Descriptions of areas within our district:
(Contents of this page have been obtained from Wikipedia.org)

The Manhattan Community Board No. 9 District is comprised of Westside Harlem's (3) historic neighborhoods: Hamilton Heights, Manhattanville & Morningside Heights. 

Three well known sub-areas are: Sugar Hill at the northeast corner of Hamilton Heights overlooking Jacky Robinson (Colonial) Park; Vinegar Hill at the northeast corner of Manhattanville and the home of City College overlooking St. Nicholas Park; and Cathedral Heights, at the southeast tip of Morningside Heights and home to the famed Cathedral of St. John the Divine overlooking Morningside Park.

The New York Times published a wonderful article (with video) on the Sugar Hill section of our district.  Click here to be redirected to that article.

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Morningside Heights, Manhattan

Morningside Heights is a neighborhood of the Borough of Manhattan in New York City within the West Side Harlem District and is chiefly known as the home of institutions such as Columbia University, the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, Riverside Church and St. Luke's Hospital.

Morningside Heights is bounded by the Upper West Side to the south, Morningside Park to the east, Harlem to the north, and Riverside Park to the west. In terms of street names, the edges of the neighborhood may roughly be considered either 106th Street or 110th Street on the south, Riverside Drive on the west, 123rd Street or 125th Street on the north, and Morningside Drive on the east. The main thoroughfare is Broadway.

The neighborhood has also been referred to as the "Academic Acropolis," the "Acropolis of New York," "Bloomingdale Village," "White Harlem," or "South Harlem" (SoHa), and has also been thought of alternately as part of either Harlem or the Upper West Side neighborhoods.

 

History

On September 16, 1776, the Battle of Harlem Heights was fought in Morningside Heights, with the most intense fighting occurring in a sloping wheat field that is now the location of Barnard College.

Use of the name "Morningside Heights" for the neighborhood arose in the late 19th century as a replacement for Bloomingdale Village. This latter name had become associated with the Bloomingdale Asylum which once occupied the present location of the main campus of Columbia University, and as the neighborhood became a more residential location, people desired to shed that association. Following Columbia's move to the neighborhood from Midtown in the 1890s, residential and institutional development accelerated.

Many of the apartment buildings and row houses were built for New York's prosperous middle class, but by the mid-20th century the increasing prevalence of Single Room Occupancy (S.R.O.) hotels and their attendant socioeconomic problems prompted Columbia to purchase much of the neighborhood's real estate, leading to accusations of forced eviction and gentrification. This process reached its apotheosis in 1968, when protests erupted in both the neighborhood and on Columbia's campus over the university's proposal to build a gym in Morningside Park. Allegations were hurled that the park's proposed separate entrance for Harlem residents on the lower level of the park was segregated, and that public park space was being annexed by a wealth private institution. The university was eventually forced to abandon the plan, though it has still expanded its presence in the neighborhood markedly over the last few decades, and gentrification has proceeded apace. Recently, the university has been seeking to expand significantly in nearby Manhattanville.

Many may now consider Morningside Heights merely an extension of the Upper West Side, though many residents do not admit to such a lack of distinction. In the last decade, some businesses in the area have started using the name SoHa (or "South of Harlem") to refer to the neighborhood. Examples of this include Max's SoHa restaurant and the former SoHa nightclub.

 

Academic Acropolis

The label Academic Acropolis has been used to describe the area, since it sits on one of the highest natural points in Manhattan and contains numerous academic institutions. Much of the neighborhood is the campus of Columbia University, and the university also owns a large amount of the non-campus real estate. Other educational institutions in the neighborhood include Barnard College, Union Theological Seminary, Jewish Theological Seminary, Manhattan School of Music, Teachers College, Bank Street College of Education, Wadleigh Secondary School, Thurgood Academy, St. Hilda's & St. Hugh's School, and the School at Columbia.

NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies is also located in the neighborhood, directly above Tom's Restaurant (see below).

Sites

Non-academic landmarks in Morningside Heights include the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine (aka, "St. John the Unfinished"), Grant's Tomb, Riverside Church, The Interchurch Center (aka, "The God Box"), International House, and St. Luke's Hospital.

Arguably the most famous restaurant in Morningside Heights (and one of the most famous diners in the world) is Tom's Restaurant on Broadway at W. 112th St. After being featured in the song "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega (an alumna of Barnard College), it became known as the daily hangout of the characters of the television sitcom Seinfeld. (Exterior shots of Tom's were used on Seinfeld; the interior of the restaurant looks very little like the fictional "Monk's Cafe," as the scenes in Monk's were filmed on a set in California.) Tom's is now part of the regular Seinfeld New York Tour conducted by Kenny Kramer.

The West End Bar is another famous local restaurant, one which served especially as a meeting place for writers of the Beat Generation in the 1940s and 50s as well as one for student activists prior, during, and after the Columbia University protests of 1968. It is currently being absorbed into a Cuban restaurant chain, "Havana Central", and will be known as "Havana Central at the West End".

 

Famous residents

Comedian George Carlin grew up on West 121st Street in Morningside Heights. In the comedy piece "White Harlem", which appears on his Occupation: Foole album, he said that younger residents would refer to the neighborhood as "White Harlem". This is due to the fact that "White Harlem" would likely be considered an intimidating locale by outsiders and give inhabitants thereof greater respect from outsiders, whereas conversely a young person from "Morningside Heights" would have a much great probability of being abused simply by virtue of the fact that they live in a locale called "Morningside Heights".

While writing a master's thesis on William Blake at Columbia University, Thomas Merton attended Corpus Christi Catholic Church on West 121st St., where he formally converted to Catholicism.

George Gershwin began composing his Rhapsody in Blue while living on 110th Street in Morningside Heights.

Singer/composer Fiona Apple grew up in Morningside Gardens, an experimental co-op project built in 1957 between 123rd Street and LaSalle Streets, and Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues. Morningside Gardens was the result of Robert Moses' Morningside-Manhattanville urban renewal plan, and was successful in the sense that it combined the middle income Gardens with the NYCHA General Grant Houses to the East and North of it, and maintained a commercial strip along Amsterdam Avenue. The Gardens prided itself on being an integrated community and for most of its existence, those selling their apartments were not allowed to take any significant profit until 2006, when the co-op voted to allow residents to sell their co-ops for 80% of market value, or 3x what the previous maximum sale price was, per apartment. Many professional African-Americans moved to Morningside Gardens to maintain roots with the black community of Harlem and to enjoy the benefits of a safe and integrated community. Among those were Thurgood Marshall, first black justice named to the Supreme Court. Science fiction writer Samuel Delany also lived in the complex as a youth.

Langston Hughes' poem Theme for English B, written as a class assignment while he was attending Columbia, briefly describes his route from school through Morningside Park to his home in Harlem.

Numerous other famous people have resided in the area while attending or teaching at Columbia University.

 

Political

The neighborhood is part of the Fifteenth Congressional District of New York, which includes much of Harlem. Traditionally, Morningside Heights has been heavily Democratic.

The famous Columbia University student riots and takeover of administrative buildings in 1968 stemmed from a protest opposing a Columbia University plan to build a gymnasium in Morningside Park, the park adjacent to Morningside Drive.

The neighborhood's ZIP codes are 10025 and 10027.

 

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Manhattanville, Manhattan

Manhattanville is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan in New York City within the WestSide Harlem District bordered on the south by Morningside Heights on the west by the Hudson River, on the east by Harlem and on the north by Hamilton Heights and Washington Heights. Its borders straddle both sides of West 125th Street, roughly from 122nd Street to 135th Street and from the Hudson River to St. Nicholas Park Throughout the 19th century Manhattanville was a town that bustled around a wharf active with ferry and daily river conveyances. It was the first principal terminus on the northbound Hudson railroad, and the hub of daily stage coach, omnibus and streetcar lines. Situated near the famous Bloomingdale Road, its hotels, houses of entertainment and post office made it an alluring destination of suburban retreat from the city, yet its direct proximity to the Hudson River also made it an invaluable industrial checkpoint by which construction and freight materials could enter upper Manhattan. With the construction of road and railway viaducts over the valley in which the town sat, Manhattanville, increasingly absorbed into the growing city, became a marginalized industrial area. It is now the site of a major planned expansion of Columbia University, which has campuses in Morningside Heights to the south and Hamilton Heights to the north.

 

History

Colonial period

Manhattanville sits in a valley formerly called Moertje David's Vly ('Mother David's Valley'; in Dutch 'Vly' is short for 'vallei' = valley) during the Dutch Colonial period and as Harlem Cove during the English Colonial period. During the American Revolution War, the valley was also known as the Hollow Way, where the main action of the Battle of Harlem Heights began under the command of General George Washington. During the War of 1812 the valley's southern ridges latered figured as the site of the Manhattanville Pass whose defense fortifications and breastworks included Fort Laight and Blackhouse No. 4, now the sites of Morningside Gardens houses and Public School No. 36, respectively.

 

Village of Manhattanville

In 1806 the village of Manhattanville was established in this valley around the crossroads of Bloomingdale Road and Manhattan Street, now roughly Broadway and 125th Street. The village's original streets were laid out by Jacob Schieffelin and other wealthy merchants, mostly Quakers, who had country seats in the area. The town thrived as a result of the development of Manhattan Street from the Hudson River, whose convenient access also became a crucial catalyst in the growth of the older village of Harlem to the southeast on the Harlem River. Situated at approximately the same latitude, Harlem and Manhattanville flourished together throughout the 19th century as the two most prominent villages in upper Manhattan.

Manhattanville's early population was a diverse and eclectic mix of intermarried American patriots and British loyalists; at least one prominent former African slave trader; slave owners and enslaved African-Americans; Quaker anti-slavery activists and free black abolitionists; tradesmen, poor laborers and wealthy industrialists. Many were affiliated with the same institutions, principally the historic New York City landmarked St. Mary's Protestant Episcopal Church, organized in 1823, which was the first Episcopal church to dissolve pew rentals in 1831, and the Manhattanville Free School (established in 1827, later Public School No. 43) still at their original sites. Manhattanville's most prominent resident was industrialist Daniel F. Tiemann (1805-1899), owner of the D.F. Tiemann & Company Color Works, who was also Mayor of New York City, 1858 - 1859.

 

Immigration and Urbanization

Later noteworthy population changes occurred around the mid-19th century with the influx of mostly Catholic Irish (who established the Church of the Annunciation in 1854) and Germans (who established St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in 1860). After the Civil War the Jewish immigrant population that began to distinguish itself in Harlem gradually filtered into the western blocks of Manhattanville (and established Chevra Talmud Torah Anshei Marovi, aka Old Broadway Synagogue, in 1911). Other prominent 19th-century Manhattanville institutions included the Academy of Convent of the Sacred Heart (later called Manhattanville College and Manhattan College.

In 1904 the opening of the new Broadway Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) subway line galvanized Manhattanville's radical transformation from rural suburb to an extension of the growing city. until the construction of the elevated railway providing rapid transit downtown.

 

Recent Developments

 

University expansions

Manhattanville has become site of a proposed major expansion of Columbia University. The university proposes to purchase several square blocks of the neighborhood between 125th and 133rd Streets on the south and north and between Broadway and 12th Avenue on the east and west. The current physical plant of those blocks would then be primarily demolished to construct a new campus, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano. Local residents fear the impact of gentrification from such an expansion in addition to the possible, and highly controversial, use of eminent domain.

To the north, a 600-unit student dorm known as 'The Towers' finished construction in June 2006 as an extension of the City College of New York on St Nicholas Terrace. This is the first time that City College has housed students on the campus. Occupation begins in Fall 2006. The increase in student residences is one of several factors rapidly changing the character of Manhattanville.

 

Harlem Piers

After a ground breaking ceremony in Nov 2005 construction of the West Harlem Waterfront park began in April 2006[3]. The park, which will consist of multiple piers and ferry landings, stretches from 125th St to 132nd Street and will fill in one of the few missing links in a cycle and walking path that stretches the entire circumference of Manhattan. Construction of the park is expected to be completed by spring 2007. The emerging area that surrounds the park and piers is often referred to by its neighbourhood name of ViVa (Viaduct Valley)

 

Arts and nightlife

Also under construction in Manhattanville is the new Gatehouse Theater. The Gatehouse Theater is an additional facility of Aaron Davis Hall performing art space, one of Harlem's leading artistic venues specializing in dance. It is being built by rehabilitating a former 19th century water pumping station at 135th St and Amsterdam. Construction will be completed in fall 2006. Upon completion both Aaron Davis Hall and the Gatehouse Theater will evolve to share a common name. The renamed entity will be known as Harlem Stage. Another important artistic venues for the area is the non profit exhibition space, Triple Candie, at 126th Street and Amsterdam.

Nightlife is expanding in the area. In 2005 leading hip hop producer Timbaland opened his own nightclub, the Cherry Lounge, off Amsterdam Avenue and 128th Street. A bar, club and restaurant row is developing in conjunction with the Harlem Pier development in ViVa.

 

Historic religious institutions

Four of Manhattanville’s houses of worship are among the most historically distinguished in all of Harlem.

St. Mary’s Protestant Episcopal Church on West 126th Street (formerly Lawrence Street), organized in 1823, was the only church in the district (indeed, in the entire Harlem territory with the exception of the Dutch Reformed Church on the East Side) in the second quarter of the nineteenth century. Its present stone building, built in 1908-1909 by T. E. Blake and the architectural firm of Carrere & Hastings, is the church’s second structure on same site of the church’s original wood frame structure, built in 1824 and consecrated in 1826. In 1831, St. Marys was the first church in the Episcopal Diocese to abolish pew rentals. The marble seal inlaid into the church porch of "Jacob Schieffelin's Vault", the burial vault in which Jacob Schieffelin and his wife Hannah Lawrence Schieffelin (who were the church's land donors as well as Manhattanville's principal founders) are interred, is clearly visible to passersby. Today St. Mary's is the oldest congregation in continuous service on its original site in the entire Harlem area. In 1998, the complex of church, its adjacent frame parish house (circa 1851) and brick school building (1890) were officially designated a New York City landmark.

Church of the Annunciation (Roman Catholic) on Covent Avenue and West 131st Street, founded in 1854, was the first Catholic church to be built on Manhattan’s west side above 2nd Street, and ministered particularly to the Irish Catholic laborers on the Hudson River Railroad. The Christian Brothers established the church building adjacent to Manhattan College, at 131st Street and the Bloomingdale Road (Old Broadway). The Brothers subsequently sold the adjoining church and rectory sites to John Hughes, the first Catholic Archbishop of New York. The present stone building, built in 1906-1907 by the architectural firm of Lynch & Orchard, is the church’s second structure, to which the congregation moved from two blocks east in 1907.

St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church, founded in 1860 as the Church of the Holy Family by Manhattanville’s German Catholic community at the northwest corner of 125th Street and Morningside Avenue (formerly Ninth Avenue). A 100th anniversary souvenir history in 1960 noted: “While the construction of the church was going on . . . on May 30, of the year 1861 was celebrated what was probably the first public Corpus Christi procession in New York City.” Manhattanville historian John J. Hopper mentions this church in his circa 1920 reminiscences as “the German Catholic Church at Ninth Avenue, which my father [Isaac A. Hopper] built” during his boyhood on Manhattan Street from 1853 to 1865. (Although the AIA guide attributes the church’s architecture to the Herter Brothers in 1889, the incorrect building date was probably confused that of the St. Joseph R.C. School building around the corner at 168 Morningside Avenue). David Dunlap cites this church in his book, “Glory in Gotham: Manhattan’s Houses of Worship,” as the oldest church [building] in Harlem.

Old Broadway Synagogue, an Orthodox Jewish synagogue incorporated in 1911 under the name Chevra Talmud Torah Anshei Marovi, was built on Old Broadway (a rare vestige on Manhattan island of the Bloomingdale Road) by the architectural firm of Meisner & Uffner in 1923. The congregation formed from the mostly Ashkenazic Jewish population of Russian and Polish immigrants to New York during the 1880s who had made their way up to Central Harlem, then migrated to blocks west. The building is listed individually on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

Other sites of interest

Aside from Grant's Tomb at the southwestern corner, the principal landmarks in Manhattanville are the elevated section of the IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line and the elevated Riverside Drive Viaduct. Within the neighborhood is Manhattanville Houses, a 1,272 unit development of theNew York City Housing Authority, which opened in 1961. Designed in the international style by noted Swiss-born architect William Lescaze, the development was initially created to house middle income residents.

The neighborhood also contains the landmarked Claremont Theater, the Manhattanville Bus Depot, St. Mary's Church, the Fairway supermarket (a major neighborhood boon, providing fresh produce and a wide variety of groceries).

 

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Hamilton Heights, Manhattan

Hamilton Heights is a neighborhood in Westside Harlem in the New York City, borough of Manhattan. It is bounded by 135th Street to the south, the Hudson River to the west, 155th Streetto the north, and Saint Nicholas Avenue to the east. The community derives its name from Alexander Hamilton, who lived in the area when it was still largely farmland. Hamilton's Grange House is open to the public and is schedule to be relocated to St. Nicholas Park to better conserve it in the sylvan environment existing in the days of Alexander Hamilton.

Beautiful brownstones and stately row houses line the leafy eastern streets of Hamilton Heights, a multi-ethnic area long time home to a large black professional class.

Today Hispanics and Latinos make up the majority of the population followed by African Americans and peoples from the West indies. .

Gentrification in recent years has slowly but steadily increased the proportion of non-Hispanic white and Asian residents.

It is the, home of the City College of the City of New York, the Dance Theatre of Harlem, The Harlem School of the Arts, Aaron Davis Hall.

The neighborhood is blessed with first class parkland being the nhome of the very modern RiverBank State Park, around which Riverside Park winds its way to Washington Heights and the historic St. Nicholas Park.

Historic Hamilton Heights comprises the Landmarks designated Hamilton Heights Historic District, and the Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill Historic District Extension.

The neighborhood is easily accessed via subway, the number 1 line stops at Broadway and 137th Street, City College/Hamilton Square Station, and 145th Street, Harlem Hights Station. The famous A train on St. Nicholas Avenue stations at 137th Street St. Nicholas park Station and at 145th Street Station.

The MTA buses M4 and M5 serve Broadway, M100 M101 Amsterdam Avenue, M18 on Convent Avenue; M11on 135th Street; Bx19 145th Street; Bx6 155th Street and the M3 on St. Nicholas Avenue.