For nearly a century, Harlem has been synonymous with black urban America. Given its magnetic and growing appeal to younger black professionals and its historic residential enclaves and cultural institutions, the neighborhood’s reputation as the capital of black America seems unlikely to change soon.

But the neighborhood is in the midst of a profound and accelerating shift. In greater Harlem, which runs river to river, and from East 96th Street and West 106th Street to West 155th Street, blacks are no longer a majority of the population — a shift that actually occurred a decade ago, but was largely overlooked.

By 2008, their share had declined to 4 in 10 residents. Since 2000, central Harlem’s population has grown more than in any other decade since the 1940s, to 126,000 from 109,000, but its black population — about 77,000 in central Harlem and about twice that in greater Harlem — is smaller than at any time since the 1920s.

Google Street View of 550 W 153rd St

An unidentified 45-year-old woman claims Taurean Williams, 25, approached her on New Year’s Day in Upper Manhattan and displayed a badge, telling her he was a police detective who needed to bring her to a local station to check whether there were any warrants out for her arrest. Instead, he allegedly pulled a gun on her and raped her on the rooftop of a building at 550 West 153rd Street. Now police say Williams (MySpace?) was also arrested for raping a teenager on the same rooftop in October—but prosecutors dropped the charge.

THE “Coming Out” FILM SERIES: The Harlem Debut Of The “Coming Out” Film Series Featuring Selections Celebrating The Diversity of The LGBT Community.

As New York struggles to resurrect its economy, it needs powerful new engines of growth. Wall Street may look sturdier, but it will never be the old Wall Street again, when $10 routinely became $1 million during your lunch break. Another eruption in real estate prices? Dubious. The new sports stadiums? Not going to get us there.

There must be an answer.

There is.

Bowling alleys.

A few hours before the inauguration on Friday, the mayor’s aides distributed an exhaustive description of the Bible that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg would use to take the oath of office.

It belongs to his mother, Charlotte. It was printed in 1909 by the Canal Street Hebrew Publishing Company in Manhattan. Its translator? Isaac Leeser.

With so much attention paid to the book’s origin, it was a wonder that nobody reminded the mayor to place his hand on it as he was sworn in.

As Mr. Bloomberg recited the oath of office, he held his right hand in the air, and dropped his left hand to his side. The Bloomberg family Bible, held by his two daughters, Emma and Georgina, hovered, conspicuously handless.

President Barack Obama just made history again by appointing Amanda Simpson, a transgender woman, to be the Senior Technical Advisor to the Department of Commerce.

In a statement, Simpson said, “I’m truly honored to have received this appointment and am eager and excited about this opportunity that is before me. And at the same time, as one of the first transgender presidential appointees to the federal government, I hope that I will soon be one of hundreds, and that this appointment opens future opportunities for many others.”