Saving Harlem Buildings to Save African American History:The Building Where the 1963 March on Washington Was Planned Sunday, September 13, 2020 from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. EDT (Click for link to EventBrite) In celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance, Save Harlem Now! in partnership with Harlem One Stop and the Harlem Cultural Renaissance 100 Virtual Salon presents a lively conversation about the epic planning that took place in July and August 1963 at 170 West 130th Street in Harlem, during planning for that year’s historic March on Washington. Moderator: Chet Whye Jr. Panel ..read more

Save Harlem Now!, Uptown preservation advocates seeking to protect Harlem’s architectural and cultural heritage, cordially invite you to enjoy a fun evening of drinks, great food, courtesy of Harlem Shake and Corner Social, and dancing to magically eclectic sounds of DJ Ernesto Johnson, at our inaugural Historic Harlem Fundraising Halloween Party! Friday October 26th, from 8-midnight! Held in a local landmarked brownstone that is home to Dennis Decker at 113 West 119th Street. RSVP here! Come dressed as your favorite Harlem habitue or personality, past or present: from Washington, Hamilton, M ..read more

NEW YORK (Landmarks Preservation Commission Press Release, May 29, 2018) Today, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated the Central Harlem – West 130-132nd Streets Historic District.  This mid-block historic district is not only representative of Central Harlem’s residential architecture, but the rich social, cultural, and political life of its African American population in the 20th century. To illustrate the significance of this diverse historic district, LPC launched an interactive story map called Explore the Central Harlem – West 130th-132nd Streets Histo ..read more

Save Harlem Now!, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to protecting, preserving and celebrating Harlem’s irreplaceable built heritage, is hiring an executive director to begin work with the organization in 2022. Funding for the position is provided by a 2021 African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. For full qualifications and application information, please click here ..read more

Shayla Martin, Veranda, August 19, 2021 Valerie Jo Bradley is one of the cofounders of Save Harlem Now!, a nonprofit advocacy group that formed to preserve buildings and landscapes that contain important African American history from the early 20th century. “We realized we’ve got to be organized and proactive to deal with the fact that only 3.7 percent of Harlem’s buildings are landmarked compared to 66 percent of Greenwich Village and 50 percent of the Upper West and Upper East sides.” Read the full article ..read more

Save Harlem Now! is the proud recipient of a National Trust for Historic Preservation grant that will support hiring its first Executive Director to provide administrative, management, and organizational support to further its mission to protect Harlem’s built environment and preserve its history. On July 15, 2021, the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced more than $3 million in grants to 40 sites and organizations through its African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. Over the past four years, the National Trust has funded 105 historic places connected to Black history an ..read more

As the first program in its 2021 series, Save Harlem Now! will present a virtual walking tour of northern Manhattan’s Audubon Park neighborhood with SHN! Board member, Matthew Spady, author of The Neighborhood Manhattan Forgot: Audubon Park and the Families Who Shaped It. This free Zoom program will take place on Wednesday, April 28, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. and will last approximately one hour. At the conclusion of the presentation, Save Harlem Now! will hold a drawing for autographed copies of Spady’s book. Register here [Registrants will receive the link to the event content in their order confirm ..read more

METROFOCUS. Aired February 25, 2021. LISTEN HERE After decades of local activism, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission has unanimously voted to designate a small brick home in Brooklyn as an historic landmark. In the mid-19thcentury, 227 Duffield Street was owned by abolitionist couple Harriet and Thomas Truesdell and there is reason to believe that their home may have served as a temporary stop for those escaping slavery on the underground railroad. Though the city co-named a section of Duffield street, “abolitionist place” back in 2007, they have resisted giving the home landm ..read more

December 29, 2020 Dear Friend,   What a year we have all been through! It is ironic that over-scale and inappropriate development has not slowed in Harlem during this pandemic—if anything, city oversight has diminished and our work to save our historic Harlem neighborhoods is more urgent than ever before. Our historic brownstone-lined blocks, majestic houses of worship, and sites of important 20th century African American cultural and political accomplishment are being targeted one by one for demolition and wholesale redevelopment by real estate interests who are rapidly changing the qua ..read more

The Central Harlem West 130th – 132nd Street Historic District in its entirety received a unanimous vote in the City Council on Wednesday, September 26! This was a monumental victory for the community, and Save Harlem Now! which had to wage a struggle against the efforts of two heavy duty lobbying firms that were hired to convince Council Members that a garage located on 132nd be excluded from the Historic District. The process to finalize the Central Harlem Historic District began to take unexpected turns when the Council Subcommittee for Landmarks voted to exclude the garage, which was origi ..read more