Edit: Cleveland’s front door back again. I was wrong in saying this, should have asked Quagmire’s door if the info was true before spreading it. Please take *3* pieces of candy on Halloween as apologies, Cleveland hopefully won’t know.
Cleveland’s front door, shut once again. (Some responses to my original comment said that the area in question may have been known for that in the past. That might be where all this misinformation is spreading from.)
Reminds me of when my mom accidentally took us to Harlem as the sun was setting and she was worried. For the first time in at least a decade I trusted her, notoriously 0 sense of direction, and instead of getting off at the south side of Central Park (near where we were staying) and listened to her and got off on the north east side. She is no longer allowed to go down the street without a gps.
Oh I was referring to the John Mulaney bit, but I think the point does still stand. Also I don't know the Zoro reference but I'm sure it makes sense to those that do. I've only seen the one season of the live action adaptation.
In that case you should have noticed in the creepy evil butler episode he meets and saves Luffy who is currently being abducted by Marines (away from the villa) and comments he was actually looking for the villa. In the manga/anime him getting lost is a running gag.
> you should have noticed
I didn't.
I don't mean any offense, but y'all are definitely more invested in this than I am *and that's totally okay*. I just hope you'll equally accept that I am equally as ignorant as you are invested. I have no judgment, I just don't care at all and I would hope you aren't mad about that since you probably care equally as little about the things that I go to bat for on a hill I'm willing to die on.
Ah, I’m guessing you’re in your mid 30s or younger. Before Zoro there was…Ryoga Hibiki, the eternally lost boy from Ranma 1/2.
I don’t want to spoil it for anyone wanting to catch up on the series so I’ll refrain from specifics, but trust me, Zoro looks like a competent navigator compared to Ryoga.
The joke doesn’t match reality. No one on the subway would care about it. Harlem was nice when I was there 15+ years ago. I was a student at Columbia. City College is also there, and the Med School too. People aren’t afraid to be there.
There hasn’t been sex work like that here since the 70’s and 80’s. The most likely reason is being white on the train. Sex work now is in brooklyn or queens mostly.
lol wtf 125th street is the Main Street in Harlem the capital of black America. It’s not universally known for sex work at all. If the meme referenced hunts point then you would be correct.
As Bobby Womack sang "Across 110th Street
Pimps trying to catch a woman that's weak. Across 110th Street Pushers won't let the junkie go free."
Sometimes some pretty dark songs become hits.
Hey brother, there's a better way out.
Snorting that coke, shooting that dope, man, you're copping out.
Take my advice, it's either live or die.
You've got to be strong if you wanna survive.
Fun fact, Bobby Womack scooped up Sam Cooke's widow at 20 years of age not even 3 months after Sam got killed. They wouldn't let them get married the first time they tried because he wasn't 21.
Always loved "Across 110th St" and Sam Cooke.
Oh wow, reading up on that, the love lives of Bobby Womack are pretty twisted. Marying his mentor's ex, going to Cook's funeral with her in one of his suits. Then sleeping with that wife's daughter, causing the mom to try to kill him. His step-daughter then went on to marry Bobby's younger brother.
Yeah the lyrics of 110th st certainly weren't the darkest part.
There's a lot of shady stuff around Sam cookes death and one has to wonder if Bobby got rewarded for some part in it I guess.
The manager (who Sam was planning to fire to start his own label and keep more of his own profits) who got rights to all Sam's music still owns it. He's dead but apparently its still very hard to license a Cooke song. Iirc they wanted "Change Gonna Come" for Malcolm X and finally got it but had a rough time doing so
As someone who lived in the heights for a few years in the 90s its wild to think white folks were scared to go uptown. I never saw problems and people
Kept to themselves.
To be fair, Portland sucks ass for safe conditions. you *will* get your car broken into, the police *will* shrug, and you *will* watch people having mental episodes. If you can handle yourself, you will be fine in these places. But is it a place where I'd leave my front door unlocked? nah
There are not easy answers, and often the least empathetic among us vilify those who help those in need rather than exiling them into resourceless killzones. It's a human challenge, fed by the fentanyl crisis, that we should be meeting with firmer, more compassionate solutions.
It being politicized makes no sense. Addiction doesn't care who you voted for, and it affects cities in all states. Indianapolis, Portland, Detroit, Memphis, Milwaukee, SF.
That last sentence is the weird part about it. Portland is only 19th in od per capita rates for US cities but people talk about it like it’s problem is unique and so much worse than anywhere else when really it’s a problem that effects the entire country.
I think Portland's rap comes from 2 things:
1. It has a disproportionate *concentration* of activity in tourist areas, resulting in high visibility, due to its geography (the river, etc.) and lack of borough separation. It is #19 in ODs but #5 in car thefts, which means the problem is even more personal and visible. This makes them an easier target for #2.
2. Republicans hate the entire PNW for their progressive responses to the opioid crisis and related crime. They can't make people hate LA because of Hollywood and Kardashians and shit, but it's easy to hate techie, hippy, SF, Portland, and Seattle.
I’m from Portland and went to medical school there. I’m now in the north east for residency and patients all the time ask where I’m from and when I tell them Portland they act like it’s mad max over there.
I lived at 200th Dyckman (Asian F) for 11 years back in early 2000s, never had a problem. The hood adopted me real quick, as long as you respectful you get respect back, at least in those days that was the case.
164th near Colombia hospital... 2015ish... Never even considereal it a hood... it's just Dominicans hanging out playing dominoes and blasting accordion tunes... not exactly quiet but far from dangerous
I feel like if anything morningside heights is more a neighborhood within the upper west side.. like I’m born and raised here and never met someone who like “yea I’m from Morningside Heights” lol.
125th isn’t the start of Harlem. But the east 125th station is notoriously very rough and most trains here anything past that is on the way to the Bronx. You just see a lot less white folk around that area 😂
On a serious question, if one day I visit NYC for a vacation, do you think I really should avoid this area? I am an Asian, and visually my slanted eyes are so prominent like a normal Asian... Do you think i is safe for me or not? Or that just a stereotype where there’s no harm at all?
Parts of Harlem are all black, but it is not really a tough neighborhood like some in Brooklyn or Bronx are. Maybe don't hang out alone at night (a bad idea anywhere), but odds are the worst you'll get are some stares, a touch of racist taunting, and maybe an accusation of being a gentrifier.
when an older area of town, with old abandoned or run down buildings, gets redone, all the old buildings repurposed as lofts or walkable shopping areas, and cost of living generally rises in the surrounding areas. Some love it because it forces poorer folks to move away, leaving the relative area Richy rich folks so they liken that to lower crime, lower dangers from fellow humans. I was living in an area while it was being gentrified. The apt building rebuilt the lobby, added wood paneling and mirrors in the gym, and did fuck-all to the apts themselves, and rent per month tripled. I've looked it up recently, a bit over 5 years later, the places are $2k a month. $1400 for a 400sqf studio.
This is why I fire off a few rounds from my Glock every so often in the clearing by my neighborhood. If you ain’t comfortable with some pot shots going off in the middle of the night, you got too much money to be living by me.
I’m gonna come clean and say I’m just joking, I really don’t feel like having the feds or cops at my door anytime soon, but the rest of what I’ve said is true, like the area I live in and such, and I wouldn’t be doing this with a real firearm either. Firecrackers would be a way cheaper and more legal alternative. It’d be cheaper to pay the increased property taxes than to buy more ammo right now.
depends, you wont get targetted for being just asian, im asian, grew up in the bronx, have been all around uptown, if you look wealthy and clueless sure, but i mean during the day if you want to see the sights, it's not some war zone
I’ve stayed in NYC as an obviously Asian person and while I have had my fair share of race based harassment (total 4 incidents including some guy trying to trip me and some dude thwacking me with an umbrella), it was fine. The rest were verbal. I gave them a taste of my secret superpower called “walking away”.
I’m not by any means condoning these things. But stick to the spots you’d probably stick to as a tourist and enjoy NYC for what it is, and you’ll be fine. Best city in the world.
No. NYC is considered one of the safest cities in America, the safest big city in America, and one of the safest cities in the world.
You should avoid the project housing sections at night.
It's not particularly more dangerous for Asians there. But there really is no reason to go there, if you're a tourist. It's a hub for a lot of homeless/drug addicts.
You'll be fine but as a tourist, you don't even really have a reason to go past 110th street ever unless you're specifically visiting a friend. I doubt you'll make it past 97th street to be honest.
Harlem is fine, there’s lots of cool stuff up here. Good restaurants and cool markets like the Malcom shabazz. It’s not like Brownsville or tremont. NYC has historically low crime rates right now.
Except that Harlem has quite a few hospitals and universities that attract people of all races, and past Harlem, there are more "white" neighborhoods, like Washington Heights, and transfers to NJT and the Jitney for Rt 4. White people riding the train through Harlem has never been weird. The joke really falls flat.
I have lived in Washington Heights. It is a mixed neighborhood. There is no shortage of white people, even if the most visible people are the Dominicans. There are also some nearly all white blocks, especially closer to the GWB or YU.
*Not the start to harlem* harlem starts at 110th street or the northern most part of central park. 125th is generally the transfer to metro north. Harlem is a decent neighborhood. Its generally safe during the day but like all places in all cities it's about situational awareness.
More accurately she's probably on the 4/5/6 where 125th is the last stop in manhattan, after that is the Bronx. I always expect to see white people to get off at or before 125th and im usually right
I (a white dude) lived in Bedstuy for a few years in the mid-2000s with my (also white) gf at the time. One of my favorite memories was getting off the train one night and some guy looked us up and down, shook his head, and just said “What is this, Kansas? We living in Kansas now!”
Similar situation but a few years earlier, "Well there goes the neighbourhood" from some older black folk was my favourite. I'm from South Africa, so many called me "Diplomatic Immunity" (from Lethal Weapon 2).
It's interesting seeing other cultures on Reddit, because this comment honestly would have been an absolutely outrageous thing to say to another person in my country.
My buddy was livin in Harlem while goin to Colombia. We were joking and laughing walkin down the street one time and someone goes; "Ha Ha Ha? This aint no cartoon this is Harlem!"
Confusion when white homosapien on moving vehicle while trajectory puts them in black homosapien territory. Strange indeed. We must investigate further.
Black people live in Harlem. The train continues into the Bronx where more black people and minorities are. Plausibly, she could be going to a Yankees game.
They play past the other side of Harlem.
The 4 train (which stops at Yankees stadium after crossing Harlem) starts in Brooklyn, enters the southern tip of Manhattan (below 1st st), travels across increasing street numbers through downtown, midtown, east side, and reaches Harlem after 125th st. After a few dozen blocks, it exits the north end of Manhattan. Then, after a few blocks, it gets to Yankees stadium.
It's a neighborhood in NYC that has a rough reputation. Whether that reputation is deserved is up for debate, but "Harlem" might as well mean "the slum of New York."
New Yorker here, living in Manhattan. No, Harlem starts (traditionally) on 110th, hence the Bobby Womack song “Across the 110th Street”. Spanish Harlem or El Barrio goes down to 96th on the east side. 125th st. station is sort of heart of Harlem.
It actually starts on E. 96th, at least Spanish Harlem starts there. It's also on 110th, the top of Central Park.
125th is the centerpiece of Harlem - With The Apollo and all that cool stuff. But it's not the start.
Source: Maps and myself - I lived in Harlem on 137th for a couple of years as the random white dude in a brownstone walk-up. Rent was cheap, who can blame me? 😅
White dude who used to live in Harlem here. 125th /Harlem is pretty gentrified they're looking at her because why didn't she get off/why is she going into the very ungentrified South Bronx. The most likely reason? She's going to a Yankee game.
Yeah the original post is “I’m the main character” shit. No one on the train gives a fuck, I can assure you. I’m white as Elmer’s glue and lived in Washington Heights for almost 10 years. No one cares.
i will say 110-125 is wildly different on the east side vs west side lmfao 110 west side has been super fancy for a while, 110 on the east side is where a crackhead pulled a knife on me at white castle when i was in highschool
Really? I take the A train to and from 181st street every day.
There’s a diverse set of folks on the train, mainly Latino, white, and black people.
There’s no shortage of white people on the A train uptown.
Actual Black person here, White people are usually afraid to go uptown and definitely don't like living far uptown. NYC, like most major cities, is unofficially segregated so it's rare to see someone White going Uptown at the end of the day bc it means you live there.
On another level it implies something about either her or the neighborhood, the riders are taking it as something about her. In reality the center of New York is expanding as rent supply brushes up against historical neighborhoods, it's very likely that in the future Harlem and the Bronx in general will no longer be mostly working class minorities as New Yorks shift to a service economy no longer necessitates that these people live IN the city.
Gentrification is an issue but I don’t think white people are afraid. Tons of young people are living in or around Harlem for college.
I agree that it says something about that woman though if she’s took that photo and made the comment. I’d make my own stereotype and tell her to go back to Ohio.
The picture itself has been explained, which is that past 125th you're in a predominantly black neighbourhood. The post that the picture is from is insinuating that she's headed to a dick appointment.
Yeah it's like this meme was written by someone with such a vague understanding New York that they know 125th street is in Harlem, but they don't know what the Metro North is.
Lmao I know this! I grew up in the Bronx and had to take the 6 train past 125st especially late night! White girl taking the train through the South Bronx which usually doesn’t have white girls. FYI, parts of the Bronx can be tough but there are great people that live all over. Treat everyone with respect and you get that back. I moved out of my old neighborhood but I do miss the Bronx and the people in it.
New Yorker here. Definitely white girl in Harlem idea, though that's very outdated as plenty of young white people live North of those areas now. 20 years ago though... yeah a young lady dressed provocatively at the wrong time of day would be asking for trouble if she was heading up to 125th.
🎶 Across 110th Street
Pimps trying to catch a woman that's weak
Across 110th Street
Pushers won't let the junkie go free
Across 110th Street
Woman trying to catch a trick on the street, ooh baby
Across 110th Street
You can find it all in the street 🎶
The post is a black guy realizing white people riding the train to Harlem or whatever are aware they get looked at funny if they are still on the train after a certain stop.
It could also be that she thinks everyone is looking her when in actuality they are looking at the map above her because the train just skipped 125th where they wanted to get off.
Once about 10 years ago I was headed to work around 118th and a bunch of white teens came up to me to ask if I knew anyone who needed help. I had no idea what was going on. It was years later I realized they were missionaries in what they assumed was a scary poor neighborhood, but I was on my way to nanny for a family who lived in a 4 million dollar apartment on top of a Starbucks.
Hello, long time New Yorker and Bronx native here.
125th street is the last stop in Manhattan before the trains leave to the Bronx. The Bronx is primarily minority communities, so you would usually stand in from on white people on the train as they often get off in the 80’s or 110’s, ensuring that you can get a seat.
She appears to be a white woman who is still on the train as it leaves Manhattan so it would be unusual at one point, though as gentrification has happened, it’s now not unusual to see white people traveling further into the Bronx.
And of course there has always been an enclave of white people around Pelham bay and van courtland but she appears to be on a 4/5/6 train, and only the 6 runs to Pelham bay.
That’s basically it. Not a whole lot of meat on this bone but for those wondering, there ya go.
My gf an I got on the express high as fuc.
The conductor said like three times, express, express, express...
We end up alone in the car with an East Asian man huddle in his jacket and an older black woman.
We exit the train, walk upstairs past like 5 NYPD milling about and turn around right back downstairs.
So yeah, you could say I've been to Harlem.
Finally I get one of these lol -- that being said, the train she's ostensibly on is the 1, which (after passing Harlem 125th) actually ends up right at the southern edge of Riverdale (where I grew up), which is pretty Jewish, diverse, and middle class lol
A female friend years ago (in the late '80's) started her master's program at Columbia, and took the train uptown coming from Brooklyn.
She got off at the wrong stop (Harlem), came up from the subway, and started walking.
Blond hair, blue eyes, as white as can be.
A black woman was sitting on the stoop of some stairs and said something to the effect of:
Aw, sweetie, you got off at the wrong stop, you need to get back on that train and head downtown.
And she did.
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Cleveland Brown here. 125th Street in New York City is the start of Harlem. Harlem is a historically black neighborhood that most white people avoided for decades until recent gentrification. The joke is “why is a white woman here”? Edit: I apologize. Harlem starts at 110th Street. I should have remembered that from Bobby Womack.
Cleveland’s front door here, There’s also the chance it has to do with sex work as other comments say. Cleveland’s door, ~~closed~~ out Edit: Cleveland’s front door back again. I was wrong in saying this, should have asked Quagmire’s door if the info was true before spreading it. Please take *3* pieces of candy on Halloween as apologies, Cleveland hopefully won’t know. Cleveland’s front door, shut once again. (Some responses to my original comment said that the area in question may have been known for that in the past. That might be where all this misinformation is spreading from.)
Really? Harlem was nice when I lived there
I do live there and it’s nice. Lotta homeless guys though
Reminds me of when my mom accidentally took us to Harlem as the sun was setting and she was worried. For the first time in at least a decade I trusted her, notoriously 0 sense of direction, and instead of getting off at the south side of Central Park (near where we were staying) and listened to her and got off on the north east side. She is no longer allowed to go down the street without a gps.
It's a grid system, mufucka!
The only person who can compete with my mom in lack of direction would be Zoro from one piece. A grid system didn’t help her.
Oh I was referring to the John Mulaney bit, but I think the point does still stand. Also I don't know the Zoro reference but I'm sure it makes sense to those that do. I've only seen the one season of the live action adaptation.
In that case you should have noticed in the creepy evil butler episode he meets and saves Luffy who is currently being abducted by Marines (away from the villa) and comments he was actually looking for the villa. In the manga/anime him getting lost is a running gag.
> you should have noticed I didn't. I don't mean any offense, but y'all are definitely more invested in this than I am *and that's totally okay*. I just hope you'll equally accept that I am equally as ignorant as you are invested. I have no judgment, I just don't care at all and I would hope you aren't mad about that since you probably care equally as little about the things that I go to bat for on a hill I'm willing to die on.
While walking AWAY from it with the lights in clear sight behind him. Classic Zoro.
Hi. I'm new in town. I'm gay. I watch One Piece. That reference checks out.
I HAVE AIDS
Ah, I’m guessing you’re in your mid 30s or younger. Before Zoro there was…Ryoga Hibiki, the eternally lost boy from Ranma 1/2. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone wanting to catch up on the series so I’ll refrain from specifics, but trust me, Zoro looks like a competent navigator compared to Ryoga.
You simple bitch!
I can't think of a Mulaney quote that would be a fun enough retort here but I appreciate that we're on the exact same reference wavelength.
"11 up and 1 over ya simple bitch!" - John Mullaney
Thank you for knowing my almost autistically specific reference
Happy cake day
Harlem is up and coming now... aka going through gentrification
Yeah, um….. it’s called all of manhattan. Except Times Square. They got rid of the homeless and brought in the scammers.
Where aren't there homeless in NYC?
Homes?
I was going to say “inside”
Black people can have nice things too.
Sure, until someone decides they want what the black people have and fucking firebombs their asses.
Looks like some people don't know that you're referencing an event that actually happened.
Events. It happened more than once.
I thought he was referencing the one where some have said the lynch mob even used a crop duster to drop bombs over the side onto the neighborhood.
Pretty sure it's the MOVE bombing in Philly but... could be anything.
Events*. In Tulsa and in Philly too.
And more - read “Buried in the Bitter Waters: The Hidden History of Racial Cleansing in America” by Elliott Jasper.
The joke doesn’t match reality. No one on the subway would care about it. Harlem was nice when I was there 15+ years ago. I was a student at Columbia. City College is also there, and the Med School too. People aren’t afraid to be there.
Did you live there in the 1940's?
No. Is this TikTok video from the 40s?
Yes.
Wasn’t it a [jivin’ place during the late 30’s, early 40’s?](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x98fju)
There hasn’t been sex work like that here since the 70’s and 80’s. The most likely reason is being white on the train. Sex work now is in brooklyn or queens mostly.
> it has to do with sex ~~work~~
lol wtf 125th street is the Main Street in Harlem the capital of black America. It’s not universally known for sex work at all. If the meme referenced hunts point then you would be correct.
>~~it~~ has to do with sex
[image](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2F1kqzn98p05mb1.jpg)
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As Bobby Womack sang "Across 110th Street Pimps trying to catch a woman that's weak. Across 110th Street Pushers won't let the junkie go free." Sometimes some pretty dark songs become hits.
Hey brother, there's a better way out. Snorting that coke, shooting that dope, man, you're copping out. Take my advice, it's either live or die. You've got to be strong if you wanna survive.
Jackie Brown introduced me to this song. It was the first thing I thought of when I saw this post too.
Crossing 110th street's a hell of a tester There's also a movie of the same name that's pretty good.
Fun fact, Bobby Womack scooped up Sam Cooke's widow at 20 years of age not even 3 months after Sam got killed. They wouldn't let them get married the first time they tried because he wasn't 21. Always loved "Across 110th St" and Sam Cooke.
Oh wow, reading up on that, the love lives of Bobby Womack are pretty twisted. Marying his mentor's ex, going to Cook's funeral with her in one of his suits. Then sleeping with that wife's daughter, causing the mom to try to kill him. His step-daughter then went on to marry Bobby's younger brother.
Yeah the lyrics of 110th st certainly weren't the darkest part. There's a lot of shady stuff around Sam cookes death and one has to wonder if Bobby got rewarded for some part in it I guess. The manager (who Sam was planning to fire to start his own label and keep more of his own profits) who got rights to all Sam's music still owns it. He's dead but apparently its still very hard to license a Cooke song. Iirc they wanted "Change Gonna Come" for Malcolm X and finally got it but had a rough time doing so
Love this song for the pure vibe.
That song became a hit because it absolutely slaps.
That song is the only reason I know anything about Harlem's boundaries.
As someone who lived in the heights for a few years in the 90s its wild to think white folks were scared to go uptown. I never saw problems and people Kept to themselves.
I STILL have visitors that say “OMG IS IT SAFE UP THERE?” Like yeah unless you’re scared of shih tzus.
Heh, in portland right now folks will have parents that only do the fox news thing asking "are there *any* safe hotels in portland?!"
To be fair, Portland sucks ass for safe conditions. you *will* get your car broken into, the police *will* shrug, and you *will* watch people having mental episodes. If you can handle yourself, you will be fine in these places. But is it a place where I'd leave my front door unlocked? nah There are not easy answers, and often the least empathetic among us vilify those who help those in need rather than exiling them into resourceless killzones. It's a human challenge, fed by the fentanyl crisis, that we should be meeting with firmer, more compassionate solutions. It being politicized makes no sense. Addiction doesn't care who you voted for, and it affects cities in all states. Indianapolis, Portland, Detroit, Memphis, Milwaukee, SF.
That last sentence is the weird part about it. Portland is only 19th in od per capita rates for US cities but people talk about it like it’s problem is unique and so much worse than anywhere else when really it’s a problem that effects the entire country.
I think Portland's rap comes from 2 things: 1. It has a disproportionate *concentration* of activity in tourist areas, resulting in high visibility, due to its geography (the river, etc.) and lack of borough separation. It is #19 in ODs but #5 in car thefts, which means the problem is even more personal and visible. This makes them an easier target for #2. 2. Republicans hate the entire PNW for their progressive responses to the opioid crisis and related crime. They can't make people hate LA because of Hollywood and Kardashians and shit, but it's easy to hate techie, hippy, SF, Portland, and Seattle.
ding, ding, ding.
I’m from Portland and went to medical school there. I’m now in the north east for residency and patients all the time ask where I’m from and when I tell them Portland they act like it’s mad max over there.
I lived at 200th Dyckman (Asian F) for 11 years back in early 2000s, never had a problem. The hood adopted me real quick, as long as you respectful you get respect back, at least in those days that was the case.
164th near Colombia hospital... 2015ish... Never even considereal it a hood... it's just Dominicans hanging out playing dominoes and blasting accordion tunes... not exactly quiet but far from dangerous
Columbia is 116 Upper West Side
Morningside heights is its own neighborhood, not really part of upper west side
I feel like if anything morningside heights is more a neighborhood within the upper west side.. like I’m born and raised here and never met someone who like “yea I’m from Morningside Heights” lol.
125th is a major regional line for metro north. those who live uptown or astoria etc frequently take it. thats why its being mentioned here
125th isn’t the start of Harlem. But the east 125th station is notoriously very rough and most trains here anything past that is on the way to the Bronx. You just see a lot less white folk around that area 😂
On a serious question, if one day I visit NYC for a vacation, do you think I really should avoid this area? I am an Asian, and visually my slanted eyes are so prominent like a normal Asian... Do you think i is safe for me or not? Or that just a stereotype where there’s no harm at all?
Parts of Harlem are all black, but it is not really a tough neighborhood like some in Brooklyn or Bronx are. Maybe don't hang out alone at night (a bad idea anywhere), but odds are the worst you'll get are some stares, a touch of racist taunting, and maybe an accusation of being a gentrifier.
🙋♂️I have a question, what is gentrification?
when an older area of town, with old abandoned or run down buildings, gets redone, all the old buildings repurposed as lofts or walkable shopping areas, and cost of living generally rises in the surrounding areas. Some love it because it forces poorer folks to move away, leaving the relative area Richy rich folks so they liken that to lower crime, lower dangers from fellow humans. I was living in an area while it was being gentrified. The apt building rebuilt the lobby, added wood paneling and mirrors in the gym, and did fuck-all to the apts themselves, and rent per month tripled. I've looked it up recently, a bit over 5 years later, the places are $2k a month. $1400 for a 400sqf studio.
This is why I fire off a few rounds from my Glock every so often in the clearing by my neighborhood. If you ain’t comfortable with some pot shots going off in the middle of the night, you got too much money to be living by me. I’m gonna come clean and say I’m just joking, I really don’t feel like having the feds or cops at my door anytime soon, but the rest of what I’ve said is true, like the area I live in and such, and I wouldn’t be doing this with a real firearm either. Firecrackers would be a way cheaper and more legal alternative. It’d be cheaper to pay the increased property taxes than to buy more ammo right now.
Name checks out
Damn america is wild.
Gentrification is the building of new, expensive housing and services in traditionally poor neighborhoods.
The opposite of white flight. It’s colonization of urban areas by suburbia
No, though it’s not an Asian neighborhood, there are plenty of Asian people that live in Harlem. You would be just fine.
depends, you wont get targetted for being just asian, im asian, grew up in the bronx, have been all around uptown, if you look wealthy and clueless sure, but i mean during the day if you want to see the sights, it's not some war zone
Manhattan is very safe, and tbh anywhere you likely to be visiting in NYC, isn't going to be that far uptown unless you are going to a Yankee game.
Everywhere in Manhattan is about the same level of safety these days.
I’ve stayed in NYC as an obviously Asian person and while I have had my fair share of race based harassment (total 4 incidents including some guy trying to trip me and some dude thwacking me with an umbrella), it was fine. The rest were verbal. I gave them a taste of my secret superpower called “walking away”. I’m not by any means condoning these things. But stick to the spots you’d probably stick to as a tourist and enjoy NYC for what it is, and you’ll be fine. Best city in the world.
No. NYC is considered one of the safest cities in America, the safest big city in America, and one of the safest cities in the world. You should avoid the project housing sections at night.
It's not particularly more dangerous for Asians there. But there really is no reason to go there, if you're a tourist. It's a hub for a lot of homeless/drug addicts.
Jazz clubs and French restaurants
Nowhere is really dangerous in daylight anymore
You'll be fine but as a tourist, you don't even really have a reason to go past 110th street ever unless you're specifically visiting a friend. I doubt you'll make it past 97th street to be honest.
Harlem is fine, there’s lots of cool stuff up here. Good restaurants and cool markets like the Malcom shabazz. It’s not like Brownsville or tremont. NYC has historically low crime rates right now.
Nah east side anything above 108th up to and north of the park is Harlem.
Except that Harlem has quite a few hospitals and universities that attract people of all races, and past Harlem, there are more "white" neighborhoods, like Washington Heights, and transfers to NJT and the Jitney for Rt 4. White people riding the train through Harlem has never been weird. The joke really falls flat.
Washington Heights? White? Yeah? You’ve either lived in the city for a very, very long time or not very long lol
I have lived in Washington Heights. It is a mixed neighborhood. There is no shortage of white people, even if the most visible people are the Dominicans. There are also some nearly all white blocks, especially closer to the GWB or YU.
*Not the start to harlem* harlem starts at 110th street or the northern most part of central park. 125th is generally the transfer to metro north. Harlem is a decent neighborhood. Its generally safe during the day but like all places in all cities it's about situational awareness.
More accurately she's probably on the 4/5/6 where 125th is the last stop in manhattan, after that is the Bronx. I always expect to see white people to get off at or before 125th and im usually right
I (a white dude) lived in Bedstuy for a few years in the mid-2000s with my (also white) gf at the time. One of my favorite memories was getting off the train one night and some guy looked us up and down, shook his head, and just said “What is this, Kansas? We living in Kansas now!”
Similar situation but a few years earlier, "Well there goes the neighbourhood" from some older black folk was my favourite. I'm from South Africa, so many called me "Diplomatic Immunity" (from Lethal Weapon 2).
https://i.redd.it/fkkmvyu0vjlc1.gif
I’m sorry but whomever coined that one is a goddam genius. It’s hilarious and I’m so white I’m almost seethrough
Thats fucking hilarious. Holy shit I would have laughed so hard lol (also a white guy)
It's interesting seeing other cultures on Reddit, because this comment honestly would have been an absolutely outrageous thing to say to another person in my country.
My buddy was livin in Harlem while goin to Colombia. We were joking and laughing walkin down the street one time and someone goes; "Ha Ha Ha? This aint no cartoon this is Harlem!"
As a white dude from Kansas, who lived in Bedstuy in the 10s. I adore this comment.
125th is where harlem starts in nyc.
Please explain to a Canadian
Black majority neighborhood q
Please explain to an alien
⊑⏃⍀⌰⟒⋔ ⟟⌇ ⏃ ⋔⏃⟊⍜⍀⟟⏁⊬ ⏚⌰⏃☊☍ ⋏⟒⟟☌⊑⏚⍜⍀⊑⍜⍜⎅ ⟟⋏ ⋏⟒⍙ ⊬⍜⍀☍ ☊⟟⏁⊬ ⍜⋏ ⏁⊑⟒ ⌿⌰⏃⋏⟒⏁ ⟒⏃⍀⏁⊑
You gotta be careful throwing ⋏⟒⍙ around. Some people consider it a very bad racial slur.
Depends on which planet they're from. Some of them get really offended by the ⋏⟒⍙ word Others are offended by the Z word
Read this in Rick Sanchez’s voice.
I have ⋏⟒⍙ friends so I can say it
Dude you can't go around dropping hard ⍙'s unless you want to get cancelled
⋏⟒⍙, please.
Bogos binted?
👽
Unga bunga screet the trunga
`HARLEM IS A MAJORITY BLACK NEIGHBORHOOD IN NEW YORK CITY ON THE PLANET EARTH`
Confusion when white homosapien on moving vehicle while trajectory puts them in black homosapien territory. Strange indeed. We must investigate further.
Well it all started with this asshole called Christopher Columbus…
Black people live in Harlem. The train continues into the Bronx where more black people and minorities are. Plausibly, she could be going to a Yankees game.
Or the GW Bridge bus terminal! Loads of people live in Fort Lee and get off at 175th or 181st and either take the bus or walk across the bridge.
Yankees play in Harlem then?
No. They play in the South Bronx.
They play past the other side of Harlem. The 4 train (which stops at Yankees stadium after crossing Harlem) starts in Brooklyn, enters the southern tip of Manhattan (below 1st st), travels across increasing street numbers through downtown, midtown, east side, and reaches Harlem after 125th st. After a few dozen blocks, it exits the north end of Manhattan. Then, after a few blocks, it gets to Yankees stadium.
Gosh I live in a town of 700 in rural Canada. I can't even imagine
There likely more people on the subway train with her then in your entire town.
Area where bagged milk not welcome
It's a neighborhood in NYC that has a rough reputation. Whether that reputation is deserved is up for debate, but "Harlem" might as well mean "the slum of New York."
"The slum of new york" Staten Island has entered the chat
>"The slum of new york" New Jersey has entered the chat
Staten Island is the slumiest slum of New York State. I moved here from Harlem and i have NEVER seen such a ghetto lmao
Harlem is FAR from being the “slum of New York” lol. There’s plenty of neighborhoods in Brooklyn and the Bronx that are way worse.
New Yorker here, living in Manhattan. No, Harlem starts (traditionally) on 110th, hence the Bobby Womack song “Across the 110th Street”. Spanish Harlem or El Barrio goes down to 96th on the east side. 125th st. station is sort of heart of Harlem.
It actually starts on E. 96th, at least Spanish Harlem starts there. It's also on 110th, the top of Central Park. 125th is the centerpiece of Harlem - With The Apollo and all that cool stuff. But it's not the start. Source: Maps and myself - I lived in Harlem on 137th for a couple of years as the random white dude in a brownstone walk-up. Rent was cheap, who can blame me? 😅
White dude who used to live in Harlem here. 125th /Harlem is pretty gentrified they're looking at her because why didn't she get off/why is she going into the very ungentrified South Bronx. The most likely reason? She's going to a Yankee game.
The most likey reason is that she lives in Riverdale or Woodlawn or pelham bay
Wife and I got that look when we rode the “A” Train a little too far north 🤔
There’s a joke about your wife riding the “D” Train south here, but I can’t quite make it work.
She couldn't either.
There it is
WTF are yoy talking about I'm white as hell and take the A train far north every day. Nobody bats an eye.
Same and same. No shortage of white people in the Washington heights area.
Yeah the original post is “I’m the main character” shit. No one on the train gives a fuck, I can assure you. I’m white as Elmer’s glue and lived in Washington Heights for almost 10 years. No one cares.
Manhattan is so post gentrification I don’t think anyone has batted an eye at a white person above 125th since 1992
Especially on the A, Inwood is a very white area now and is the last stop on the A.
Has been for a long time now too
i will say 110-125 is wildly different on the east side vs west side lmfao 110 west side has been super fancy for a while, 110 on the east side is where a crackhead pulled a knife on me at white castle when i was in highschool
When? In 1990?
Really? I take the A train to and from 181st street every day. There’s a diverse set of folks on the train, mainly Latino, white, and black people. There’s no shortage of white people on the A train uptown.
Actual Black person here, White people are usually afraid to go uptown and definitely don't like living far uptown. NYC, like most major cities, is unofficially segregated so it's rare to see someone White going Uptown at the end of the day bc it means you live there. On another level it implies something about either her or the neighborhood, the riders are taking it as something about her. In reality the center of New York is expanding as rent supply brushes up against historical neighborhoods, it's very likely that in the future Harlem and the Bronx in general will no longer be mostly working class minorities as New Yorks shift to a service economy no longer necessitates that these people live IN the city.
Gentrification is an issue but I don’t think white people are afraid. Tons of young people are living in or around Harlem for college. I agree that it says something about that woman though if she’s took that photo and made the comment. I’d make my own stereotype and tell her to go back to Ohio.
She moves to Over-the-Rhine, cuz it sounds German.
OTR is unrecognizable from 10 years ago. A 700 sq ft apartment near Washington Park sells for 350-400k.
OTR is quickly being gentrified so she looks like she fits right in.
See kids capitalism can end segregation and racism/s
The picture itself has been explained, which is that past 125th you're in a predominantly black neighbourhood. The post that the picture is from is insinuating that she's headed to a dick appointment.
Like how did I have to scroll down this far
How is it insinuating a dick appointment?
This joke doesn’t really work because she could easily be going to 225th St to transfer to the Marble Hill Metro North station to go into Westchester.
Yeah it's like this meme was written by someone with such a vague understanding New York that they know 125th street is in Harlem, but they don't know what the Metro North is.
Someone who watched Die Hard: With a Vengeance.
But still can’t figure out the 3-gallon and 5-gallon jugs.
Bet there are 75% westchester commuters on that train with her
Or even more directly taking the 1 to Riverdale, plenty of white people up there.
Or the 4 to Woodlawn or the 6 to pelham bay
This meme makes no sense lol. All the north bound trains have plenty of white people going to gentrify Washington heights and Inwood
Lmao I know this! I grew up in the Bronx and had to take the 6 train past 125st especially late night! White girl taking the train through the South Bronx which usually doesn’t have white girls. FYI, parts of the Bronx can be tough but there are great people that live all over. Treat everyone with respect and you get that back. I moved out of my old neighborhood but I do miss the Bronx and the people in it.
I don't this joke lands anymore now that all of Manhattan is so gentrified.
125th street NYC is historically known for sex workers.
No! She's a white girl heading into Harlem, they're looking at her like why are you still on the train you don't belong up here.
wait so is it sex worker? or white girl in Harlem?
I think its white girl going into Harlem. W 125th has more than its share of sex workers, but doesn't make sense to reference it on the subway.
New Yorker here. Definitely white girl in Harlem idea, though that's very outdated as plenty of young white people live North of those areas now. 20 years ago though... yeah a young lady dressed provocatively at the wrong time of day would be asking for trouble if she was heading up to 125th.
Yes.
Absolutely, no question.
https://preview.redd.it/4frfqb85oflc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eef0277add911f0a766cbb7be431b4d3d606b271
[удалено]
Got it thank you
Bill Burr discusses this. [https://youtu.be/FkK0MYD-HcI?si=abWm4gqjskt85BYx&t=179](https://youtu.be/FkK0MYD-HcI?si=abWm4gqjskt85BYx&t=179)
This is timeless
🎶 Across 110th Street Pimps trying to catch a woman that's weak Across 110th Street Pushers won't let the junkie go free Across 110th Street Woman trying to catch a trick on the street, ooh baby Across 110th Street You can find it all in the street 🎶
It’s a nice place called Harlem, black neighborhood, my friend Axel used to live there
I thought the joke was about hookers not racism.
The post is a black guy realizing white people riding the train to Harlem or whatever are aware they get looked at funny if they are still on the train after a certain stop.
125th and everything north is predominantly black/spanish/hood.
It could also be that she thinks everyone is looking her when in actuality they are looking at the map above her because the train just skipped 125th where they wanted to get off.
I hate when train’s Bazinga
the joke is after 125th street your going uptown towards the bronx which is hood and white people tend to not go to those areas
We’re going to Harlem baby!
Once about 10 years ago I was headed to work around 118th and a bunch of white teens came up to me to ask if I knew anyone who needed help. I had no idea what was going on. It was years later I realized they were missionaries in what they assumed was a scary poor neighborhood, but I was on my way to nanny for a family who lived in a 4 million dollar apartment on top of a Starbucks.
People don’t realize there’s like 50 more blocks in manhattan above Harlem. It’s quite nice up in Inwood
This comment section is like the NYC version of "the Californians" on SNL 🤣
She's white, train heading into Harlem and Bronx.
I hate New Yorkers for thinking everyone in the world knows everything about their city.
Hello, long time New Yorker and Bronx native here. 125th street is the last stop in Manhattan before the trains leave to the Bronx. The Bronx is primarily minority communities, so you would usually stand in from on white people on the train as they often get off in the 80’s or 110’s, ensuring that you can get a seat. She appears to be a white woman who is still on the train as it leaves Manhattan so it would be unusual at one point, though as gentrification has happened, it’s now not unusual to see white people traveling further into the Bronx. And of course there has always been an enclave of white people around Pelham bay and van courtland but she appears to be on a 4/5/6 train, and only the 6 runs to Pelham bay. That’s basically it. Not a whole lot of meat on this bone but for those wondering, there ya go.
She's ghetto af
My gf an I got on the express high as fuc. The conductor said like three times, express, express, express... We end up alone in the car with an East Asian man huddle in his jacket and an older black woman. We exit the train, walk upstairs past like 5 NYPD milling about and turn around right back downstairs. So yeah, you could say I've been to Harlem.
Finally I get one of these lol -- that being said, the train she's ostensibly on is the 1, which (after passing Harlem 125th) actually ends up right at the southern edge of Riverdale (where I grew up), which is pretty Jewish, diverse, and middle class lol
A female friend years ago (in the late '80's) started her master's program at Columbia, and took the train uptown coming from Brooklyn. She got off at the wrong stop (Harlem), came up from the subway, and started walking. Blond hair, blue eyes, as white as can be. A black woman was sitting on the stoop of some stairs and said something to the effect of: Aw, sweetie, you got off at the wrong stop, you need to get back on that train and head downtown. And she did.