Spanish Harlem

To live in Spanish Harlem, New York's oldest barrio, is to confront some of the city's most endemic problems: crime, drugs, AIDS and chronic unemployment. Yet the mecca where Puerto Ricans first established themselves in the 1940s is now the 'capital of Hispanic America' home to 120,000 people, half of whom are Latino. Shot in the mid-to-late '80s, Joseph Rodriguez's superb photographs bring us into the heart of Spanish Harlem, capturing a spirit and a time that survives despite the ravages of poverty.