125th St between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. and Malcolm X Blvds

Urban clothing megastores like Jimmy Jazz, Dr. Jay’s and Cap USA dominate the street’s shopping, competing with one another to sell fitted caps, pricey designer sneakers, and brand-name gear from Ed Hardy, Zoo York and Akademiks. But Kaarta Imports (121 W 125th St, 212-866-5190) stands out for its culturally authentic wares, specializing in kente cloth, batiks and mud cloth. “It’s a small store, so it’s like a treasure trove where you go around each corner and find something interesting,” says Lisa Shepard Stewart, an author and designer who has been shopping here for the past decade. “A lot of so-called African prints are being made in India now, but Kaarta has the connections where he’s still getting fabric made on the continent.”

Though the 70-year-old Lenox Lounge (288 Malcolm X Blvd at 125th St; 212-427-0253, lenoxlounge.com) is best known for having hosted jazz legends Billie Holiday, Miles Davis and John Coltrane in its fabled Zebra Room (so named for the snazzy striped walls), things there haven’t been consistently glamorous. When owner Alvin Reed purchased the jazz club from an Italian family in 1988, “the block was really bad. There were drug addicts hanging out [in the club], sleeping,” the longtime Harlem resident recalls. “I knew the neighborhood when it was good. I purchased the Lenox Lounge because I wanted the world and the young people of Harlem to know the history of Harlem, its jazz and nightlife.” Reed has succeeded in his mission: According to him, on any given day you’ll find the bar swarming with visitors from “Russia, England, Yugoslavia, Canada and all five boroughs,” eating catfish stuffed with crabmeat and shrimp ($24) or BBQ baby back ribs ($18). The locals weren’t always so welcoming to the tourists who’ve largely fueled the bar’s growth, but according to Reed, now they function as proud ambassadors. “Most residents—even the newer ones—want Harlem to maintain its blackness,” he says. “I see a new Harlem coming and a lot of people don’t like what’s going on, but I tell you one thing: The police are getting better, the sanitation is getting better and the stores are getting better.”

Previously a Papaya King, the family-run Fishers of Men (121 W 125th St; 212-678-4268, fishersofmeninc.com) continues to sell hot dogs and papaya smoothies like its predecessor, in addition to the seafood (shrimp, oysters, scallops, whiting) and grits that made the original Fishers, still at 130th and Madison so wildly popular. Though it’s been around for onlytwo years, this location is by far the more bustling of the two. R&B singer Melba Moore recently stopped by for salmon cakes and fries. For dessert, homemade cakes and peach cobbler ($3.50 for “a nice slice”) are baked by sisters from the owner’s church, Kelly Temple on East 130th Street, but not every business here is so tight-knit. “125th Street isn’t what it used to be,” says Arleen Hatcher, who owns and runs the restaurant with her husband, Jonathan, and his cousin, Eric Strickland. “It used to be a lot of mom-and-pop-run and black-owned stores, but it’s no longer. The [landlords] priced people out of business. They go up on their rent when their lease is done and they can’t afford it…and that’s what happens.”

“It’s been slow so I usually come in here to just sit down,” says street vendor Hody Kane, 22, who sells cell-phone accessories outside this location of the Jamaican fast-food chain Golden Krust Caribbean Bakery (121 W 125th St; 212-663-7451, goldenkrustbakery.com). He normally gets one of the reasonably priced patties ($1.19–$2.39 each) or, if he’s really hungry, a braised oxtail “Reggaefest” combo with rice ($9.99). “It used to be an even busier block, but now there are not as many people,” says Kane. “Now all the vendors are always sitting down.”

Chances are whatever’s ailing you, Mali native Ibrahim’s sidewalk stand, which has been in the same spot on the corner of Malcolm X Boulevard for the past four years, has the cure—and “it’s 100 percent natural,” he claims. Dry skin? Slather on shea butter from Ghana (small tub $3, medium $5, large $9) after showering at night and “you wake up with smooth skin in the morning.” Yellowing teeth? Chomp on a strawberry-, cherry-, vanilla-, peppermint- or grape-flavored chew stick (two for $1), then rub the fraying ends on your soon-to-be-pearly whites like you would a toothbrush. “You see my teeth? I’ve been smoking for 24 years and you’d never know,” grins Ibrahim, noting that the sticks also combat gum disease. While most of his wares are imported, he does make all of the alcohol-free body oils himself. I Am King, fashioned after Sean John’s latest fragrance, is a current best-seller, although the citrusy Obama scent is worth a whiff. “I made this one for myself,” he says proudly. “During the campaign I made a lot of money from that.”

The mural on the side of H&M (125 W 125th St; 212-665-8300) was commissioned by the Step Up Women’s Network, to address the stigma of cancer in the African-American community. Under the artistic direction of Harlemite artist Bryan Collier, members of the nonprofit group painted it with patients from the Breast Examination Center of Harlem in 2003.

“I’m really small. For me it’s such a pain to find clothes in Manhattan, so I’d come here because the clothes are for petite women,” laments handbag designer Raquel Gonzalez (handbagcave.etsy.com), 26, who shopped at Expo 2000 (118 W 125th St) for the past two years until it closed last month. Gonzalez moved to 125th Street from Costa Rica three years ago. “The best part was that everything cost between $10 to $30. If you found something here for $30, that was expensive,” she says, citing a pair of funky red boots as her favorite splurge.

The Studio Museum Harlem (144 W 125th St; 212-864-4500, studiomuseum.org) is currently celebrating its 40th anniversary by showcasing 200-plus works from its collection of more than 1,700 pieces. The museum, which focuses on artists of African descent, began its life in a rented loft down the block, on Fifth Avenue between 125th and 126th Streets, and “was founded by a group of people who really represented an amazing cross section of New York,” says director and chief curator Thelma Golden. Normally the suggested admission is $7, but on Target Free Sundays (noon–6pm), the museum crowds with “friends who have been coming here from the moment it opened and people who just discover us on their first trip to New York or their first trip to Harlem,” Golden says. Hit up the gift shop for BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL tees ($25) and mugs ($10), a line introduced by Golden nine years ago and inspired by the slogan of the 1960s Black Power movement.

Despite its location on the third floor of the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building, Windows Over Harlem (163 W 125th St; 212-665-4337, woh163125.com) lives up to its name by providing an impressive view. “We see across 125th Street, and on a clear day I can see downtown Manhattan,” says the restaurant’s co-owner Glenn Frazier. “On 9/11, I could look outside my window and see the smoke.” Since government officials like Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and State Senator Bill Perkins have their offices here, Frazier says his restaurant, which specializes in Caribbean, Southern and West African cuisine, has become an “unofficial cafeteria,” though it’s open to the public three meals a day. Herb-roasted chicken served with rice and a medley of veggies ($5.50) may be the biggestcrowd-pleaser, but when Hillary Clinton threw a presidential-campaign event here, she went upscale with broiled salmon, rice pilaf and romaine salad. On Fridays from 6pm to midnight, the space is a makeshift dance floor for salsa night ($10 cover). “It’s a religious group of people,” says Frazier of the regular attendees. “These people are in their sixties and seventies and have been dancing before you and I were born.”

Brooklyn sculptor Branly Cadet created a 12-foot-tall bronze statue of revered civil-rights activist Adam Clayton Powell Jr., who represented Harlem as the first African-American congressman from New York for nearly three decades (1945–1971). Though it’s merely a coincidence, the statue faces the former site of Blumstein’s Department Store, which Powell famously integrated through a black boycott. Though the store (now owned by Parkseen Realty Associates) has been broken up into several storefronts, the bronze icon seems to be charging it head-on. —Cristina Velocci

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