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Washington Heights Information
Washington Heights is a New York City neighborhood in the northern reaches of
the Borough of Manhattan. It is named for Fort Washington, a fortification
constructed by Continental Army troops during the American Revolutionary War at
the highest point on Manhattan island to defend the area from the British
forces. The fort was captured by the British on November 16, 1776 at great cost
to the American forces; 130 soldiers were killed or wounded, and an additional
2,700 captured and held as prisoners, many of whom died on prison ships anchored
in New York Harbor. The progress of the battle is marked by a series of bronze
plaques along Broadway.
Washington Heights is on the high ridge that rises steeply north of the narrow
valley that carries 125th Street to the former ferry landing on the Hudson
River. Though the neighborhood was once considered to run as far south as 125th
Street, modern usage defines the neighborhood as running north from Harlem at
155th Street to Inwood, topping out just below Dyckman Street. At the northern
end of Washington Heights, near Fort Washington Avenue and 183rd Street in
Bennett Park is a plaque marking Manhattan's highest natural elevation, 80.8 m
(265 ft) above sea level, at what was the location of Fort Washington. The
northern part of Washington Heights is sometimes called Hudson Heights.
Three of the bridges that cross the Harlem River are visible in this photo of the river: the High Bridge (closed to traffic); the Alexander Hamilton Bridge (part of Interstate 95); and the Washington Bridge. In this photo, looking north, the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan is on the left and the Bronx is on the right) The Washington Heights area of Manhattan is connected to Fort Lee, New Jersey via the George Washington 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, an unused portion of the New York City water system that is now closed to pedestrian traffic, crosses the Harlem River just south of the Alexander Hamilton Bridge.
The neighborhood has a large Dominican population (the area is sometimes called "Quisqueya Heights"), and Spanish is commonly heard being spoken on the streets. Since the 1980s, the neighborhood has been the United States' most important base for Dominican empowerment in the political, non-profit, cultural, and athletic arenas.
There is also a significant Jewish population, particularly in Hudson Heights subsection, descended from a previous wave of immigration, as well as students (and recent graduates) of the neighborhood's Yeshiva University. The term "Hudson Heights" was created by one of the local real estate firms to attract more wealthy residents in the area. It worked, and the gentrification has been continuing in recent years. It brought a Starbucks to 181st Street, and other upscale stores, spas, gourmet markets, and restaurants.
The German-Jewish population is based around Khal Adath Yeshurun, a direct continuation of the pre-war Jewish community of Frankfurt am Main, colloquially called "Breuer's" after Rabbi Dr. Joseph Breuer, founder and first rabbi of the congregation. Washington Heights is also served by a number of smaller orthodox synagogues, as well as the Hebrew Tabernacle, a reform congregation.