East Harlem (or Spanish Harlem) has long contributed to the cultural and historical life of New York City. Home to successive waves of immigrants over the centuries (including Jews, Germans, Irish, and Italians), the neighborhood today percolates with the cultural energy brought by Puerto Ricans in the 20th century, and from more recent diasporas. Once the home of Latin Jazz progenitors Machito and Tito Puente, and Oscar winner, Al Pacino, El Barrio has launched many creative movements and  careers. East Harlem's heroes and anti-heroes come in many forms and populate many stories—especially stories offered by NYPL. You can read about just some of them below!

Tuff by Paul Beatty

Paul Beatty applies a sharp wit and satirical (though compassionate) eye to the denizens of East Harlem. Winston “Tuff” Foshay is a 19-year drug dealer/user who wants to finally get his life together. The novel culminates with Foshay attempting to run for local office, which provides  hilarious fodder for Beatty’s comic critique of society at large. 

 

 

 

 

Flying Over 96th Street by Thomas Webber

Thomas Webber was nine when his family relocated from a spacious Upper West Side apartment to a housing project in East Harlem. Covering the 50s and early '60s, Webber recounts his experience as one of the few white residents in a largely Black and Latino neighborhood. Animated by an astute awareness of civil rights history, Webber grapples with questions of color, community, and the possibility of hope.

 

 

 

The Young Lords: A Radical History by Johanna Fernández

Though founded in Chicago, the Young Lords Political Party had their largest presence in New York City, especially in East Harlem. Johanna Fernández traces their story. Fighting for the self-determination of Puerto Rico and standing firmly against racial and class oppression on the mainland—the Young Lords drew inspiration from the Black Panther Party, but remained uniquely stalwart in rooting out a multitude of injustices, including sexism and homophobia.

 

 

Bodega Dreams by Ernesto Quiñonez

The first of what has come to be called Quiñonez's Spanish Harlem trilogy, Bodega Dreams tells the story of Willie Bodega, a former Young Lords member turned local drug kingpin. Narrated by a young artist named Chino, the story reveals the underbelly of dreams of success in El Barrio, while introducing the reader to an array of fascinating and richly imagined characters along the way.

 

 

 

The Crazy Bunch by Willie Perdomo

Nuyorican poet and native son of Spanish Harlem, Willie Perdomo writes poems that are little encapsulations of street-level energy, plying a language that is as authentic as it is linguistically and lyrically sophisticated. A kind of memoir in verse, the poems tell tales of growing up in the East Harlem in the rough-and-tumble 1980s.

 

 

 

 

 

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Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you’d recommend. And check out our Staff Picks browse tool for more recommendations!

Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.