Morningside Heights
Morningside Heights is a neighborhood on the West Side of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Morningside Drive to the east, 125th Street to the north, 110th Street to the south, and Riverside Drive to the west. Morningside Heights borders Central Harlem and Morningside Park to the east, Manhattanville to the north, the Manhattan Valley section of the Upper West Side to the south, and Riverside Park to the west. Broadway is the neighborhood's main thoroughfare, running north–south.
For the neighborhood in Toronto, see Morningside Heights, Toronto.
Morningside Heights
United States
New York
New York City
0.472 sq mi (1.22 km2)
31,884
68,000/sq mi (26,000/km2)
46.0%
23.5
13.6
13.3
3.6
$81,890
212, 332, 646, and 917
Morningside Heights, located on a high plateau between Morningside and Riverside Parks, was hard to access until the late 19th century and was sparsely developed except for the Bloomingdale and Leake and Watts asylums. Morningside Heights and the Upper West Side were considered part of the Bloomingdale District until Morningside Park was finished in the late 19th century. Large-scale development started in the 1890s with academic and cultural institutions. By the 1900s, public transportation construction and the neighborhood's first subway line led to Morningside Heights being developed into a residential neighborhood. Morningside Heights was mostly developed by the 1930s. During the mid-20th century, as the institutions within Morningside Heights expanded, cultural tensions grew between residents who were affiliated with institutions and those who were not. After a period of decline, the neighborhood started to gentrify in the 1980s and 1990s.
A large portion of Morningside Heights is part of the campus of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university. Morningside Heights contains numerous other educational institutions such as Teachers College, Barnard College, the Manhattan School of Music, Bank Street College of Education, Union Theological Seminary, and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Additionally, Morningside Heights includes several religious institutions, including the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Riverside Church, the Church of Notre Dame, Corpus Christi Church, and Interchurch Center. The neighborhood also contains other architectural landmarks, such as St. Luke's Hospital (now Mount Sinai Morningside) and Grant's Tomb.
Morningside Heights is part of Manhattan Community District 9.[1] It is patrolled by the 26th Precinct of the New York City Police Department. Fire services are provided by the New York City Fire Department's Engine Company 47 and Engine Company 37/Ladder Company 40. Politically it is represented by the New York City Council's 7th District.
History[edit]
Precolonial and colonial period[edit]
Initially, Manhattan was settled by the Lenape Native Americans,[4] who referred to the area nearby as "Muscota" or "Muscoota", meaning "place of rushes".[5][6][7][8] The nearest Native American settlements were Rechewanis and Konaande Kongh in present-day Central Park, to the southeast of modern Morningside Heights.[9][10][11] Additionally, a Native American path in the area was adapted into part of modern-day Riverside Drive. However, the region remained relatively hard to access because of the steep topography.[9] Prior to the beginning of the 18th century, most travel within modern New York City was made via water, since there were few roads in the region.[12]
Dutch settlers occupied Manhattan in the early 17th century and called the nearby area "Vredendal", meaning "peaceful dale".[5] The western boundary of New Harlem was drawn through the present-day Morningside Park in 1666, running from 74th Street at the East River to 124th Street at the North River (now Hudson River) on the neighborhood's western edge.[6][13] The area to the west of the boundary, present-day Morningside Heights, was originally the common lands of British-occupied New York.[6][14][15] In 1686, New York colonial governor Thomas Dongan granted the city of New York the patent to a triangular area between West 107th to 124th Streets, extending west to the Hudson River.[9] The city sold the land to Jacob De Key in 1701.[9][16][17] An easy connection to the rest of the modern-day city was made two years later, when Bloomingdale Road[a] (modern-day Broadway) was extended north from Lower Manhattan to 117th Street.[9][12] Harman Vandewater acquired part of the De Key farm by 1735,[6][14][15] and it was called Vandewater Heights by 1738.[5]
On September 16, 1776, the Battle of Harlem Heights was fought in the area, with the most intense fighting occurring in a sloping wheat field that is now the location of Barnard College. A plaque by the Columbia University gate on 117th Street and Broadway commemorates this battle.[19] Vandewater Heights was sold by 1785 to James W. De Peyster.[6][15] His brother, Nicholas De Peyster, bought the land directly to the west, along the shoreline.[12]
Police and crime[edit]
Morningside Heights is patrolled by the 26th Precinct of the NYPD, located at 520 West 126th Street.[243] The 26th Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 76.3% between 1990 and 2022. The precinct reported 1 murder, 16 rapes, 104 robberies, 142 felony assaults, 118 burglaries, 341 grand larcenies, and 79 grand larcenies auto in 2022.[244] 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.[245][246]
As of 2018, 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.[190]: 8
Cathedral Parkway draws responders from the 26th and 24th NYPD precincts, where jurisdiction is settled once the incident is under control. Columbia University Public Safety also patrols the area around the college.[247] Realtime access and review of to CCTV imaging within Public Safety command centers of incidents within the blanket of coverage ranging from all corners of the neighborhood is available to reporting affiliates, NYPD detectives, and the general public for incidents invoking the Clery Act.[248]
Politics[edit]
Politically, most of Morningside Heights is in New York's 13th congressional district, although a small part of the neighborhood is within New York's 12th congressional district;[258] as of 2022, the 13th and 12th congressional districts are respectively represented by Democrats Adriano Espaillat and Jerrold Nadler.[259] It is also part of the 30th and 31st State Senate districts,[260][261] represented respectively by Democrats Brian Benjamin and Robert Jackson,[262][263] and the 69th and 70th State Assembly districts,[264][265] represented respectively by Democrats Daniel O'Donnell and Inez Dickens.[266] In the City Council, the neighborhood is part of the 7th District,[267] represented by Democrat Shaun Abreu.[268]
Post offices and ZIP Codes[edit]
Morningside Heights is located in two primary ZIP Codes. The area south of 116th Street is part of 10025 and the area north of 116th Street is part of 10027.[269] The United States Postal Service operates two post offices near Morningside Heights: the Columbia University Station at 534 West 112th Street[270] and the Manhattanville Station and Morningside Annex at 365 West 125th Street.[271]