Manhattanville | |
|---|---|
 The125th Street station (1 train) at Broadway and 125th Street, one of Manhattanville's primary subway stations. Visible on the signage is the former9 train. | |
 Location in New York City | |
| Coordinates:40°48′58″N73°57′22″W / 40.816°N 73.956°W /40.816; -73.956 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  New York |
| City | New York City |
| Borough | Manhattan |
| Community District | Manhattan 9[1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 0.356 sq mi (0.92 km2) |
| Population (2016)[2] | |
• Total | 40,568 |
| • Density | 114,000/sq mi (44,000/km2) |
| Ethnicity | |
| • Hispanic | 62.8% |
| • Black | 25.8 |
| • White | 7.5 |
| • Asian | 2.2 |
| • Others | 1.7 |
| Economics | |
| • Median income | $41,453 |
| Time zone | UTC−5 (Eastern) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−4 (EDT) |
| ZIP Codes | 10027, 10031 |
| Area codes | 212, 332, 646, and917 |
Manhattanville (also known asWest Harlem orWest Central Harlem, after its location nearHarlem) is a neighborhood in theNew York Cityborough ofManhattan. It is bordered on the north by135th Street; on the south by 122nd and125th Streets; on the west byHudson River; and on the east byAdam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and the campus ofCity College.[4][5]
Throughout the nineteenth century, Manhattanville bustled around a wharf active with ferry and daily river conveyances. It was the first station on theHudson River Railroad running north from the city, and the hub of daily stage coach, omnibus and streetcar lines. Situated nearBloomingdale 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 entry point for construction materials and other freight bound forUpper 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. In the early 2000s, the neighborhood became the site of a major planned expansion ofColumbia University, which has campuses inMorningside Heights to the south andWashington Heights to the north.
Manhattanville is part ofManhattan Community District 9, and its primaryZIP Codes are 10027 and 10031.[1] It is patrolled by the 26th Precinct of theNew York City Police Department.
The neighborhood is known as Manhattanville,[4][5] after a village on the same site.[6][7] Manhattanville is located west ofAdam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (extending to theHudson River), between approximately135th Street to the north and 122nd and125th Streets to the south.[4][8] The southern boundary sits on a steep slope that ascends to a high plateau which contains the neighborhood ofMorningside Heights.[9]
Manhattanville is sometimes also known as West Harlem[5] or West Central Harlem, after its location nearHarlem.[4][8] However, the West Harlem name is sometimes applied to a broader area that roughly corresponds withManhattan Community District 9, which extends south to110th Street (overlapping with Morningside Heights) and north to155th Street (overlapping withSugar Hill andHamilton Heights).[10][11]
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The village of Manhattanville was founded in 1806 and quickly gained prominence as an outpost of the city.[6] The village grew around the crossroads of Bloomingdale Road and Manhattan Street, now roughlyBroadway and 125th Street.
The village's original streets were laid out byJacob Schieffelin and other wealthy merchants, mostlyQuakers, who hadcountry seats in the area.[12]
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 ofHarlem 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 sits in a valley formerly calledMoertje David's Vly ("Mother David's Valley"; in Dutch,Vly is short forvallei, or "valley") during the Dutch Colonial period and asHarlem Cove during the English Colonial period. During theAmerican Revolutionary War, the valley was also known as the Hollow Way, where the main action of theBattle of Harlem Heights began under the command of GeneralGeorge Washington. During theWar of 1812 the valley's southern ridges figured as the site of the Manhattanville Pass, whose defense fortifications and breastworks included Fort Laight and Blockhouse No. 4,[14] which became the sites ofMorningside Gardens Houses and PS 36, respectively.
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 (this seems to be a reference toMichael Hogan, whose wife was of mixed British and Indian ancestry, born inBombay); slave owners and enslaved African-Americans; Quaker anti-slavery activists and free black abolitionists; tradesmen, poor laborers and wealthy industrialists.[15] 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 dissolvepew rent 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 industrialistDaniel F. Tiemann (1805–1899), owner of the D. F. Tiemann & Company Color Works, who was also Mayor of New York City from 1858 to 1859. The Tiemann laboratory and factory which was originally located on23rd Street andFourth Avenue inGramercy, nearMadison Square Park, relocated uptown to Manhattanville in 1832, in part due to an underground spring of running water at the new uptown location, which is today the site of 560Riverside Drive.[16]
According to Eric K. Washington, "With Manhattanville's formation, the new village quickly became a significant suburban destination along the Bloomingdale Road [today's 125th St.]... Manhattanville flourished naturally as a nexus of various transportation arteries."[17] In the late nineteenth century, Manhattanville experienced a development boom of residential buildings, churches, hospitals, institutional construction, and transportation made it a desirable location for the brewery business.
Later noteworthy population changes occurred around the mid-19th century following the opening of the Hudson River Railroad in 1850, with an 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 theAmerican 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, also known asOld Broadway Synagogue, in 1911). Other prominent 19th-century Manhattanville institutions included the Academy of Convent of the Sacred Heart (later calledManhattanville College) and Manhattan College (later calledManhattan University).
In 1904, the opening of theInterborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT)'s newBroadway–Seventh Avenue Line, now part of the1 train on theNew York City Subway, galvanized Manhattanville's radical transformation from ruralexburb to an extension of the growing city, with the elevated railway providing rapid transit downtown. Cuban, Dominican and Puerto Rican immigrants moved into the area during the 20th century. By the 1970s, the southern part of Manhattanville (up to about 125th Street) was being filled by Columbia andBarnard College students, staff and faculty, as the university continued to expand.
West 125th Street has experienced a general economic upturn since the end of the 1990s. Many of the buildings below 125th Street have converted to cooperative ownership as the area experiences continuinggentrification and increasing demand for housing. In collaboration with the community, the city has developed a plan for the 125th Street corridor focusing on reinforcing and building upon its strengths as an arts and cultural corridor.[18]
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Manhattanville is the site of a planned major expansion ofColumbia University. The university purchased several square blocks of the neighborhood between125th[19] and 133rd Streets on the south and north and between Broadway and 12th Avenue on the east side of Broadway from 131 to 134, west of the housing projects. According to the plan, the physical plant of those blocks will be partly demolished to construct a new campus, secondary school and park land, designed by Italian architectRenzo Piano. Local residents feared the impact of the further gentrification from this expansion in addition to the possible, and controversial, use ofeminent domain. In 2006, Columbia built a new School of Social Work on Amsterdam Avenue at 122nd Street. In June 2007, theNew York City Department of City Planning certified that Columbia's application for the rezoning is complete. This action launched the public review and comment period under the city'sUniform Land Use Review Procedure, which lasted until the end of 2007.[20] In December of the same year, the New York City Council voted to approve Columbia's proposed rezoning of the site.[21]Renzo Piano Workshop designed three structures for the Manhattanville Campus; these structure were complete by 2018.[22]
Other colleges have been building dormitories in the area as well. To the north, the 589-student dorm The Towers[23] finished construction in June 2006 as an extension of theCity College of New York on St. Nicholas Terrace. This is the first time that City College has housed students on the campus.[citation needed] Occupancy began in August 2006.[23] To the south, near 122nd Street, theManhattan School of Music also built a dormitory around 2003.[citation needed] In 2006,Jewish Theological Seminary of America opened a smaller dormitory on 122nd Street between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue.[citation needed]
In August 2009, at 135th Street and Convent Avenue, City College completed the construction of a new 135,000-square-foot (12,500 m2) School of Architecture and Urban Design building (The Bernard and Anne Spitzer School of Architecture, named after the New York real estate developer and philanthropist,Bernard Spitzer and his wife).[24][25] Based on a pre-existing 1950s structure, the old Cohen Library on South Campus, this redesign and reconstruction byRafael Viñoly Architects is intended to add a modern aesthetic to the eclectic architectural mix in the area.
Construction of the West Harlem Piers Waterfront park began in April 2006, after a groundbreaking ceremony in November 2005.[26] The park, funded by theNew York City Economic Development Corporation and designed by W Architecture and Landscape Architecture,[citation needed] includes a fishing pier, a kayak launch (non-functional since before 2019), sculptures, and water taxi landings (but no water taxis). Stretching from 125th Street to 132nd Street, partly on land formerly used as a parking lot, it is one of a series of contemporarylandscape architecture projects (including theHigh Line andBrooklyn Bridge Park) that reclaim obsolete infrastructure as public space. The piers formerly served ferries including thePublic Service Corporation link toEdgewater, New Jersey. The park closed a gap in theManhattan Waterfront Greenway that runs along the western side of Manhattan Island and will later connect up the Hudson River. It opened in early October 2008, delayed through the summer by the discovery that fencing designed to prevent users from falling into the river did not meet specifications.[27] The area that surrounds the park and piers is at times called ViVa (Viaduct Valley).
Artistic revitalization continued in October 2006 when The Gatehouse Theater opened as an additional facility ofAaron Davis Hall,[28] a venue specializing in dance. It was built by rehabilitating a former 19th centuryCroton Aqueduct building at 135th St and Convent Avenue. Upon completion, both Aaron Davis Hall and the Gatehouse Theater evolved to share a common name, Harlem Stage.[citation needed]
Based on data from the2010 United States census, the population of Manhattanville was 22,950, a decrease of 1,822 (7.4%) from the 24,772 counted in2000. Covering an area of 248.49 acres (100.56 ha), the neighborhood had a population density of 92.4 inhabitants per acre (59,100/sq mi; 22,800/km2).[29] The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 7.5% (1,710)White, 25.8% (5,918)African American, 0.3% (77)Native American, 2.2% (496)Asian, 0.0% (5)Pacific Islander, 0.3% (76) fromother races, and 1.1% (255) from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 62.8% (14,413) of the population.[3]
The most significant changes in the racial composition of Manhattanville were the increase in the White population by 234% (1,710), the decrease in the Black population by 22% (1,656), and the decrease in the Latino population by 9% (1,508). The Asian population also increased by 75% (212) but remained a small minority, and the very small population of all other races decreased by 14% (68).[30]
The entirety of Community District 9, which encompasses Manhattanville.Morningside Heights, andHamilton Heights, had 111,287 inhabitants as ofNYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 81.4 years.[31]: 2, 20 This is about the same as the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods.[32]: 53 (PDF p. 84) Most residents are children and middle-aged adults: 34% are between the ages of 25–44, while 21% are between 45 and 64, and 17% are between 0–17. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 16% and 12% respectively.[31]: 2
As of 2017, the medianhousehold income in Community District 9 was $50,048,[33] though the median income in Manhattanville individually was $41,453.[2] In 2018, an estimated 24% of Community District 9 residents lived inpoverty, compared to 14% in all of Manhattan and 20% in all of New York City. One in twelve residents (8%) were unemployed, compared to 7% in Manhattan and 9% in New York City. Rent burden, or the percentage of residents who have difficulty paying their rent, is 51% in Community District 9, compared to the boroughwide and citywide rates of 45% and 51% respectively. Based on this calculation, as of 2018[update], Community District 9 is considered to begentrifying: according to the Community Health Profile, the district was low-income in 1990 and has seen above-median rent growth up to 2010.[31]: 7
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Four of Manhattanville's houses of worship are historically distinguished.
Aside fromGrant's Tomb,Riverside Church and the Manhattan School of Music near the southwestern corner, the principal landmarks in Manhattanville are theIRT Broadway Line andRiverside Drive Viaducts. Within the neighborhood isManhattanville Houses, a 1,272-unit development of theNew York City Housing Authority, which opened in 1961. Designed in the international"towers in the park" style by noted Swiss-born architectWilliam Lescaze, the development was initially created to house middle income residents.
The neighborhood also contains the landmarked neo-Renaissance Claremont Theatre whereThomas Edison once shot a short film in 1915 featuring the building's entrance,[34][35][36] theManhattanville Bus Depot, St. Mary's Church, and theFairway Supermarket, whose broad selections attract distant customers.
In Riverside Park, north of Grant's Tomb, is the site of the former Claremont Inn, a riverside respite and hotel for the affluent back in its heyday. It was originally built around 1775 as a private mansion and estate. By the end of the 19th century it was bought by the city of New York and leased to a hotelier. There was also a place to rent bicycles at the inn. It had a serious fire in the 1940s which caused its demise. A plan was in the making for a reuse of the inn and restaurant and grounds when yet a final fire caused its closing in 1951. A stone plaque marks where it once stood.[37][38][39]
Manhattanville contains the "Factory District", a collection of former factories being redeveloped by the Janus Property Company andCushman and Wakefield.[40] The former factories in Manhattanville include theMink Building, constructed in the 1880s.[41] Janus is redeveloping the area around 126th and Amsterdam as part of the Manhattanville Factory District, converting several former factory buildings into commercial and office space.[42][43]
During the 1920s, on 131st Street betweenBroadway and Twelfth Avenue, aStudebaker automobile factory plant made luxury cars. The building was sold in theGreat Depression in the 1930s toBorden to be used as a dairy plant. In the 21st century it is used by Columbia University and has a Studebaker Cafe in it.[44]
Manhattanville, along with Morningside Heights, is mostly served by the 26th Precinct of theNYPD, located at 520 West 126th Street,[45] although the area north of 133rd Street and west ofAmsterdam Avenue is actually served by the 30th Precinct.[46] The 26th Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 80.6% between 1990 and 2019. The precinct reported 2 murders, 8 rapes, 128 robberies, 94 felony assaults, 70 burglaries, 334 grand larcenies, and 21 grand larcenies auto in 2019.[47] Of the five major violent felonies (murder, rape, felony assault, robbery, and burglary), the 26th Precinct had a rate of 612 crimes per 100,000 residents in 2019, compared to the boroughwide average of 632 crimes per 100,000 and the citywide average of 572 crimes per 100,000.[48][49][50]
As of 2018[update], Manhattan Community District 9 has a non-fatal assault hospitalization rate of 57 per 100,000 people, compared to the boroughwide rate of 49 per 100,000 and the citywide rate of 59 per 100,000. Its incarceration rate is 633 per 100,000 people, compared to the boroughwide rate of 407 per 100,000 and the citywide rate of 425 per 100,000.[31]: 8
In 2019, the highest concentration of felony assaults and robberies in Manhattanville was near the intersection of125th Street andSaint Nicholas Avenue, where there were 14 felony assaults and 15 robberies. The area near the intersection of 135th Street andBroadway also had 13 felony assaults in 2019.[48]
Manhattanville is served by twoNew York City Fire Department (FDNY) fire stations.[51] Engine Co. 80/Ladder Co. 23 is located at 503 West 139th Street,[52] while Engine Co. 37/Ladder Co. 40 is located at 415 West 125th Street.[53]
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As of 2018[update],preterm births and births to teenage mothers in Community District 9 are lower than the city average. In Community District 9, there were 82 preterm births per 1,000 live births (compared to 87 per 1,000 citywide), and 10.9 births to teenage mothers per 1,000 live births (compared to 19.3 per 1,000 citywide).[31]: 11 Community District 9 has a low population of residents who areuninsured. In 2018, this population was estimated to be 11%, slightly less than the citywide rate of 12%.[31]: 14
The concentration offine particulate matter, the deadliest type ofair pollutant, in Community District 9 is 0.008 milligrams per cubic metre (8.0×10−9 oz/ft3), more than the city average.[31]: 9 Seventeen percent of Community District 9 residents aresmokers, which is more than the city average of 14% of residents being smokers.[31]: 13 In Community District 9, 21% of residents areobese, 10% arediabetic, and 29% havehigh blood pressure—compared to the citywide averages of 24%, 11%, and 28% respectively.[31]: 16 In addition, 25% of children are obese, compared to the citywide average of 20%.[31]: 12
Eighty-eight percent of residents eat some fruits and vegetables every day, which is about the same as the city's average of 87%. In 2018, 83% of residents described their health as "good", "very good", or "excellent", more than the city's average of 78%.[31]: 13 For every supermarket in Community District 9, there are 11bodegas.[31]: 10
The nearest hospitals areMount Sinai Morningside inMorningside Heights andNYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem inHarlem.[54][55]
Manhattanville is located in two primaryZIP Codes. The area south of 133rd Street is part of 10027 and the area north of 133rd Street is part of 10031.[56] TheUnited States Postal Service operates the Manhattanville Station and Morningside Annex at 365 West 125th Street.[57]
Community District 9 generally has a higher rate of college-educated residents than the rest of the city as of 2018[update]. A plurality of residents age 25 and older (49%) have a college education or higher, while 21% have less than a high school education and 30% are high school graduates or have some college education. By contrast, 64% of Manhattan residents and 43% of city residents have a college education or higher.[31]: 6 The percentage of Community District 9 students excelling in math rose from 25% in 2000 to 49% in 2011, and reading achievement increased from 32% to 35% during the same time period.[58]
Community District 9's rate of elementary school student absenteeism is higher than the rest of New York City. In Community District 9, 27% of elementary school students missed twenty or more days perschool year, more than the citywide average of 20%.[32]: 24 (PDF p. 55) [31]: 6 Additionally, 65% of public high school students in Community District 9 graduate in four years, less than the citywide average of 75%.[31]: 6
TheNew York City Department of Education operates the following public schools in Manhattanville as part of Community School District 5:[59]
Columbia University's Manhattanville campus is located in the neighborhood.[67] The campus consists of the Forum, theLenfest Center for the Arts (including the Miriam andIra D. Wallach Art Gallery), and theJerome L. Greene Science Center. In addition, theHenry R. Kravis Building and theRonald O. Perelman Center are being built as of 2018[update].[22] The former was completed in 2022 byDiller Scofidio + Renfro and houses theColumbia Business School.[68][69]
TheNew York Public Library (NYPL) operates the George Bruce branch at 518 West 125th Street. It is named after the inventorGeorge Bruce, whose daughter built the original George Bruce Library at 42nd Street in 1888. The current three-story structure, designed byCarrère and Hastings, was constructed in 1915 and renovated in 2001.[70]
The area [West Central Harlem], a slice of 19th-century brownstones, prewar walk-ups and small elevator buildings bounded by 122nd and 134th Streets, Morningside Park and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, appears on city maps as the western part of Central Harlem. Some residents call it Manhattanville, the name of the post office on 125th Street near the boulevard.
{{cite news}}:|access-date= requires|url= (help);|archive-url= requires|url= (help)Whether you call it West Harlem or Manhattanville, the upper-upper West Side is enjoying a second renaissance.
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