Harlem is Shaking Off the Recession

Uptown...Upturn. Prices in Harlem are, after a long dive, inching their way back up. According to Street Easy 98 properties went into contract in Central, East and West Harlem in the fourth quarter of 2010, up from 89 the year before and 62 in 2009.

Brownstones and starter apartments composed many of those sales, but buyers are also being drawn by a new breed of amenity-stocked condos that are barely distinguishable from any others in Manhattan.

Is this a fabulous new Harlem or the homogenization of a highly distinctive neighborhood? Probably both....