Just like practically every other square inch of Manhattan isle these days, Harlem is being remade into a high-rent (and mortgage) district, and thus a magnet for gentrification.
To further help along this process — and to combat the traditional image of Harlem — City real estate wonks have concocted a zippy brandname for the most desirable section of the neighborhood: SoHa, for South Harlem. (Or is it “south of Harlem/Upper Upper Upper West Side”? Same difference, really.)
It’s an obvious attempt to co-opt the hipness vibe of similar-sounding SoHo. Maybe the condo agents are trying to sell to gullible out-of-towners, who somehow think they’ve landed not-so-far from Houston Street…
To me, SoHa evokes a reaction like, “SoHa-ha-ha, you live in Harlem!”
Could be worse, though. You could have to deal with a SoHa-to-SoHo commute every day.
OH, SOYO…
It’s getting to be contagious: First South Harlem gets re-branded as SoHa, and now — well away from Manhattan, no less — Yonkers is getting into the act by promoting its southwestern area as SoYo.
If you’re going to pimp Yonkers…
Trackback by Population Statistic — 02/22/2008 @ 06:01:19 PM