United States · New York · New York City
East Harlem, New York City — Area Guide & Where to Stay
East Harlem, also called Spanish Harlem or El Barrio, runs north from 96th Street through Upper Manhattan as far as the Harlem River.
About East Harlem
Where to stay in East Harlem
Where you base yourself shapes the visit — here's the character of each area.
Fifth Avenue and 96th Street set the two edges that matter when picking a bed here, one running along the western side of East Harlem and the other separating the district from the Upper East Side. Rooms thin out further north. The blocks toward the East River and the Harlem River are residential ground, while the Church of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel gives the middle of the district its landmark.
Spanish Harlem and El Barrio are the same place.
About East Harlem
What are the main landmarks in East Harlem?
Water does most of East Harlem's marking. The East River runs the length of the eastern boundary and the Harlem River closes the northern end, while Fifth Avenue and 96th Street draw the straight lines that cut the district off from the Upper East Side. One building carries the rest.
The Church of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel stands in the middle of the ground once called Italian Harlem, and no other monument on the list competes with it.
What is the history of East Harlem?
Three names attach to the same streets. Italian Harlem came first in the record, and Spanish Harlem and El Barrio followed as names the district still answers to. Harlem itself is a separate matter.
East Harlem is not usually counted as part of Harlem proper, though it sits inside the wider Greater Harlem, and its own limits have stayed plain: 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East River and Harlem River wrapping the northern and eastern sides.
Where is East Harlem?
East Harlem occupies the part of Upper Manhattan north of 96th Street and the Upper East Side, with the East River and the Harlem River on its far sides.
More areas in New York City
Updated September 2026