El Barrio Bakery in #Harlem

El Barrio Bakery in #Harlem is no longer in business. This #bakery specialized in traditional Spanish cakes and pastries and also served #coffee and sandwiches. We loved their #handpainted #sign in both #Spanish and English and the amazingly decorated varieties of party #cake in the window.
East Harlem where this bakery was located had a huge Jewish and Italian population in the early 1900s. Puerto Ricans began moving to the area beginning in the 1920s and by the 1950s due to severe overcrowding in the neighborhood, Italians moved out and Puerto Ricans became the dominant group. The #neighborhood soon became known as Spanish Harlem or "El Barrio". Photo is from 2001 and appears in our book "Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York". #storefront #disappearingfaceofnewyork #food #script #typography #type #bread #cookies