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Rich with the textures and rhythms of street life, The Tenants of East Harlem is an absorbing and unconventional biography of a neighborhood told through the life stories of seven residents whose experiences there span nearly a century. Modeled on the ethnic distinctions that divide the community, the book portrays the old guard of East Harlem: Pete, one of the last Italian holdouts; José, a Puerto Rican; and Lucille, an African American. Side by side with these representatives of a century of ethnic succession are the newcomers: Maria, an undocumented Mexican; Mohamed, a West African entrepreneur; Si Zhi, a Chinese immigrant and landlord; and, finally, the author himself, a reluctant beneficiary of urban renewal. Russell Leigh Sharman deftly weaves these oral histories together with fine-grained ethnographic observations and urban history to examine the ways that immigration, housing, ethnic change, gentrification, race, class, and gender have affected the neighborhood over time. Providing unique access to the nuances of inner-city life, The Tenants of East Harlem shows how roots sink so quickly in a community that has always hosted the transient, how new immigrants are challenging the claims of the old, and how that cycle is threatened as never before by the specter of gentrification.

Sociology, Urban --- Urban anthropology --- Ethnicity --- Community development, Urban --- Gentrification --- Urban renewal --- Community programs, Urban --- Neighborhood improvement programs --- Urban community development --- Urban economic development --- City planning --- Urban policy --- Ethnic identity --- Group identity --- Cultural fusion --- Multiculturalism --- Cultural pluralism --- Anthropology, Urban --- Ethnology --- Urban sociology --- Cities and towns --- Citizen participation --- Government policy --- Social aspects --- East Harlem (New York, N.Y.) --- Social conditions. --- Economic conditions. --- Social life and customs. --- Barrio (New York, N.Y.) --- El Barrio (New York, N.Y.) --- Spanish Harlem (New York, N.Y.) --- african americans. --- america. --- anthropologists. --- anthropology. --- chinese americans. --- class differences. --- east harlem. --- ethnic differences. --- gender studies. --- gentrification. --- harlem residents. --- housing. --- immigrant experiences. --- inner city life. --- italian americans. --- new york. --- nonfiction biography. --- oral histories. --- personal stories. --- puerto ricans. --- race issues. --- sociology. --- street life. --- transient living. --- undocumented mexicans. --- united states. --- urban history. --- urban life. --- west africa.