Chris Fiore

The Upper West Side is located West of Central Park, from 59th street to Cathedral Parkway at 110th street. These are the official boundaries according to the New York Department of City Planing. It is considered to be in Community District 7. Historically, the Upper West Side only extended to 96th street. In 2007 however, the area from 97th street to 110th Cathedral Parkway was reevaluated and added as part of the Upper West Side. The plan to add this portion was talked about for two years before it was finally agreed upon. Up until this change, rezoning had not occurred in the area since 1961. No one really disputes the boundaries of the Upper West Side, and the lower boundary at 59th street has been in place for centuries.

The total population of the Upper West Side in 2010 was 209,084. There has been relatively little population change in terms of the total population. Ethnically the majority of the people living in the Upper West Side are White, in fact the exact number of whites living in the area is 140,850(67.4%). Hispanics make up the next largest ethnic group totaling 31,347(15%). Blacks constitute 7.6% of the population as do Asians. Asians in fact have had an increasing population since 1990, and Blacks have decreased in number. Hispanics have slightly decreased, but the decrease has been relatively less dramatic. Aside from these four ethnicities, the population has little diversity. There are 221 American Indians and Alaska Natives, and 671 people of another race not listed that is Nonhispanic. Nonhispanics that are of two or more races account for 4,221 people. One thing to keep in mind about the population of the Upper West Side is that there is a large population of people in transit just in the area on a daily basis. Because of living expenses most people in the city cannot afford to live on the Upper West Side. It is a prime location because of its close proximity to Times Square, Central Park, and because it is a safe convenient area to live in if you work in Manhattan.

Many celebrities live in the Upper West Side and can be spotted on a regular basis. This is because of the prestige involved with owning a place next to Central Park. The average income of someone living in the Upper West Side is $169,841. The majority of the people living on the Upper West Side are Upper Class Americans. Almost 50% of the people living in the area make over $100,000 and 25% make over $200,000. The unemployment rate is 4.4%, and 66% of the population is employed. This means a good number of the people living in the Upper West Side are either retired or do not need a job. 80.7% of the population work in the private sector. Private sector jobs tend to be higher paying jobs than public sector ones when a certain amount of money is surpassed. It may not be surprising to also find out that 73.1% of the employed work in management, business, science, or an arts occupation.The Upper West Side is doing well in terms of income and unemployment. The unemployment rate is almost half that of New York City as a whole.

There are 115,100 housing units in the Upper West Side. All of the housing is in apartment buildings. On average 2 people live in an apartment regardless of whether or not it is owned or rented. Clearly mainly couples and non families are living in the Upper West Side.  32% of residence own there own place and 68% rent. For people who have mortgages, around 75% are paying over $2000 per month. For people who own homes almost 50% are valued at $1,000,000 or more. Housing on the Upper West Side is some of the most expensive in New York City.

Based on the New York City government statistics the Upper West Side does not have any educational needs issues. They have around 25,000 students currently enrolled and as a result need more school to accommodate for overcrowding.They do have an after school program shortage of funding. As a result of not having enough funding many kids have no where to go after school because their parents are working. There has been a request for more funding issued however. In the district there are 24 public elementary and middle schools and 5 public high schools. On top of that, there are 34 private schools and 4 colleges and post-secondary schools.

Fordham College at the Lincoln Center, is one of the main schools on the Upper West Side. The school is focused on students interested in a Bachelors of Arts or Science. Students at Fordham have a unique experience because New York City is used as a tool to involve students with the arts in the city. This is a similar idea to Macaulay Honors College, which has a headquarter building on the Upper West Side. One of the courses required by the college is in fact called Arts in New York City. Although it is not an actual campus, the Macaulay building acts as a resource and study center for honors students at all of the CUNY campuses.

Arts and cultural institutions in the area are highly prevalent. The Lincoln Center as well at the American Museum of Natural History are both located in the neighborhood. The Lincoln Center houses the Metropolitan Opera which is the largest classical music organization in North America. The opera that takes place at the opera house is now broadcast around the world live. The American Museum of Natural History was founded in 1869 and is one of the largest and most well know museums in the world. The American Museum of Folk Art is also on the Upper West Side right by the Lincoln Center. It houses art from international self taught folk artists.

The Lincoln Square area is a hub for almost anything cultural and religion is no different. Although there are numerous churches on the Upper West Side, there are not nearly as many Synagogues. The Lincoln Center Synagogue was founded in 1964 by a Rabbi in a living room apartment at the Lincoln Towers and has since transformed into a fully functional Synagogue. It is centered around teaching Modern Orthodox Judaism.

 

Works Cited

Rezoning the upper west side. (2007). Retrieved from http://www.nyc.gov

Data resources. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nyc.gov

General information. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.fordham.edu

Lincoln square synagogue information. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.lss.org/content.php?pg=Mission&ID=58

Seminar curriculum . (2013). Retrieved from http://macaulay.cuny.edu

Upper west side. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://nymag.com/realestate/articles/neighborhoods/upperwest.htm

General website information. (2013). Retrieved from http://lc.lincolncenter.org