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Washington Heights, A Brief History
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Washington Heights stretches north from 155th Street to Dyckman Street, and spans Manhattan from the Hudson to the Harlem River. Along with its neighbor, Inwood, Washington Heights is experiencing rapid gentrification. Over the years, Washington Heights real estate developers have built new housing that includes condos/coops and upscale rentals. Washington Heights apartments have become one the greatest value for those looking for affordable housing. Washington Heights rentals provide families with more space than almost any other area in Manhattan. The name, widely adopted by the 1870s, derives from Fort Washington (named in turn for George Washington), which was located on the Hudson River at what is today 185th Street and was in 1776 the site of a Revolutionary War battle.
In the early 1900s Irish immigrants moved to the area in search of Washington Heights rentals. European Jews went to Washington Heights to escape Nazism during the 1930s and the 1940s. During the 1950s and 1960s many Greeks moved to Washington Heights; the community was referred to as the "Astoria of Manhattan." As the nickname became widespread, Cubans and Puerto Ricans also moved to the area looking for affordable Washington Heights apartments. By the 1980s and 1990s, the neighborhood became mostly Dominican. In the 2000s, urban renewal began. While gentrification is often blamed for rapid changes in Washington Heights real estate, the changes in population also reflect the departure of the dominant nationality. Dominicans make up 73 percent of the neighborhood. According to The Latino Data Project of the City University of New York, the proportion of whites living in Washington Heights has declined from 18 percent in 1990 to 14 percent in 2005.
Washington Heights is connected to Fort Lee, New Jersey via the Othmar Ammann-designed George Washington Bridge. The Pier Luigi Nervi-designed George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal is located at the Manhattan end of the 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.
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| The Cloisters, Washington Heights |
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The value of Washington Heights real estate has benefited from the New York City Subway. The subways enable people to reach their Washington Heights apartments in a timely fashion. On the Eighth Avenue Line (A and C) service is available at the 155th Street, 163rd Street-Amsterdam Avenue, 168th Street station. The C line ends at 168th St. The A train continues and stops at 175th Street-George Washington Bridge Bus Terminal, 181st Street, 190th Street, Dyckman Street and 207th Street, with Dyckman named for a family that once owned property in the area. Along the Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line, the 1 train has stations at 157th Street, 168th Street, 181st Street, 191st Street, Dyckman Street and 207th Street. With subways, Washington Heights rentals were no longer too far uptown to consider as an ideal housing option.
Baseball, or at least New York City professional baseball, also had its beginnings in Washington Heights. The New York Giants played at the famous Polo Grounds (155th Street near the Harlem River) from 1889 to 1957, as did the New York Mets in 1962 and 1963. But the Heights were also home to the city's first American League baseball: Hilltop Stadium, on the site of the present Columbia University Medical Center (165th Street and Broadway), housed the New York Highlanders from 1903 to 1913 (The team's current name: the Yankees).
Columbia University Medical Center and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, the medical campus and school, respectively, of Columbia University, lie in the area of 168th Street and Broadway, occupying the former site of Hilltop Park, the home of the New York Highlanders (now known as the New York Yankees) from 1903 to 1912. Across the street is the New Balance Track and Field center, the nation's premier indoor track and home to the National Track & Field Hall of Fame.
The Cuxa Cloister, at The Cloisters. The best known cultural site and tourist attraction of 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.
Manhattan's oldest remaining house, the Morris-Jumel Mansion, is located in the landmarked Jumel Terrace Historic District, 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. The Morris-Jumel Mansion is one of the best Washington Heights real estate.
The Paul Robeson Home, located at 555 Edgecombe Avenue on the corner of Edgecombe Avenue and 160th Street, is a National Historic Landmark building. The building is now known for its famous African American residents including actor Paul Robeson, musician Count Basie, and boxer Joe Louis.
On February 21, 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated during a speech at the Audubon Ballroom, on Broadway at West 165th Street. The interior of the building was demolished, but the Broadway facade remains, incorporated into one of Columbia's Audubon Center buildings. It is now the home of the Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial & Educational Center. Several shops, restaurants and a bookstore occupy the first floor.
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Today the majority of the neighborhood's population is still of Dominican birth or descent (the area is sometimes referred to as "Quisqueya Heights"), and Spanish is frequently heard being spoken on the streets. Washington Heights real estate has provided Dominicans with one the few affordable housing options available in Manhattan. Washington Heights has been the most important base for Dominican accomplishment in political, non-profit, cultural, and athletic arenas in the United States since the 1960s. Most of the neighborhood businesses are Dominican owned, driving the local economy and many of the Washington Heights rentals are occupied by Dominican families. Many Dominican immigrants come to live with family members in Washington Heights apartments.
By the 1940s, Jews from Germany and Austria were leaving home as the Nazi party came to power. For many Jews the opportunity to purchase Washington Heights real estate for their housing and business needs was a win win. A disproportionately large number of Germans who settled in the area had come from Frankfurt am Main, giving rise to Frankfurt-on-the-Hudson. So many Jewish immigrants lived in Washington Heights apartments after World War II that the neighborhood around Broadway and W. 160th Street was jokingly referred to as the Fourth Reich. There remains a significant Jewish population, particularly on the west side of Broadway living in Washington Heights rentals, descended from the previous wave of immigration, as well as students (and recent graduates) of the neighborhood's Yeshiva University.
As Soviet (and, later, Russian) immigrants filled the area, Russian became far more common than German. Once Spanish become prevalent, and English was the lingua franca, the German nickname fell by the wayside.
Crime subsequently fell due to aggressive police tactics and as a result people started to look at Washington Heights rentals for their housing needs. Police presence increased, and Washington Heights real estate owners allowed police to patrol in the lobbies of apartment buildings. People were also being stopped for quality of life crimes. A new police precinct was also added in the area. Today, its crime rate, along with that of neighboring Harlem, is much lower. The lower crime rate has helped to drive the influx of people looking to live in Washington Heights apartments.
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