Lincoln Square is the name of both asquare and the surrounding neighborhood on theUpper West Side ofManhattan inNew York City. Lincoln Square is centered on theintersection ofBroadway andColumbus Avenue, between West65th and66th streets. The neighborhood is bounded by Columbus andAmsterdam avenues to the east and west, and 66th and 63rd streets to the north and south, respectively.[1] However, the term can be extended to refer to the neighborhood between59th and72nd streets. It is bounded byHell's Kitchen,Riverside South,Central Park, and the Upper West Side proper. TheWalt Disney Company’s New York City campus was located here, includingABC News,ESPN,Hulu, and studios forWABC-TV.[2]
The area includes the66th Street–Lincoln Center station served by theNew York City Subway's1 and 2 trains, and is anchored byLincoln Center, a growing collection ofperforming arts venues, and the Manhattan campus ofFordham University.
Lincoln Square is part ofManhattan Community District 7 and its primaryZIP Code is 10023. It is patrolled by the 20th Precinct of theNew York City Police Department.
Lincoln Square is located on the site ofSan Juan Hill, a historical community once comprising a predominantlyAfrican American neighborhood oftenements.[3] San Juan Hill was generally bordered byAmsterdam Avenue to the east,West End Avenue to the west,59th Street to the south, and 65th Street to the north. It has been suggested that the area was named after the 10thCavalry that fought withTheodore Roosevelt at theBattle of San Juan Hill during theSpanish–American War, but this is not certain.[3] It was possibly the most heavily populatedAfrican-American neighborhood in Manhattan in the early 20th century.[4] One of the blocks within the neighborhood contained almost 5,000 residents.[3]
Notable residents had includedThelonious Monk, who came to live there in 1922. In addition to the significant African American community, there was also anAfro-Caribbean community there, which has left its traces in theBye-ya andBemsha Swing compositions of Thelonious Monk, co-written much later withDenzil Best, who also grew up in this neighborhood.[5]James P. Johnson also lived in the neighborhood in the 1910s and 1920s, during which time he composed the music for the "Charleston" dance.[6]
In 1940, theNew York City Housing Authority characterized the area as "the worst slum section in the City of New York" and made plans torenew the area by demolishing the old tenements. The Amsterdam Housing Projects were built on the cleared land in 1948, replacing three blocks that had collectively housed 1,100 residents.[7][4]
During the 1950s and 1960s, a consortium of civic leaders and others led byJohn D. Rockefeller III built theLincoln Center as part of the "Lincoln Square Renewal Project" during urban plannerRobert Moses's program ofurban renewals.[8] Respected architects were contracted to design the major buildings on the site, and construction started in 1959.[9] Over the next thirty years the previously blighted area around Lincoln Center became a new cultural hub.[10] Over 7,700 residents were displaced during the redevelopment project.[11] The new developments contained 4,400 housing units, of which only a few were allocated to San Juan Hill's former residents.[12] Most of the area's former residents instead moved toHarlem, another predominantly African American neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, as well asthe Bronx.[3][13]
Lincoln Center was named after Lincoln Square. The reason for naming the area "Lincoln Square" is unknown, however. The name was bestowed on the area in 1906 by theNew York City Board of Aldermen, but records give no reason for choosing that name.[1]
There has long been speculation that the name came from a local landowner, because the square was previously named Lincoln Square. City records from the time show only the names Johannes van Bruch, Thomas Hall,Stephen De Lancey, Jamesa De Lancey, James De Lancey Jr. andJohn Somerindyck as area property owners.
The area may also have been named as a tribute to U.S. PresidentAbraham Lincoln. One speculation is that references to President Lincoln were omitted from the records because the mayor in 1906 wasGeorge B. McClellan Jr., son of GeneralGeorge B. McClellan who wasgeneral-in-chief of theUnion Army during theAmerican Civil War and a bitter rival of Lincoln.[14]
Based on data from the2010 United States census, the population of Lincoln Square was 61,489, an increase of 6,250 (11.3%) from the 55,239 counted in2000. Covering an area of 371.00 acres (150.14 ha), the neighborhood had a population density of 165.7 inhabitants per acre (106,000/sq mi; 40,900/km2).[15]
As of the 2010 Census, the racial makeup of the neighborhood was 73.4% (45,103)White, 4.4% (2,710)African American, 0.1% (58)Native American, 11.2% (6,916)Asian, 0.0% (14)Pacific Islander, 0.3% (175) fromother races, and 1.9% (1,196) from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 8.6% (5,317) of the population.[16]
Notes
Records conclusively show that the New York City Board of Aldermen formally named the area Lincoln Square in May 1906. The minutes of their meetings are devoid of discussion, however, about the reason for the name.
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40°46′26″N73°59′04″W / 40.773828°N 73.9844722°W /40.773828; -73.9844722
