Amid Harlem’s Gentrification, A New Stage

Aaron Davis Hall, Inc., has been part of Harlem for 25 years. Now renamed Harlem Stage, it opens its new theatre next month in “a community that is rapidly changing, with townhouses selling for millions of dollars and new buildings being erected by internationally renowned architects like Rafael Viñoly.” For executive director Patricia Cruz, that reality comes with a particular responsibility: “Things are changing,” she said, “but how do we make it so that it’s positive for the community — that they are not among the displaced? We hope to be a stabilizing force.”