Marble Hill, Manhattan

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A map from the early 1900s depicting Marble Hill as an island. (Note that this map is oriented with North to the right, and West at the top. Marble Hill is at the end of the subway line at the top of the map.)

Marble Hill is the northernmost section of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Marble Hill is notable in that it is legally a part of Manhattan Borough (and New York County) but is no longer on Manhattan Island. In 1895, the construction of the Harlem River Ship Channel rendered the area an island bounded by the canal to the south and the original course of the Harlem River to the north. In 1914, the old river was filled in, physically connecting Marble Hill to the borough of The Bronx and the rest of the North American mainland. In 1939, when a judge found it to be legally still a part of the borough of Manhattan (and the County of New York), Bronx Borough President James J. Lyons declared it "the Bronx Sudetenland", referencing Hitler's 1938 annexation of a region of Czechoslovakia.^[1]

Marble Hill residents remain part of a political district that includes the northernmost areas of Manhattan (Washington Heights and Inwood), but receive services from the Bronx, most likely due to reasons of convenience and safety; being serviced by a fire department located across a lift bridge (the Broadway Bridge) could delay response time, as it would require usage of the University Heights or Henry Hudson Bridges, which are much further from Marble Hill than the Broadway Bridge.

The United States Census Bureau defines Marble Hill as Census Tract 309 of New York County. As of the 2000 census it had a population of 7,820 on a land area of 0.3065 km² (0.1183 sq mi).^[2]

The United States Postal Service treats it as if it were part of the Bronx though, as its ZIP Code is 10463 (the "104" prefix used for Bronx localities while "100" through "102" are reserved for Manhattan addresses).

In 1984, area code 718 was created out of area code 212 for the boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island; in 1992, the Bronx was added to the "718" roster. Marble Hill residents fought to retain the "212" area code for the neighborhood but lost; today Marble Hill, unlike the rest of Manhattan, is in area code 718.

Marble Hill is named for the large deposits of marble underlying it. The formation, known as the Inwood marble, was formerly quarried for building stone. The area is largely lower-middle to middle class in character and is home to many people of Hispanic background. Up the hill, several thousand feet to the north and west of the area, is the suburban and mostly white area of Riverdale, which is the most affluent section of the Bronx. Broadway is the area's primary thoroughfare. In the last decade, national retailers have opened outlets in the neighborhood.