Washington Heights, Manhattan

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This article is about the neighborhood in New York City. For the community area of the same name in Chicago, see Washington Heights, Chicago. For the 2003 film see Washington Heights (film)

Image:Harlem1734.jpg Washington Heights is a New York City neighborhood in the northern reaches of the borough of Manhattan. It is named for Fort Washington, a fortification constructed by Continental Army troops during the American Revolutionary War at the highest point on Manhattan island to defend the area from the British forces. During the Battle of Fort Washington, on November 16, 1776, the fort was captured by the British at great cost to the American forces; 130 soldiers were killed or wounded, and an additional 2,700 captured and held as prisoners, many of whom died on prison ships anchored in New York Harbor. The progress of the battle is marked by a series of bronze plaques along Broadway.

1 Geography
2 Transportation
- 2.1 Subways
3 Noted sites
4 Parks
5 Community
6 Notable residents
7 References
8 External links
9 Sources

[edit] Geography

Washington Heights is on the high ridge in Upper Manhattan that rises steeply north of the narrow valley that carries 125th Street to the former ferry landing on the Hudson River. Though the neighborhood was once considered to run as far south as 125th Street, modern usage defines the neighborhood as running north from Harlem at 155th Street to Inwood, topping out just below Dyckman Street. At the northern end of Washington Heights, near Fort Washington Avenue and 183rd Street in Bennett Park, is a plaque marking Manhattan's highest natural elevation, 265 ft (80.8 m) above sea level, at what was the location of Fort Washington<ref>New York Department of Parks and Recreation: Bennett Park, accessed June 24, 2006</ref>.

The northern part of Washington Heights is sometimes called Hudson Heights.

[edit] Transportation

Image:HarlemRiverBridges.jpg

Washington Heights is connected to Fort Lee, New Jersey via the George Washington Bridge. The Trans-Manhattan Expressway, a portion of Interstate 95, proceeds from the George Washington Bridge in a trench between 178th and 179th Streets. To the east, the Highway leads to the Alexander Hamilton Bridge across the Harlem River to the Bronx and the Cross-Bronx Expressway. The Washington Bridge crosses the Harlem River just north of the Alexander Hamilton Bridge. High Bridge is the oldest Harlem River span still in existence, crossing the river just south of the Alexander Hamilton Bridge. Originally it carried the Croton Aqueduct as part of the New York City water system and later functioned as a pedestrian bridge that has been closed since 1970. It has been recently announced High Bridge will reopen after a 20 million dollar renovation project.

[edit] Subways

Washington Heights is served by the New York City Subway by the A</pre> and C trains and the 1 line. A and C train service is available at the 155th Street, 163rd Street–Amsterdam Avenue, and 168th Street stations, where the C train ends; the A train continues to 175th Street–George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal, 181st Street and 190th Street. The 1 train has stations at 157th Street, 168th Street, 181st Street, and 191st Street.

[edit] Noted sites

Among the Heights' now-vanished riverfront estates was "Minnie's Land," the home of artist John James Audubon, who is buried in Trinity Church Cemetery churchyard of the neighborhood's Church of the Intercession (1915), a masterpiece by architect Bertram Goodhue. At Audubon Terrace is a cluster of five underused Beaux Arts museum buildings of distinguished architecture. Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, perhaps the most widely known institution in the neighborhood, occupies the former site of Hilltop Park, the home of the New York Highlanders (now known as the New York Yankees) from 1903 to 1912.

The best known cultural site and tourist attraction in Washington Heights is The Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park at the northern end of the neighborhood, with spectacular views across the Hudson to the New Jersey Palisades. This branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art is devoted to Medieval art and culture, and is located in a medieval-style building, portions of which were purchased in Europe, brought to the United States, and reassembled. Another major museum, though little visited, is The Hispanic Society of America, which has the largest collection of works from El Greco and Goya outside of the Museo del Prado, including one of Goya's famous paintings of Cayetana, Duchess of Alba.

Manhanttan's oldest remaining house, the Morris-Jumel Mansion, is located in the landmarked Jumel Terrace Historic District, located between West 160th and West 162nd Street, just east of St. Nicholas Avenue. An AAM-accredited historic house museum, the Mansion interprets the colonial era, the period when General George Washington occupied it during the American Revolutionary War, and the early 19th century in New York.

[edit] Parks

Fort Tryon Park - home to The Cloisters
Highbridge Park - embodies the city's history
Riverside Park - a waterfront park

[edit] Community

Image:WashingtonHeights2006.jpg The neighborhood has a large Dominican population (the area is sometimes called "Quisqueya Heights"), and Spanish is commonly heard being spoken on the streets. Since the 1980s, the neighborhood has been the United States' most important base for Dominican empowerment in the political, non-profit, cultural, and athletic arenas.

There is also a significant Jewish population, particularly in Hudson Heights subsection, descended from a previous wave of immigration, as well as students (and recent graduates) of the neighborhood's Yeshiva University. The term "Hudson Heights" was created by one of the local real estate firms to attract more wealthy residents in the area. It worked, and the gentrification has been continuing in recent years. It brought a Starbucks to 181st Street, and other upscale stores, spas, gourmet markets, and restaurants.

Image:WashingTOnHeights2007a.jpg The German-Jewish population is based around Khal Adath Jeshurun, a direct continuation of the pre-war Jewish community of Frankfurt am Main, colloquially called "Breuer's" after Rabbi Dr. Joseph Breuer, founder and first rabbi of the congregation. Washington Heights is also served by a number of smaller orthodox synagogues, as well as the Fort Tryon Jewish Center, a conservative congregation and the Hebrew Tabernacle, a reform congregation.

The neighborhood was severely impacted by the crack cocaine epidemic of the early/mid-1980s. Homelessness was rampant. Washington Heights had become the largest drug distribution center in the Northeastern United States during that time. It was nicknamed "Crack City" by newspapers and was considered to be the murder capital of New York. Its murder rates reached its height in 1991, when 119 people were murdered in the neighborhood. Crime quickly fell due to aggressive police tactics. Police presence increased and building landlords allowed police to patrol in apartment buildings which led to the arrests of thousands of drug dealers a year in Washington Heights. People were also being stopped for quality of life crimes, which detered people from carrying guns. A new police precinct was also added in the area.<ref>In Washington Heights, Drug War Survivors Reclaim Their Stoops, accessed November 5, 2006</ref> Today, its crime rate, along with that of neighboring Harlem, is much lower. Unfortunately, homelessness is still a big problem.