Hamilton Heights is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It lies between Manhattanville to the south and Washington Heights to the north.[1] It contains the neighborhood of Sugar Hill.
Hamilton Heights is bounded by 135th Street to the south, the Hudson River to the west, 155th Street to the north, and Edgecombe Avenue to the east. The community derives its name from Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, who lived the last two years of his life in the area when it was still largely farmland; specifically, he lived in what is now known as Hamilton Grange National Monument.[1] It is located within Manhattan Community Board 9.
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Most of the housing dates from the extension of the elevated and subway lines at the end of the 19th and the start of the 20th Century.[1] This fairly elegant housing became less desirable to white residents in the 1930s and 1940s as the population changed from white to black, even though the black residents were just as affluent as the white residents.[1] There are spacious apartment buildings, brownstones and other row houses prominently lining the leafy eastern streets of Hamilton Heights, an area traditionally home to a substantial black professional class. The brownstone revival of the 1960s and 1970s led to a new movement of middle-class blacks in the area. Latinos arrived in large numbers in the 1980s, with Dominicans making up the majority.[1] Today the local population is changing again, with Hispanics constituting a majority of the population followed by African Americans, West Indians and remainders of earlier times' ethnic whites. Gentrification since 2005 has dramatically increased the proportion of non-Hispanic whites. Many actors, artists, teachers, and other professionals now reside in Hamilton Heights.
Hamilton Heights is the home of City College of New York (CCNY), Dance Theatre of Harlem, The Harlem School of the Arts and Aaron Davis Hall.
The neighborhood offers several parks, including the recently built Riverbank State Park, embedded in Riverside Park which runs along the Hudson River the length of Hamilton Heights.
Historic Hamilton Heights comprises the Hamilton Heights Historic District and the Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill Historic District Extension, both designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. One of the highest hills in Hamilton Heights slopes up from the Hudson River at 155th Street, and contains the Trinity Church Cemetery.[1] Many individual buildings in the district are also landmarked, including Sheppard Hall on the CCNY campus, and the building that once housed The High School of Music & Art.
The IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line stops in Hamilton Heights at the 137th Street – City College and 145th Street stations (1 train). The IND Eighth Avenue Line runs under St. Nicholas Avenue, providing service at 135th Street (A B C trains), 145th Street (A B C D trains) and 155th Street (A C trains). The IND Concourse Line branches off north of the 145th Street station under Frederick Douglass Boulevard to serve 155th Street (B D trains).
The New York City Transit M4 and M5 buses serve Broadway; M100 and M101 buses run on Amsterdam Avenue; M11 bus on 135th Street; Bx19 bus on 145th Street; Bx6 bus on 155th Street and the M3 bus on St. Nicholas Avenue.