What parts of Hamilton Heights and Washington Heights are particularly good or bad?

[bailey123]

-Hamilton Heights, well first between Bway and Riverside is always best, Riverside if you can afford it/get in one of the Co-ops but that's a long shot. Amsterdam there's more hicks and it gets nastier as you travel East. Hamilton Heights is not safe and you're complacent if you think it is. I don't believe you're likely to be a victim of street crime there such as mugging but in NY you should be careful about that anywhere after dark. The problem in Hamilton Heights is the risk of being caught in cross fire, gun shots ...it's kids fighting other kids selling drugs generally, or robbing each other, but the problem is if you're in a ground floor apartment or likely to be walking around with your kids, it's not worth the risk. I'm white and have lived here since 2008, I felt fine for years until something happened that really unnerved me recently. My husband is Dominican and was born in Hamilton Heights in the sixties, he's in his forties, and lived through the high crime era here, many of his friends did time with the Rockefeller law and others are have life long injuries from being shot years ago. He has always warned me not to be complacent and he was right. The drug/weed culture is strong here and I don't want my kids growing up on this block, I've seen too many nice kids start hanging on the block after midnight and it's downhill from there. The only way to protect them from that is keep them locked in a tiny over crowded apartment....well that's not right either. There are bad cultures here that are engrained, rent stabilized residents who are here to stay...I see more new people, especially Caucasians moving in but they really don't know where there at. There's a presence of cops here at times, but that results in harassment, unnecessary use of stop and frisk and bad feeling in the community.... they give out tickets to people drinking a beer on their own stoop on holidays, but shootings still happen, the area goes through periods of curfews with cop cars on the block day and night for a month or so after an incident then slowly things start up again. I'm trying to get out and so is my husband. I don't want to live here anymore, it's pretty, conveniently located and I like the Fairway and I love the Spanish coffee at the Dominican bakery in Hamilton Heights...also close to good schools in Morningside but the other **** cancels any of the good out, bottom line is you need to be confident about your safety. Washington Heights is not same as Hamilton Heights, longer standing Dominicans are in Hamilton Heights, the further uptown you go the more hicks there are, and the more Dominicans fresh from the DR. Columbia Presbyterian is a great hospital and buzzing with actvity by day, all kinds of people around 168 and Broadway, but although very beautiful in parts Washington Heights is still a rough area, rougher than Hamilton Heights, more hicks, more crackheads, more residents with low standards..I worked with some Caucasians that moved up there in the last 2 years but they use it as a place to sleep and work/play downtown, it's not like Brooklyn where there are bars where ethnic groups mix it's pretty segregated and that sucks, I'd like to see that change.

[DAS]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

That became less and less true starting about a decade ago, and it's completely untrue once you go west of Fort Washington Avenue. Generally idea is that it's pretty good west of Broadway, but given the pace of gentrification there, even slightly east of Broadway is alright in parts.

The one thing that's weird is how little Yeshiva University being there does in bringing amenities into the neighborhood.

Yeshiva University did bring amenities into the neighborhood about 50 years ago when the residents of the area were primarily German Jews. However the area residents have changed to other groups and Yeshiva University has less influence in regards to the current residents.

[DAS]

Originally Posted by bailey123

-Hamilton Heights, well first between Bway and Riverside is always best, Riverside if you can afford it/get in one of the Co-ops but that's a long shot. Amsterdam there's more hicks and it gets nastier as you travel East. Hamilton Heights is not safe and you're complacent if you think it is. I don't believe you're likely to be a victim of street crime there such as mugging but in NY you should be careful about that anywhere after dark. The problem in Hamilton Heights is the risk of being caught in cross fire, gun shots ...it's kids fighting other kids selling drugs generally, or robbing each other, but the problem is if you're in a ground floor apartment or likely to be walking around with your kids, it's not worth the risk. I'm white and have lived here since 2008, I felt fine for years until something happened that really unnerved me recently. My husband is Dominican and was born in Hamilton Heights in the sixties, he's in his forties, and lived through the high crime era here, many of his friends did time with the Rockefeller law and others are have life long injuries from being shot years ago. He has always warned me not to be complacent and he was right. The drug/weed culture is strong here and I don't want my kids growing up on this block, I've seen too many nice kids start hanging on the block after midnight and it's downhill from there. The only way to protect them from that is keep them locked in a tiny over crowded apartment....well that's not right either. There are bad cultures here that are engrained, rent stabilized residents who are here to stay...I see more new people, especially Caucasians moving in but they really don't know where there at. There's a presence of cops here at times, but that results in harassment, unnecessary use of stop and frisk and bad feeling in the community.... they give out tickets to people drinking a beer on their own stoop on holidays, but shootings still happen, the area goes through periods of curfews with cop cars on the block day and night for a month or so after an incident then slowly things start up again. I'm trying to get out and so is my husband. I don't want to live here anymore, it's pretty, conveniently located and I like the Fairway and I love the Spanish coffee at the Dominican bakery in Hamilton Heights...also close to good schools in Morningside but the other **** cancels any of the good out, bottom line is you need to be confident about your safety. Washington Heights is not same as Hamilton Heights, longer standing Dominicans are in Hamilton Heights, the further uptown you go the more hicks there are, and the more Dominicans fresh from the DR. Columbia Presbyterian is a great hospital and buzzing with actvity by day, all kinds of people around 168 and Broadway, but although very beautiful in parts Washington Heights is still a rough area, rougher than Hamilton Heights, more hicks, more crackheads, more residents with low standards..I worked with some Caucasians that moved up there in the last 2 years but they use it as a place to sleep and work/play downtown, it's not like Brooklyn where there are bars where ethnic groups mix it's pretty segregated and that sucks, I'd like to see that change.

Excellent post. These are good points to make from a parental point of view. Ideally to raise your child in these neighborhoods you would need to live in a family friendly building or brownstone. In Hamilton Heights Riverside Park has many activities for children. There is also the Children's Art Carnival, Harlem School of the Arts, and Dance theater of Harlem. All of these are in Hamilton Heights. It is not wise to let your child play out on the sidewalk unsupervised.

Parents that can afford to keep their children involved in the available activities usually have better results in their child rearing. The activities I mention are not free, nor are they cheap. There are probably areas of the city that are better for activities for children with less cost.

[upthere22]

This post is old but even for 2013 it was a bit fatalistic and exaggerated.