Harlem YMCA

Around 1900, a "colored" YMCA operated at 132 W. 53rd street, in the area then known as "San Juan Hill" (now Lincoln Square), which was then a mainly African American residential neighborhood. Original West 135th Street Branch (Jackie Robinson Youth Center) The West 135th Street Branch YMCA, at 181 West 135th Street, was built in 1919 at a cost of $375,000, with funding from Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears, Roebuck and Company. By 2015, news reports indicated that the 181 building was being operated as a private apartment building operated by the Abyssinian Baptist Church. ==History and significance==

The Harlem YMCA, intended primarily for the use of African-American men at a time when most YMCAs were for whites only, was one of the best equipped YMCAs in the United States. Its upper floors were designed for use as residences, whose occupants include a number of prominent personalities. and many notable black Americans have stayed at the facility, including Malcolm X – then Malcolm Little – who chose to stay there because of its proximity to his favorite nightclubs. The building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976 for its association with the African-American writer Claude McKay (1889-1948), a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance who was resident here from 1941 until 1946. ==See also==