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Neighborhoods? — Brooklynian

Neighborhoods?

paula
paula
edited November -1 in Crown Heights/Prospect Lefferts Gardens
I'm not sure where to post this, my neighborhood geography is not that great there. I just wanted to share this story and get a confirmation on what I thought was true in NYC...

So we were in Orlando, Florida recently eating at a teppenyaki table at Benihana's. Two ladies from NYC, a mother and her middle aged daughter were at our table. When we mentioned that our aspiring Broadway bound son currently lives in Washington Heights you would have thought I told them we had sold him into the slave trade or something.

The older women suggested that we make him move immediately. I felt like she was expecting me to pick up my Blackberry and order him into a new apartment in the Villiage or Chelsea immediately.

This is the first time I've ever gotten this kind of a reaction. When he moved out of his Upper West Side dorm to Harlem we were apprehensive, but all the New Yorkers we know said there are neighborhoods all over NYC good and bad. Harlem was a "happening place" since after all... Bill (Clinton) moved in. :wink:

My son says the neighborhood he's in now in Washington Heights (he's close to Columbia University) is no worse than where his first apartment in Harlem was. He wanted to know if the ladies were offering to pay his Chelsea / West Village rent! I figure they're just old and over protective.... Or should I have picked up the BB and ordered him out? (Like I could do that anyways!)

Comments

  • christinafrombklyn
    christinafrombklyn
    Don't worry. They are just neurotic, over protective, and probably ignorant.


    I'm sure they haven't even walked through Washington Heights.. lol..
  • bellak
    bellak
    I wouldn't worry about your son.
    People just like to hear themselves talk and usually have little to no merit.
  • paula
    paula
    Thanks! I kinda figured that... but at the time it made for some awkward, uncomfortable dinner conversation. The apartment he's in is beautiful... lucked into it... sharing with friends. I half expected this woman to call social services on me for "allowing" him to live in W.H. My son is 25 and more than capable of taking care of himself... been on his own since 19. Good kid. (Not that I would be biased!) lol! :)
  • cccc
    cccc
    The area near Columbia University, which I consider West Harlem, not Washington Heights, is a diverse and lively area. Washington Heights and Western Harlem have improved an unbelievable amount over the last 15 years and is now reletively safe, especially near Columbia. On the other hand, Eastern-Central Harlem has a lot of blocks, such as Lennox Ave and Adam Clayton Powell in the 130s and 40s, where shootings occur on a weekly basis. These blocks are aways from the university and so I wouldn't worry.
    (FYI this post should probably be placed in The Random Area)
  • raw
    raw
    After reading this, I'm avoiding teppanyaki tables.
  • justplainzach
    justplainzach
    I lived in Washington Heights (180th St.) for a year before moving here to Brooklyn. I liked it just fine. Never felt unsafe. Easy transportation, resources around, and otherwise good. You can get a really nice apartment up that far paying much less than a really crappy one a little further downtown.
  • flux
    flux
    does your son own a semi-automatic?

    just kidding.....there is no reason to fear.
  • bobmarvin
    bobmarvin
    I always thought the azrea near Columbia was called Morningside Heights
  • whatchuwant
    whatchuwant
    BobMarvin wrote: I always thought the azrea near Columbia was called Morningside Heights
    Below Columbia is Morningside Heights.
  • ridonkulous
    ridonkulous
    Morningside Heights is the area west (and up the hill) from Morningside Park. Meaning, it's from 110th to 123rd street.

    North of that you have Manhattanville/W. Harlem, and then further north you get Hamilton Heights. And then above that is Washington Heights.
  • lo kee
    lo kee
    Ridonkulous wrote: Morningside Heights is the area west (and up the hill) from Morningside Park. Meaning, it's from 110th to 123rd street.

    North of that you have Manhattanville/W. Harlem, and then further north you get Hamilton Heights. And then above that is Washington Heights.
    All true!

    As long as he doesn't live between about 130 st and 150th street on the west side, he should be fine.

    I used to live in that area and it is not all good.

    But, typical of New York, different neighbrohoods only several blocks away may as well be different countries. Below 130th and and above 150 is pretty safe.
  • dapearl9
    dapearl9
    I know a lot of people who are scared of Crown Heights too who know little about the neighborhood, for that matter. Granted, one girl claims she once saw a burning car in the street here though I have a dubious suspicion she was closer to Brownsville and eastern Bed-Stuy than Crown Heights when she saw it...
  • ridonkulous
    ridonkulous
    Exactly! I had someone from Park Slope this past weekend tell me she'd never live "over there" even though she didn't even know exactly where Franklin was. She tried to end the conversation with something about how people sometimes move into areas without really being familiar with them. And I was like, actually, no. I really like living on Franklin. After a year here, I'm renewing my lease, no question! It really is block by block. And even building by building.

    Moved here from Morningside Heights, coincidentally. :)
  • wonderroom
    wonderroom
    Lo Kee wrote: [quote=Ridonkulous]Morningside Heights is the area west (and up the hill) from Morningside Park. Meaning, it's from 110th to 123rd street.

    North of that you have Manhattanville/W. Harlem, and then further north you get Hamilton Heights. And then above that is Washington Heights.
    All true!

    As long as he doesn't live between about 130 st and 150th street on the west side, he should be fine.

    I used to live in that area and it is not all good.

    But, typical of New York, different neighbrohoods only several blocks away may as well be different countries. Below 130th and and above 150 is pretty safe.

    I disagree, I lived on 137th and Riverside from 2002-2004 and I felt safe as a single early 20's woman living alone. That said, a couple of weeks ago I went to visit a friend who lives nearby and its AMAZING how much ritzier that stretch from between 125th and 150th has become. To my understanding Columbia now owns most of Hamilton and Washington Heights and is cleaning up!
  • ladypandora
    ladypandora
    I used to live in both West Harlem and Washington Heights. Both nabes were perectly safe for me as a mid 20-someting. This was more years past than I like to think about! Fond memories all around for both areas. I miss WaHi alot.

    You should've told those biddies that Washington Heights is perfectly safe. After all, there's an award winning Broadway show about it! ;)
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