12/20/05 - West Harlem is easily the academic epicenter of New York City. Columbia University, Barnard College, City College of New York, Manhattan School of Music, Harlem School of the Arts, the Jewish Theological Seminary and Union Theological Seminary call this neighborhood home.

Part of District 9, which also includes Central Harlem and a small portion of the Upper West Side along Riverside Park, Morningside Heights, Hamilton Heights and Sugar Hill constitute West Harlem. Spanning 110-155th Streets, this area's residents contribute to District 9's population of 160,549. Harlem's demographic makeup is one of the most diverse in New York: 25% White non-Hispanic; 48% Black non-Hispanic; 5% Asian non-Hispanic; 22% Hispanic.

Over looking the Hudson River from atop a 135-foot bluff, this section of Harlem boasts the second-lowest crime rate in Manhattan, and at one time or another, many historical and present-day notables have held addresses in Morningside Heights.

Notable West Harlem

The impressive roster includes former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who lived in the President's House on Morningside Drive while governing over Columbia University; F. Scott Fitzgerald lived at 200 Claremont Avenue while writing This Side of Paradise; and Chinua Achebe, author of Things Fall Apart, took up residence at International House on Riverside Drive at 123rd Street, as did Opera star Leontyne Price and billionaire George Soros. Dustin Hoffman lived on 109th Street between Amsterdam and Broadway and Martha Stewart went to Barnard College, where she studied Home Economics.

Morningside Heights has appeared in numerous movies and literary works. J.D. Salinger's infamous Glass family stories, except Catcher in the Rye, were set here. The family "lived" on 110th Street between Broadway and Riverside in the ཤs, and frequented Mill Luncheonette, today known as Mill Korean Restaurant.

A comic play, Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights, was produced on Broadway by Robert Alan Arthur in 1968. The movie, Keeping the Faith (2000), features Ben Stiller as a young Catholic priest whose parish and rectory are Ascension Church on 107th St and the film, New Jack City (1991), has a shootout at Ulysses S. Grant's tomb.

Home Sweet Home

The Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill Historic District is one of New York's most architecturally distinguished and culturally significant neighborhoods. The area gained its name, Sugar Hill, during the 1920s when it was perceived as a place where life was "sweet" and life was comfortable. The esteemed Reverend Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., boxer Joe Louis and author Ralph Ellison lived here. Probably the most infamous address in Sugar is 409 Edgecombe Avenue, whose former residents include: Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, former N.A.A.C.P. leader Walter White (White's apartment, 13A, is often referred to as the "White House of Harlem,"); White's successor, Roy Wilkins; and Thurgood Marshall, who was then special counsel to the N.A.A.C.P. and later became the first African-American Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.