With the N fashion boutique (left) as a point of departure, the Times' Ruth La Ferla takes the 2/3 train to Harlem in search of pricey new retail outlets exemplifying the "rapidly gentrifying neighborhood" around Mount Morris Park (aka Marcus Garvey). Among the shops scoring a mention: Pieces of Harlem, on W. 135th St., as well as three others on Seventh Ave.?Soho transplant Montgomery, Denim Library, and old-school haberdashery B. Oyama. Still, Murphy Heyliger, a proprietor at Harlemade, which has been around since about 2000, is a little wary of the newcomers: "I was the first to brand Harlem. Since then I've seen other companies realize you can get cool by putting your neighborhood on a shirt."
Meanwhile, what with all these new delicate duds around, the increased demand appears to have attracted a chain of statuesque dry cleaners, according to Harlem Fur (double photo credit), who wonders if the various Aphrodite Cleaners (right) locations will become the new Starbucks for uptown friend-meeting purposes:
Person One: Hey, wanna go see what's playing at Imagenation's Soul Cinema theater?
Person Two: Yes. Let's meet at Aphrodite cleaners first so we can sit together.
Person One: Great. How about the Aphrodite at 117th and Frederick Douglas?
Person Two: No, let's go to the Aphrodite at 119th and Lenox.Some say it's too early, but we say light starch on a hangar!
· Downtown Comes to Harlem [NYT]
· Storefronting: Harlem Goes Couture [Curbed]
· High-fashion boutique opens in Harlem [Amsterdam News]
· Aphrodite Cleaners: The Starbucks of Uptown? [Harlem Fur] BONUS: Uptown Flavor lists three stores "worth knowing about" that La Ferla didn't mention.