Dafna Yacobian
IDC 3001H
Professor Nancy Aries
May 20, 2015
Hamilton Heights: The Whitening of a Black Neighborhood
Over the past four centuries, the hills west of Harlem’s central plain was known by
several names that refer to its raised geographic position. Towards the end of the
seventeenth century, the hills west of Harlem’s central plain became known has Harlem
Heights. Today the hills of Harlem Heights is now known as Hamilton Heights or Sugar hill,
bounded between 135th street to the south, 155th street to the north, Edgecombe Avenue to
the east, and the Hudson River to the West (Jackson, Kenneth). Hamilton Heights is a
neighborhood in upper Manhattan that holds great historical and cultural significance.
African Americans and Dominicans have predominantly occupied Hamilton Heights over
the past couple of decades (United States Census Bureau); however, both populations are
victims of displacement due to rapid gentrification in the area. Gentrification is defined as
the immigration of middle class families into urban areas causing rents to increase and
therefore driving out long term residents (Schaffer, Richard). Long-term residents of
Hamilton Heights, specifically African Americans, are now experiencing the effects of
gentrification as middle class whites begin to populate the area, forcing them to move out.
According to the United States census data, we already see a dramatic shift in the ethnic
plurality of Hamilton Heights between 2000 and 2010. The gentrification of Hamilton
Heights is particularly important to recognize because it arises racial matters between
African Americans and whites. Racial complications arise as people begin to question why
the white population decides to suddenly infiltrate a predominantly African American
neighborhood that they fled from in the 1920s due to black integration of the area. Prior to
1920, Hamilton Heights used to be predominantly white, but as the black population began
to increase, nearly all white residents moved out. Since Hamilton Heights has gone through
some renovations between late 1900s and early 2000s, its economy has picked up and
attracted an influx of the white population, which subsequently drives out the black
population as rents increase. This raises a sense of bitterness from African American’s
towards the whites since they seem to only value their neighborhood when it appears to be
doing well instead of showing a genuine appreciation and respect of black culture and its
historical significance in the neighborhood. As a result of the white population moving in,
not only do the long term residence face pressures of departure, but the African American
culture that has thrived in Hamilton Heights since the 1920s faces a threat to its existence.
Understanding the historical context of Hamilton Heights is important to fully
encompass the value this area holds both historically and culturally. Initially, Hamilton
Heights, known as Harlem Heights at the time, was built for middle- and upper middle-class
whites between mid-1880s and 1918. In 1799, Dr. Samuel Bradhurst, a trained surgeon
during the American Revolution, sold 16 acres to Secretary of the United States Treasure,
Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton acquired a 32-acre estate that extended from what is now
Hamilton Place on the west to Hamilton Terrace on the east, and from 140th to 147th
streets. Near 143rd, Hamilton built a 12-room house with large porches, designed by the
architect, John McComb, in the federal style. Hamilton called it “the Grange” after his
grandfather’s ancestral seat in Scotland. The Grange had rich soil for farming and
gardening and beautiful panoramic views of the Hudson, New Jersey and Long Island.
Hamilton found life in Hamilton Heights pleasant and convenient and considered it a place
of escape and refuge. North of the Grange settled the 110-acre Bradhurst estate with a
federal-style mansion named “Pinehurst”. The Bradhurst family also enjoyed panoramic
views across the Bronx, New Jersey, and Long Island (Postal, Matthew).
By 1830, Harlem Heights began to lose its rural character as the New York Statefinanced construction project was implemented. The construction project included the
construction of the Croton Water Aqueduct and the opening of Tenth Avenue. The Croton
Water Aqueduct required water to run through iron pipes placed inside masonry conduits.
The large diameter of these water channels resulted in the road having to be raised by
more than 10 feet. This created a ridge to the west of the Bradhurst estate, permanently
disrupting their views towards the Hudson and greatly disrupted the drainage in the
gardens. The opening of Tenth Avenue became a bustling transit route in an otherwise
quite neighborhood since it was chosen as one of the main supply routs through northern
Manhattan. By the 1860s, Maunsell Bradhurst, the son of Samuel Bradhurst, began to sell
lots of Pinehurst and by 1865 the family departed for Europe and permanently settled in
England by 1875. After the Civil War (1865), the sales of the Bradhurst lots increased and
as New York City prospered post Civil war, residential developments pushed north into
upper Manhattan. During this time, Harlem Heights still maintained the character of a
remote country village, but open farmland quickly gave way to construction of long rows of
single-family homes. To downtowners, Harlem Heights became known for its “bracing air
and picturesque scenery”. By mid-1890s, Harlem Heights had become one of Manhattan’s
finest residential neighborhoods, occupied by a mix of middle to upper-middle class white
professionals, as well as recent immigrants from Italy, Ireland, and Germany (Postal,
Matthew).
Civic improvement between late 1800s and early 1900s led to dramatic increase in
property values throughout the Manhattan’s west side and in the historic district. By the
mid 1890s, the new Croton Aqueduct was put into service, providing future residents of
northern Manhattan with an adequate fresh water supply. In addition, plans for the New
York City Subway were approved throughout Manhattan’s west side by popular vote in
1894, and construction began in March 1900. During the next two decades, 23 apartment
houses were built in Hamilton Heights. Apartment houses built in the early 1900s were five
story, eight family brick and brownstone buildings planned to house as many as 15
families. By 1910, much of St. Nicholas and Edgecombe avenues, as well as most of the lots
on the side streets, had been developed with row houses and apartment buildings. “Holy
Arms” and “Montauk Arms” were the names of a pair of identical six-story Renaissance
Revival style apartment buildings on West 148th Street, distinguished by their limestone
bases, deep courtyard entryways, and prominent cornices (Postal, Matthew).
The area achieved its greatest fame during the 1930s and 1940s, however, when a
large number of black professionals, active in law, business, medicine and the arts, took
residence there. As early as 1919, Hamilton Heights came to be know has Sugar Hill due to
the perceived “sweet life” the African American population believed they would have after
moving into the area. They moved from the Harlem plain to an elevated residential area
where they enjoyed prosperous and comfortable lives. Sugar Hill became a part of the
Hamilton Heights culture in 1931 when a musical comedy of the same name opened on
Broadway. In addition, Sugar Hill is referenced in songs such as “Black, Brown and Beige”
by Mercer Ellington that told the history of the “American Negro” from slavery to modern
times as prosperous individuals. The New York Amsterdam News aimed at black readers
advertisements of Hamilton Heights that read “the finest and most exclusive section in
Harlem”. By 1927, the owners of 409 Edgecombe Avenue, one of the most affluent
residencies in Hamilton Heights, had begun leasing apartments to black tenants. One writer
said that they had “no choice” since “white residents began moving out because Negroes
[had] completely surrounded the building.” Soon, the address attracted well-known black
residents such as US Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall, the painter Aaron Douglas,
the scholar and sociologist W. E. B. Dubois, and the musicians Jimmie Lunceford, C.
Lluckeyth Roberts, and Mercer Ellington. In 1942, a black businessman, Augustine A.
Austin, bought the building (Postal, Matthew).
Hamilton Heights significantly established its black culture during the Harlem
Renaissance since Harlem was a cultural center for black musicians, artists, writers, and
performers. Between 1920 and 1950, St. Nicholas Avenue developed into a lively
commercial thoroughfare. Retail stores, restaurants, as well as nightspots opened on the
lower floors of various row houses and apartment buildings. Best know venues such as
Jimmy’s Chicken Shak, a popular restaurant with live jazz musicians, and Luckey’s
Rendezvous, an intimate piano joint owned by the celebrated pianist and Sugar Hill
resident Charles Luckeyth “Luckey” Roberts, were located between 148th and 149th streets
(Postal, Matthew).
However, during the 1950s, Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill began to change for the
worst as it started to face a “steady deterioration”. St. Nicholas Avenue began to fill with
bars, saloons, and third-rate diners. During this period, Luckey’s Rendezvous closed and
money of the neighborhood’s better-known black residents began to move (Postal,
Matthew). What used to be the center of Manhattan’s prosperous middle- to upper-middle
class African American’s became part of Harlem the ghetto, one of the largest
concentrations of black working-class and poor inhabitants in the United States (Schaffer,
Richard).
In 1995, Amsterdam Avenue was lined with storefronts, many of which were vacant.
There was at least one cramped bodega on each block whose products were limited to soap
powders, canned goods, and other household staples. Residents found little to no
enticement in the bodegas and travelled to other neighborhoods for groceries and other
goods as a result. Residents of Hamilton Heights in 1995 expressed their concerns with the
vacancy of the neighborhood. A man named Mr. Melo stated, “If a greater variety came into
the neighborhood, its better for all of us,” and Ms. Ana Pereira stated, “This is a community
where you have to walk maybe 10 blocks to get a birthday card…it’s lacking in services.” In
response, Hamilton Heights’ community leaders began to talk about revamping
Amsterdam’s retail strip from 138th to 145th Street to add varied shops, produce markets,
and restaurants (Lambert, Bruce).
As part of the Hamilton Heights renovation, they implemented a $430,000 “face lift”
for low-income housing. In 1998, the Home Loan Bank of New York gave a $430,000 grant
to AFF/HWGA Joint Venture to restore 86 affordable housing units in Hamilton Heights.
The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development provided
additional funding. The renovation, completed in 1999, included six buildings consisting of
86 units of affordable rental housing (“Hamilton Heights building gets a $430,000 face lift
for low-income housing”).
It seems as though the Hamilton Heights community began renovations in the late
1900s as an effort to better their poor status of living that has destabilized the
neighborhood since 1950. But what started as a renovation, turned into gentrification. As
renovations of Hamilton Heights allowed for a more comfortable status of living for current
residents, it made Hamilton Heights a more attractive neighborhood, on top of the
neighborhood’s historical and cultural value. Census data shows about a 5% increase in
white population and 7% decrease in the black population between 2000 and 2010 (United
States Census Bureau). This supports the idea that new people began to move into
Hamilton Heights after renovations were made between the late 1900s and early 2000.
We begin to see gentrification take place between early 2000s and 2010. In 2003, an
article in New York Amsterdam New states that Columbia University starts to
“enthusiastically embrace” Harlem as gentrification expands. This article also reveals long
time residents’ concern as to why the Ivy League University did not take a stronger interest
in Harlem at a time when the neighborhood was facing harder economic times (Watson, J.).
Its evident how “gentrifiers” began to show interest in Hamilton Heights only after it
underwent renovations between late 1900s and early 2000s. Columbia’s $7 billion
expansion consists of a 17-acre plan and dozens of modern glass buildings, some reaching
25 stories high. While gentrification brings about some positive aspects to a neighborhood
such as jobs, investment dollars, and new resources for arts and culture, it will also
destabilize Harlem with real estate speculation, change in neighborhood character, and
displacement pressures on local residents and businesses. Local storeowners are worried
that they will be priced out for stores more attractive to students and visitors. (Stringer,
Scott). In addition, a man named Vilmar expresses his concern for not being able to afford
his rent, which was at $350 in June 2003 (Watson, Jamal). Gentrification is seen as a
powerful threat to Harlem residents who are dependent on the availability of housing at
rents well below Manhattan market levels (Schaffer, Richard).
Not only are Hamilton Heights residents concerned about getting displaced by just
any new residents, they are specifically concerned about getting displaced by white
residents. In 2003, an Africa American homeowner in Hamilton Heights, Andrew
Witherspoon, was very defensive towards his wife’s idea of giving up his newly acquired
brownstone, passed down through his family for generations, for a home in the Yonkers. He
didn’t want to just “relinquish this property over to some white developers who will
continue to gentrify this neighborhood” (Watson, Jamal). Witherspoon’s use of the word
“relinquish” and specifically describing the developers as white reveal his aggression
towards the white population that is heavily impacting the black population in Hamilton
Heights. Karlena Byers justifies this aggression from long term black residents towards
new white residence by explaining how “white folk” moved out of neighborhoods blacks
were integrating in and now that they are getting priced out of their neighborhoods, they
want to come back into Hamilton Heights. Karlena continues to say how black people had
to fight to integrate certain neighborhoods and when black people moved in, the white
people moved out (Watson, Jamal). In this statement, Karlena is referring to the decline of
the white population around the 1920’s as the black population began to infiltrate
Hamilton Heights. Ms. Byer’s statement is reinforced by a writer’s statement made in the
1927, as previously mentioned, that said that whites “had no choice” but to move out since
“Negroes [had] completely surrounded the building” as if co-existing among African
Americans is undesirable (Postal, Matthew). Karlena also shows her concern for the
preservation of long time cultural institutions; she is afraid that an influx of this new cohort
will make long time cultural institutions such as black churches and small businesses
disappear (Watson, Jamal).
Today, young white people are bringing fancy French restaurants, German beer
gardens, and upscale supermarkets that sell nothing long time residents can afford. In
addition, they are replacing black bookshops, barbershops, and soul food joints. The black
population has fallen to its lowest level in almost 100 years while the white population has
more than doubled. In 1990, there were only 672 whites in all of Harlem; in 2000, there
were 2,200; by 2008, the white population reached 13,800. Harlem has become a “hot spot”
for high income “hipsters” attracted by the neighborhood’s high quality architecture built
throughout the 20th century and by the easy commute to New York City’s commercial
business districts downtown. While the white population develops this new interest in
Hamilton Heights for it architectural and geographic beauty, they fail to acknowledge and
respect Hamilton Heights as the home of beautiful black culture. Understanding the
progression and importance of black culture in Hamilton Heights is key to understanding
the uneasiness many, long time, black residents feel towards white “gentrifiers” who come
into their home when it’s convenient for them. Not only does gentrification create
monetary issues for long time residents as prices rise, but it fails to respect the culture of
the neighborhood that has distinguished the area over many years.
Works Cited
"Hamilton Heights building gets a $430,000 face lift for low-income housing." New York
Amsterdam News 20 Aug. 1998: 28. Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 May 2015.
Lambert, Bruce. "Hamilton Heights Pushing Amsterdam Avenue to Go Upscale." New York
Times (1923-Current file): 1. Jul 16 1995. ProQuest. Web. 2 May 2015 .
Postal, Matthew A. "Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill Historic District." (n.d.): 3-17. NYC. 27
June 2000. Web. 16 May 2015.
<http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/reports/HAMILTON_HEIGHTSSUGAR_HILL_HISTORIC_DISTRICT.pdf>.
Schaffer, Richard, and Neil Smith. “The Gentrification Of Harlem?.” Annals Of The
Association Of American Geographers 76.3 (1986): 347-365. SocINDEX with Full Text.
Web. 2 May 2015.
Stringer, Scott M. "No Time to Sit on the Sidelines." New York Amsterdam News: 13. May
2007. ProQuest. Web. 20 May 2015 .
Watson, Jamal E. "Soon to Gentrify, Hamilton Heights Businesses Fortify." New York
Amsterdam News: 3. Jun 26 2003.ProQuest. Web. 15 May 2015.
Watson, J. (2003, Jul 31). Teaching gentrification: Columbia and Harlem. New York
Amsterdam News Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/390323366?accountid=8500
Watson, Jamal E. "The Whitening of Black Neighborhoods." New York Amsterdam News: 1.
Jul 10 2003. ProQuest. Web. 15 May 2015.