a poor district of north Manhattan (1) in New York that runs from 110th Street to 162nd Street. It was originally a Dutch village. Most of the people living there now are African Americans , though there are many Puerto Ricans living in east Harlem, also called Spanish Harlem. Many African Americans moved there from the southern states in the 1920s and made it their cultural centre during the period called the Harlem Renaissance .
See also Cotton Club .