East Harlem, also currently known as “Spanish Harlem” or “El Barrio,” is a neighborhood of New York City bounded by 5th avenue on the west and 96th street on the south (Spanish). Since very early on, East Harlem has been a multi-ethnic enclave of Manhattan. In the 1800’s German Jews and Eastern Europeans began to migrate to America in search for protection from persecution and better economic opportunities. Many of these immigrants settled in East Harlem because it had been abandoned and provided cheaper housing than most other neighborhoods (Bell 11). Later on in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s Italians looking for better living conditions migrated to East Harlem were they easily found housing and jobs. Italians became the dominant group in the region, so much so that East Harlem became know as “Italian Harlem” (17-18) At the same time, small numbers of Puerto Ricans migrated to New York City in search for independence and political asylum from the Spanish-American War of 1898 (32). Soon after the war ended middle class Puerto Ricans continued to move to East Harlem with more economic motives than before. By the 1930’s more than half of Puerto Ricans living in mainland United States had settled here (Padilla 68).