CHAPTER 6 - NEIGHBORHOOD HISTORY

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1 CHAPTER 6 - NEIGHBORHOOD HISTORY CONTENTS 6.1 The Early History of Morningside Heights A Neighborhood of Institutions The Rise of Residential Morningside Heights Chapter 6 Neighborhood History 6.1

2 CHAPTER 6 NEIGHBORHOOD HISTORY Morningside Heights is one of New York City s smallest neighborhoods, but architecturally and historically it is one of the more interesting areas of the city. Morningside Heights is home to the largest concentration of institutions in the New York, including some of the city s most prestigious academic and philanthropic organizations. Almost all of the institutions moved to Morningside Heights in the last years of the 19th century and first years of the 20th century, erecting distinguished buildings that help to define both the neighborhood and the identity of each organization. Morningside Heights is not, however, solely the province of major institutions. The area also includes a small number of rowhouses from the 1890s and a large collection of middle-class apartment buildings, most of which were erected in the early 20th century. Morningside Heights is generally defined as the neighborhood bounded by Cathedral Parkway (West 110th Street) on the south, West 125th Street on the north, Morningside Drive and Morningside Park on the east, and Riverside Drive, Riverside Park, and the Hudson River on the west. The neighborhood s borders are defined by topography. Morningside Heights is separated from the Harlem Plain to the east and the Hudson River to the west by high cliffs. From the south, the plateau begins its rise at 110th Street, reaches a peak at about 117th Street before descending into the Manhattan, or Manhattanville, Valley. The fact that the area is a plateau, topographically separate from surrounding neighborhoods, had a major impact on the development of Morningside Heights. The neighborhood s isolation, together with a lack of mass transit through the area and the presence of an insane asylum in the center of the plateau combined to depress development, even as late as the 1880s, when surrounding neighborhoods were experiencing rapid residential growth. The following brief discussion of the history of development on Morningside Heights is divided into three parts the early history of the neighborhood; the history of institutional development; and the development of Morningside Heights as a residential neighborhood. The early institutional and residential development on Morningside Heights overlap chronologically. However, they will be discussed separately since their initial development histories are largely unrelated. 6.1 THE EARLY HISTORY OF MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS During the 17th and 18th centuries and into the early 19th century, Morningside Heights was a rural region of cottages, farmhouses, and a few riverside mansions. Although it was not until the late 19th century that major urban development began on Morningside Heights, a great deal of change occurred in the region before this period, as asylums purchased property and erected substantial complexes, and parks rose at the neighborhood s eastern and western edges. The earliest significant intrusion into the rural character of Morningside Heights occurred between 1816 and 1820, when the Society of the New York Hospital purchased large parcels for the development of an asylum for the insane. In 1821, the Bloomingdale Insane Asylum opened on a large irregularly shaped plot running from about what is now 112th Street and Broadway to 120th Street between about Amsterdam Avenue and Claremont Avenue, right in the heart of the Morningside plateau. As the asylum grew, new buildings were erected, one of which still survives (Macy Hall, now Columbia University s Buell Hall and Maison Française). In 1843, the Bloomingdale Asylum was joined on Morningside Heights by the Leake and Watts Orphan Asylum, which occupied the land between 110th and 113th streets from Morningside Drive to Amsterdam Avenue. A portion of the orphanage building stands to the south of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The Bloomingdale Insane Asylum and Leake and Watts Orphan Asylum, which together occupied a substantial portion of Morningside Heights, established a rural institutional character in the area that lasted for several decades. With the exception of the buildings erected for these asylums, major construction on Morningside Heights before the 1890s was limited to public works projects. The Croton Aqueduct, the first system to bring fresh water to New York City, completed in 1842, ran straight down Amsterdam Avenue (two gatehouses, built in the 1870s as part of an expansion of the system, still stand on Amsterdam Avenue at 113th and 119th streets), and 6.2 Chapter 6 Neighborhood History

3 NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY Bloomingdale Insane Asylum in the late 19th century. Morningside Park and Riverside Park were laid out on the steep escarpments that create the neighborhood s eastern and western boundaries. Morningside Park was first proposed in 1867, but it was not until 1887 that construction began on Frederick Law Olmsted s and Calvert Vaux s design, which included Morningside Drive with its promenade and viewing platforms. The idea for Riverside Park had first been proposed in 1865, but it was not until 1873 that Frederick Law Olmsted s design for a park with a landscaped drive and tree-lined promenade following the undulating contours of the site was approved. While Morningside Heights remained an undeveloped region of rural asylums, surrounding areas were developing into residential communities. In 1879, service was inaugurated on the Ninth Avenue elevated railroad, running north on Ninth Avenue (now Columbus Avenue) through the Upper West Side to 110th Street, where it veered to the northeast into Harlem. The Upper West Side and Harlem soon developed into residential neighborhoods, but on Morningside Heights, which had been bypassed by the elevated railroad, there was no incentive for developers to invest in the construction of housing. In spite of the relative isolation of Morningside Heights, the Bloomingdale Insane Asylum and the Leake and Watts Orphan Asylum could not avoid urban development forever and in the late 1880s both institutions announced that they would sell their Manhattan property and move to Westchester County. The availability of these large tracts of land attracted institutions looking to establish a presence in New York City or to expand their campuses. Thus, the orphanage was sold in 1887 to a group intent on erecting an Episcopal cathedral in New York and a few years later New York Hospital sold a portion of its property to Columbia College. Chapter 6 Neighborhood History 6.3

4 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Leake and Watts Orphan Asylum, Cathedral of St. John the Divine, St. Luke s Hospital, and Morningside Park, A NEIGHBORHOOD OF INSTITUTIONS The survival of large tracts of open land on the Morningside plateau at a time when surrounding areas were being densely developed made Morningside Heights an attractive location for urban institutions seeking large sites where they could erect new buildings. The Heights became the major center in New York City for the construction of new institutional complexes during the final years of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century. This movement was inaugurated in 1887 by the trustees of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and continued in , when St. Luke s Hospital, Columbia College, Teachers College, and Barnard College purchased land and constructed new building complexes. The first wave of institutional development ended with the completion of Columbia and Barnard s first buildings and the opening of classes on Morningside Heights in October Spurred by the inauguration of subway service along Broadway in October 1904, other institutions would soon follow the area s pioneering organizations to Morningside Heights, and, as will be discussed in section 6.3, much of the surrounding vacant land would be transformed into a middle-class residential community within the decade. The second phase of institutional development occurred in the northern portion of Morningside Heights where Union Theological Seminary, the Institute of Musical Art (later the Juilliard School of Music, now the Manhattan School of Music), Jewish Theological Seminary, Riverside Church, and International House were built between 1905 and Major institutional migration to Morningside Heights slowed after 1930, but in the postwar era, three other institutions were erected on Morningside Heights the Interchurch Center, Bank Street College of Education, and St. Hilda s and St. Hugh s School. Since the completion of their original buildings, almost every one of the Morningside Heights institutions has expanded its physical plant. 6.4 Chapter 6 Neighborhood History

5 6.3 THE RISE OF RESIDENTIAL MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS In 1892, when Columbia announced that it would relocate to Morningside Heights, there was virtually no residential community on the plateau. The earliest residential development on Morningside Heights consisted largely of single-family rowhouses. The first two row houses were built in 1891 at 633 and 635 West 115th Street. This pair of Colonial Revival houses, designed by Henry Otis Chapman, was not built on speculation but was commissioned by people who actually planned to live in the buildings. The earliest speculative rowhouse development on Morningside Heights occurred in when 16 single-family homes were built on 117th Street between Morningside Drive and Amsterdam Avenue (demolished). This was followed by 12 rows of houses erected between 1895 and Not all of these speculative development ventures were successful and several builders lost their buildings in foreclosure actions. Many of these singlefamily houses eventually became fraternity houses. requirements of the middle- and upper-middle-class tenants who would lease the units and of the speculative developers who invested in their construction. The apartment buildings on Morningside Heights typify middle-class speculative development in the early 20th century, displaying a mix of stylish ornament in Beaux Arts, Renaissance, Colonial, and Gothic styles. The street elevation of each apartment house was, of course, merely a facade for the apartments. All of the apartment buildings erected on Morningside Heights were speculative ventures where a builder had to weigh the cost of ornamentation and amenities against the amount of rent that could be expected. Developers carefully considered apartment layouts, the provision of amenities, lobby design, and other features, always taking into consideration the class of prospective tenants. Thus, buildings for more affluent tenants had spacious plans, extensive modern amenities, and costly decorative detail. Apartments for less wealthy tenants might have smaller rooms, long dark halls, and fewer amenities. Morningside Heights was not destined to become a row house neighborhood. Instead, the area became an important early center for the middle-class apartment house. A few apartment houses had appeared on Morningside Heights in the late 1890s and the first years of the 20th century, but the catalyst for major apartment house construction on Morningside Heights was the subway, which finally opened in October In the short span of nine years, between 1903 and 1911, almost the entire residential neighborhood was developed. Well over half of the new apartment houses were designed by only three architectural firms Neville & Bagge, George F. Pelham, and Schwartz & Gross. These architects and most of the others active on Morningside Heights were not especially well trained, nor did they create trendsetting buildings of great sophistication. They were, however, proficient at creating floor plans and designing facades to meet the West 117th Street rowhouses, On Morningside Heights there is a distinct hierarchy among the residential streets, partially explained by the availability of light, air, and views, proximity to subway stations, and size of building lots. Riverside REAL ESTATE RECORD AND BUILDERS GUIDE, MARCH 30, 1895 Chapter 6 Neighborhood History 6.5

6 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS West side of Claremont Avenue, north from 116th Street, 1911; future site of Barnard College in foreground. Drive, with its expansive views and its western light uninterrupted by other buildings had the highest land values. As such, it contained the most expensive buildings, many with impressive facades and well-planned apartments. Many of the buildings on Broadway south of 116th Street, Claremont Avenue between 116th and 119th streets, Cathedral Parkway (West 110th Street), and West 116th Street between Broadway and Riverside Drive had only slightly less impressive designs and layouts. Land values were especially high on Broadway, where builders could erect spacious apartments that were well lit and could also expect substantial additional income from commercial storefronts. MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK West 111th Street, c Less affluent middle-class households might turn to Morningside Drive, with its well-designed buildings with spacious apartments. However, the vast majority of the middle-class buildings on Morningside Heights line the side streets where most are six stories tall (a few are taller) with smaller apartments and less elegant detail. Many of these blocks have a cohesive quality due to the fact that the buildings are approximately the same height, all share the same street wall, and all are similarly designed and detailed. Amsterdam Avenue, with its heavy traffic and noisy streetcars, was the least prestigious address and, as such, developers erected several groups of five-story walkup tenements that attracted less prosperous households. Tenements also appeared north of 122nd Street, where the plateau slopes down into Manhattanville. At the base of the slope, the 6.6 Chapter 6 Neighborhood History

7 residential neighborhood abutted an industrial area that included the Sheffield Dairy (now Prentis Hall) on the south side of 125th Street west of Broadway. By 1912, most lots on Morningside Heights had been developed and the residential character of the neighborhood was well established. This character was augmented by the appearance of a few churches and by lively commerce on Broadway and, to a lesser extent, on Amsterdam Avenue. A few large vacant sites, notably on Riverside Drive and Cathedral Parkway, remained and were finally filled with apartment buildings in the 1920s. The institutional and residential communities did not mix as much as might be expected. The grandest apartment buildings had rents that were too expensive for most institutional employees and many professors did not wish to live in the smaller apartments on the side streets. The administrators at the academic institutions worried that high rents on Morningside Heights, which forced professors to live outside of the neighborhood, were affecting college life, since students, faculty, and staff were not interacting outside of classes. As the problem of housing faculty became increasingly acute, the institutions began to purchase neighborhood apartment buildings. In , Columbia bought four apartment buildings and Teachers College bought two. After tenants leases expired, the institutions sought to secure possession of individual apartments and rent them to faculty and staff. These purchases were the beginning of a major change in the ownership and use of the apartment houses on Morningside Heights. The institutional acquisition of apartment buildings continued through the 1980s, and today the majority of the area s buildings are institutionally owned. Morningside Heights remained a stable middle-class residential neighborhood for several decades. However, conditions began to change in the 1930s, as the maintenance on the aging buildings declined and many of the large apartments were subdivided into smaller units; some buildings were converted into single-room occupancy hotels. In 1947, fourteen Morningside Heights institutions organized Morningside Heights, Inc., to study the area s problems and seek solutions. The organization campaigned for the demolition of residential buildings at the northern end of the neighborhood and their replacement with the low-income General Grant Houses project and the middleincome Morningside Gardens cooperative, both of 600 West 113th Street, southwest corner of Broadway, with original stores, c which were built in the mid-1950s. As the institutions purchased many of the buildings in an effort to stabilize the community and house their constituents, they improved conditions in some structures but demolished buildings with some of the worst conditions rather than rehabilitate the apartments, leaving vacant sites on the midblocks, many of which still remain. In addition, Columbia and other local organizations sponsored a number of plans in the postwar period that would have made radical changes in the character of Morningside Heights. These included a proposal for an art center on Amsterdam Avenue between West 115th and West 116th streets that would have entailed the demolition of most of the apartment buildings on that block and a proposal by Morningside Heights, Inc., to replace most of the older residential buildings in the area with new institutional and residential structures. Historically, the most significant of the propos- NATIONAL BUILDING MUSEUM Chapter 6 Neighborhood History 6.7

8 UNION THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY Northern Morningside Heights, c Morningside Gardens (under construction) and General Grant Houses, upper right. als was Columbia s ill-fated effort to erect a new gymnasium in Morningside Park in Columbia and neighboring institutions acquired apartment buildings where, in many cases, maintenance had been neglected for years. In fact, Columbia did little to improve the physical condition of the properties, continuing the trend of poor maintenance. In 1979, a piece of masonry fell from a Columbia-owned building on Broadway, killing a Barnard student. As a result of this tragedy, New York City passed Local Law 10 in 1980, which mandated periodic facade inspections of all buildings of more than six stories and the restoration or removal of loose or deteriorated ornament. Many apartment houses, including some of those owned by Morningside Heights institutions, were stripped of important architectural detail. In the late 1980s, Columbia instituted a policy of maintaining the exterior masonry ornament such as terra cotta and carved stone as well as retaining existing cornices on its off-campus buildings. More recently, the University has been replacing dete- riorated windows with historically appropriate wood units and implementing a comprehensive restoration approach for its more historic buildings. At the end of the 20th century Morningside Heights is again seen as a prestigious residential neighborhood. Proximity to notable institutions, convenient subway service, beautiful parks and other amenities, and the affordability of housing in comparison to many neighborhoods farther south have attracted middle-class households. Many of the grandest buildings that are not institutionally owned have been converted into cooperatives. The neighborhood has a mix of residents, including faculty, staff, and students affiliated with the institutions and many other people who are not directly involved with the institutional life of the area. Broadway retains a lively commercial sector, acting as the Main Street for the neighborhood. At the dawn of a new century, Morningside Heights remains one of the most dynamic communities in New York City. 6.8 Chapter 6 Neighborhood History