Everything about Morningside Heights Manhattan totally explained
Morningside Heights is a neighborhood of the
Borough of
Manhattan in
New York City and is chiefly known as the home of institutions such as
Barnard College,
Columbia University, the
Manhattan School of Music, the
Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, the
Riverside Church, and
St. Luke's Hospital.
Morningside Heights is bounded by the
Upper West Side to the south,
Morningside Park to the east,
Harlem to the north, and
Riverside Park to the west. The streets that form its boundaries are
110th Street on the south,
Riverside Drive on the west,
125th Street on the north, and Morningside Drive to the east. The main thoroughfare is
Broadway. With the recent gentrification of Bloomingdale, the neighborhood immediately to the south of Morningside Heights, the southern boundary of this region is sometimes stretched to 106th Street and at times even 96th Street.
The neighborhood has also been referred to as the "Academic Acropolis," the "Acropolis of New York," "Bloomingdale Village," and, in the words of
George Carlin, "White Harlem."
History
In the 17th Century the land that's now Morningside Heights was known as Vandewater's Heights, named for the landowner.
On
September 16,
1776, the
Battle of Harlem Heights was fought in Morningside Heights, with the most intense fighting occurring in a sloping wheat field that's now the location of
Barnard College. A plaque by the Columbia University gate on 117th Street and Broadway commemorates this battle.
Use of the name "Morningside Heights" for the neighborhood arose in the 1890s when development of the area commenced. Although the name "Bloomingdale" was used for the area about the Bloomingdale Insane Asylum (located at the present location of the main campus of
Columbia University), other names such as "Morningside Hill" and "Riverside Heights" were use for the area and no single name was commonly used for the neighborhood as projects began to construct the university campus, and also the nearby
Teachers College, the
Cathedral of Saint John the Divine and
St. Luke's Hospital. In time two names gained the most use; "Morningside Heights" was preferred by the two colleges while "Cathedral Heights" was preferred by St. John's and St. Luke's. After about 1898, Morningside Heights became the most generally accepted, although the diocese at St. John's continued to call the neighborhood Cathedral Heights well into the 20th century. The term "Morningside" came from the park on the east flank of the plateau, which was lit up by the rising sun and which was called "Morning Side Park" in 1870 when the city parks commissioner recommended a survey of the land.
Many apartment buildings and rowhouses, amongst the first to use elevators in residential buildings, were built for New York's prosperous middle class in the first two decades of the twentieth century and most of these buildings are still extant. By the mid-20th century the increasing prevalence of
Single Room Occupancy (S.R.O.) hotels led to attendant socioeconomic problems and a decline in the neighborhood.
Jane Jacobs The Death and Life of Great American Cities presented the neighborhood as a key example of the failure of the
urban planning techniques of the era.
In 1947
David Rockefeller became involved in a major middle-income housing development when he was elected as chairman of Morningside Heights Inc. by fourteen major institutions that were based in the area, including Columbia University. In 1951 the organization developed
Morningside Gardens, a six-building apartment complex to house middle-income families from all ethnic backgrounds.
The social problems in the area prompted Columbia to purchase much of the neighborhood's real estate, leading to accusations of forced eviction and
gentrification. This process reached its nadir in 1968, when
protests erupted in both the neighborhood and on Columbia's campus over the university's proposal to build a gym in
Morningside Park. Residents alleged that the park's proposed separate entrance for Harlem residents on the lower level of the park was segregated, and that public park space was being annexed by a wealthy private institution. The university was eventually forced to abandon the plan, though it has still expanded its presence in the neighborhood markedly over the last few decades, and gentrification and urban renewal have proceeded apace. In January 2008 the university received approval from the City Council to expand significantly in nearby
Manhattanville.
As the city grows and residents move in and out, neighborhood names change as well. Newcomers may consider Morningside Heights as an extension of the
Upper West Side, though others hold onto the old name. In the last decade, some businesses in the area have started using the name
SoHa (or "South of Harlem") to refer to the neighborhood. Examples of this include Max's SoHa restaurant and the former SoHa nightclub.
Academic Acropolis
The label
Academic Acropolis has been used to describe the area, since it sits on one of the highest natural points in Manhattan and contains numerous academic institutions. Much of the neighborhood is the campus of
Columbia University, and the university also owns a large amount of the non-campus real estate. Other educational institutions in the neighborhood include
Barnard College,
Union Theological Seminary,
Jewish Theological Seminary,
Manhattan School of Music,
Teachers College,
Bank Street College of Education, Wadleigh Secondary School, Thurgood Academy, St. Hilda's & St. Hugh's School,
The School at Columbia University, and for the younger residents, Columbia Greenhouse nursery school.
NASA's
Goddard Institute for Space Studies is also located in the neighborhood, directly above
Tom's Restaurant (see below) in a building owned by Columbia University.
Sites
Non-academic landmarks in Morningside Heights include the
Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine,
Grant's Tomb,
Riverside Church,
The Interchurch Center,
International House, and
St. Luke's Hospital.
Arguably the most famous restaurant in Morningside Heights (and one of the most famous
diners in the world) is
Tom's Restaurant on Broadway at W. 112th St. After being featured in the song "
Tom's Diner" by
Suzanne Vega (an alumna of
Barnard College), it became known as the daily hangout of the characters of the television sitcom
Seinfeld. (Exterior shots of Tom's were used on
Seinfeld; the interior of the restaurant looks very little like the fictional "Monk's Cafe," as the scenes in Monk's were filmed on a set in
California.) Tom's is now part of the regular
Seinfeld New York Tour conducted by
Kenny Kramer. The interior shots most resemble the Broadway diner, found between 101st and 102nd street.
The
West End Bar is another famous local restaurant, one which served especially as a meeting place for writers of the
Beat Generation in the 1940s and 50s as well as one for student activists prior, during, and after the
Columbia University protests of 1968. It has recently been absorbed into a Cuban restaurant chain, "Havana Central," and is now known as "Havana Central at the West End".
Famous residents
George Gershwin began composing his
Rhapsody in Blue while living on 110th Street in Morningside Heights. Film director
Cecil B. De Mille lived on 114th Street.
Comedian George Carlin grew up on 121st Street. In the comedy piece "White Harlem", which appears on his album, he said that younger residents would refer to the neighborhood as "White Harlem": "White Harlem" would likely be considered an intimidating locale by outsiders and give inhabitants thereof greater respect from outsiders, whereas conversely a young person from "Morningside Heights" would have a much greater probability of being abused simply by virtue of living in a locale called "Morningside Heights".
Morningside Gardens residents
Several famous neighborhood residents have lived in Morningside Gardens, an experimental
co-op project built in 1957 between 123rd Street and LaSalle Streets, and Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues. Morningside Gardens was the result of
Robert Moses' Morningside-Manhattanville
urban renewal plan, and was successful in the sense that it combined the middle income Gardens with the
NYCHA General Grant Houses to the East and North of it, and maintained a commercial strip along Amsterdam Avenue.
The Gardens prided itself on being an integrated community and for most of its existence, those selling their apartments were not allowed to take any significant profit until 2006, when the co-op voted to allow residents to sell their co-ops for 80% of market value, or 3x what the previous maximum sale price was, per apartment.
Many professional African-Americans moved to Morningside Gardens to maintain roots with the black community of Harlem and to enjoy the benefits of a safe and integrated community. Among those were
Thurgood Marshall, first black justice named to the Supreme Court. Singer/songwriter
Fiona Apple and science fiction writer
Samuel Delany also lived in the complex as youths.
Students
Numerous other famous people have resided in the area while attending or teaching at
Columbia University. They can be seen under the
List of Columbia University people.
Several, however, have had significant engagements with the neighborhood itself. While writing a master's thesis on
William Blake at
Columbia University,
Thomas Merton attended
Corpus Christi Catholic Church on West 121st St., where he formally converted to Catholicism.
Political
The neighborhood is part of the
Fifteenth Congressional District of
New York, which includes much of
Harlem. Traditionally, Morningside Heights has been heavily
Democratic.
The neighborhood's
ZIP codes are 10025,10026,and 10027.
In culture
Many films have been set or filmed on the campuses of Columbia, Barnard, and, especially, the courtyard of the Union Theological Seminary, and comedian
George Carlin has referred to the neighborhood as "White
Harlem". Specific entertainment references include the following:
NBC drama Law & Order frequently films in the neighborhood. The network once entertained a pilot episode for a sitcom entitled Morningside Heights, about local religious seminary instructors (a rabbi, a priest, and an imam, although there are no Islamic schools in the neighborhood) who eat pizza together at the West End Bar.
Tom's Restaurant has been featured on the TV sitcom Seinfeld.Further Information
Get more info on 'Morningside Heights Manhattan'.
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