Think you can tackle our trivia of one of NYC’s most historic neighborhoods? Take this quiz to find out!
CORRECT ANSWERS EXPLAINED
1. Dutch. When Dutch settlers moved in the area in 1658, they named it “Nieuw Harlem” after the village of “Haarlem” in the Netherlands.
2. F. The 2, 3, and 6 train all stop in Harlem, but the F only runs from Manhattan to Queens.
3. 96. Harlem starts at East 96th street and ends on East 142nd. From west to east, Harlem is bound by 5th Avenue and the Harlem River.
4. The Great Migration. Between 1910 and 1930, over 1.6 million African Americans moved from the South to the North to escape institutionalized racism and to find work in the booming northern economy.
5. Both A & B. In the 1920s, jazz, blues, and piano-jazz emerged from the Harlem Renaissance and became an international music craze. African Americans’ creation of this mainstream music genre was significant since the music industry had been exclusively dominated by white musician at the time.
6. Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton’s office is located on the penthouse of 55 West 125th Street.
7. Barack Obama. Hamilton, Holiday, and Armstrong have all lived in Harlem at one point of their lives! Obama was never a Harlem resident, but has lived in other New York neighborhoods like Park Slope, Brooklyn.
8. New Burlesque Theater. Opened in 1913, the New Burlesque Theater was a whites-only neoclassical music center. The theater was bought by Sidney Cohen who reopened it as the “Apollo Theater” in 1934 catering to the African American community.
9. 400. Harlem has over 400 historical churches including St. Mary’s Episcopal Church and the Abyssinian Baptist Church, which is New York City’s first African American Baptist church founded in 1808.
10. 133rd. During the “Jazz Age” in the early 1900s, the entire strip of 133rd street was filled with over 20 jazz venues along with many speakeasies and cabarets. Fun fact: Billie Holiday performed and was discovered at 17 years old on Swing Street.