It's the last weekend before the holidays–and all the attendant craziness–kick into high gear.

Why not spend it taking a stroll through the neighborhood and exploring the architectural gems throughout?

Here's a tip: start with these seven beautifully preserved streets and follow the brown street signs designating the surrounding historic district. From south to north they are:

1. Lenox Ave between W...

In April scaffolding appeared around 695 Lenox Avenue, the boarded-up building on the corner of 145th Street that once housed the Hotel Olga, the premiere hotel for African-Americans during the Harlem Renaissance.

It was the first real sign the notable three-story building would likely will be torn down. Local historian Eric K. Washington called it "one of the last iconic structures of that storied era," where gu...

• A new report by Comptroller Scott M. Stringer on the city's always-shifting creative economy reveals that people working in creative industries like film and the performing arts are leaving neighborhoods such as the Upper West Side and moving to more affordable areas including Washington Heights, Inwood and Central Harlem. [Comptroller.nyc.gov]

• Korey Wise, one of the Exonerated Five portra...

A green plywood fence is now up around the old Baptist Temple Church at 18-20 W 116th Street–as is the demolition permit–meaning the building's days are officially numbered.

In 2016 New York YIMBY reported that a new 11-story development with 28 apartments would take its place, and that the church would return to the new building, taking over the basement and first floor.

The demolition is part of a Harl...

• Keith Haring's recently renovated "Crack Is Wack" mural in East Harlem reopened to the public last weekend. [Hyperallergic]

• Chef  JJ Johnson's new fast-casual rice concept Fieldtrip is a New York Times Critic's Pick. [NY Times]

• Many East Harlemites would welcome the Second Avenue Subway despite the fact that the new line would accelerate the neighborhood's development. [NY Times]

• A beautiful landmarked...

Improvements to the infrastructure surrounding Montefiore Square in Hamilton Heights have been underway since the fall of 2016.

But last week the city held an official event announcing the $15.5 million capital project to renovate and expand the park–and also gave a new completion date: Summer 2020.​

​The revamp will triple the size of Montefiore Square by expanding the park into what is now Hamilton Pla...

Now that Halloween is less than a week away, it's the perfect time to take a walk through some of Harlem's prettiest neighborhoods and get into the holiday spirit. Choose one–or all–and don't just admire the gorgeous architecture, but the creatively spooky decor while you're at it.

1. Sugar Hill

​The landmarked brownstones between Convent and St. Nicholas Avenues between 145th and 150th Streets are some of Harlem'...

• Just in time for ice skating season, the Trump Organization has removed the Trump name from the two ice skating rinks it runs in Central Park, including Lasker Rink in the park's north end. [Washington Post]

• For a cool $1.59 million, you can live above Dapper Dan's Harlem atelier in a brownstone at 241 Lenox Avenue. [NY Post]

• Lidl, the German discount grocer that bought 27 Best Market stores in January of th...