UPPER WEST SIDE
Geographic Setting
Bounded by West 72nd Street to the south and West 96th Street to the north, and extending from Central Park West to the Hudson River, the Upper West Side occupies one of New York’s most majestic and livable stretches of urban landscape—a district defined by the interplay of park, river, and city. Flanked by Central Park on one side and Riverside Park on the other, it forms a natural and cultural plateau between two of Manhattan’s great green corridors.
Within these bounds lie iconic avenues—Broadway, Amsterdam, Columbus, and West End—that trace the neighborhood’s social and architectural evolution. Brownstone blocks shaded by elms give way to grand prewar apartment houses, beaux-arts landmarks, and art deco towers. From Lincoln Square north to Bloomingdale, the Upper West Side blends refinement and community, intellect and artistry. Its topography rises gently westward from Central Park’s edge to Riverside Drive’s bluffs, where the river glows gold at dusk behind canopies of London plane trees.
Etymology and Origins
The term “Upper West Side” came into common use in the late 19th century, describing the portion of Manhattan west of Central Park that developed after the Commissioners’ Plan of 1811 extended the city grid northward. Before urbanization, this area was known as Bloomingdale, derived from the Dutch Bloemendaal, meaning “vale of flowers.” The Bloomingdale Road (today’s Broadway) wound through farms, orchards, and country estates owned by early New York families such as the Apthorps, Rhinelanders, and Clendennings.
The opening of Central Park (1859) and the Hudson River Railroad transformed this pastoral district into a magnet for speculative development. By the 1880s, as the Eighth and Ninth Avenue Elevated Railways reached northward, the Upper West Side emerged as a fashionable residential alternative to the older, denser East Side—spacious, breezy, and imbued with a sense of civic optimism.
The Neighborhood
Late 19th Century: The Age of Brownstones and Boulevards
The decades between 1880 and 1900 were the neighborhood’s formative years. Developers, spurred by the extension of Columbus Avenue and the creation of Riverside Park under landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, lined the new streets with rows of brownstone and limestone rowhouses in eclectic styles—Romanesque Revival, Queen Anne, and Neo-Renaissance among them. The grid filled rapidly between 72nd and 86th Streets, creating cohesive blocks of stoops, bay windows, and carved façades that still define the area’s residential charm.
Along Riverside Drive, luxury apartment buildings and freestanding mansions commanded river views. The Ansonia Hotel (1904) at 73rd Street and Broadway epitomized the era’s grandeur: a Beaux-Arts palace with mansard roofs and turrets, home to opera stars, athletes, and socialites. Meanwhile, the Dakota Apartments (1884) at 72nd Street and Central Park West—designed by Henry Hardenbergh—introduced New Yorkers to the notion of apartment living as elite urban luxury.
Public life flourished as well. Churches, schools, and synagogues—among them Congregation Shearith Israel (1897) and West End Collegiate Church (1892)—anchored the growing community. The new Riverside Park and Boat Basin provided open-air recreation, while Broadway’s gentle diagonal energized commerce and movement through the district.
Early–Mid 20th Century: Culture, Community, and Change
By the 1910s–1930s, the Upper West Side had matured into one of the city’s most cultured neighborhoods. The opening of the 1/2/3 subway lines (1904–1908) along Broadway democratized access, bringing middle-class families, artists, and educators to the area. Apartment buildings replaced many original brownstones, but the new structures—by architects such as Emery Roth—retained a human scale and elegance: the San Remo (1930), El Dorado (1931), and Majestic (1931) rose along Central Park West as art deco landmarks that defined the skyline.
Institutions of learning and culture flourished. Columbia University, just beyond 116th Street, influenced the intellectual tone of the neighborhood; within these boundaries, The New-York Historical Society (founded 1804, relocated 1908) and the American Museum of Natural History (opened 1877) made Central Park West a boulevard of enlightenment. Music and performance venues—from the Beacon Theatre (1929) to the informal jazz clubs along Columbus Avenue—added rhythm to residential life.
During the postwar years, demographic shifts and rent control policies diversified the population. Puerto Rican and Dominican families, musicians, and writers brought new vitality amid the city’s economic challenges. Though some blocks declined in maintenance during the 1970s, the neighborhood’s essential character—tree-lined streets, cultural richness, and architectural distinction—remained intact.
Late 20th–21st Century: Preservation, Revival, and Modern Harmony
The Upper West Side’s revival began in the 1980s, propelled by preservation and a renewed appreciation for its prewar architecture. The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Upper West Side–Central Park West Historic District (1990), safeguarding over 2,000 buildings between 62nd and 96th Streets. Restoration projects revived façades, cornices, and stoops long hidden under soot, restoring the neighborhood’s turn-of-the-century splendor.
Simultaneously, new cultural investments transformed the southern edge. The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (completed 1969) anchored the district’s identity as a global arts hub, while the redevelopment of Columbus Avenue into a lively corridor of cafés, bookstores, and boutiques redefined urban livability. The Riverside South project, begun in the 1990s on former rail yards, extended the neighborhood’s reach to the riverfront with modern apartments and parkland, integrating contemporary architecture into the historic fabric.
Today, the Upper West Side remains a bastion of balance—where affluence meets authenticity, and urban energy coexists with residential grace. The mix of families, students, and long-time residents preserves a sense of continuity rarely found elsewhere in Manhattan.
Spirit and Legacy
The Upper West Side is the city’s great synthesis—where New York’s intellectual, artistic, and civic ideals find harmonious form. Its dual embrace of park and river, its architectural richness, and its egalitarian spirit have made it a microcosm of the city’s best self. From the stoops of brownstones to the terraces of art deco towers, generations have found here not just comfort, but community.
New York City
Use this custom Google map to explore where every neighborhood in all five boroughs of New York City is located.
The Five Boroughs
One of New York City’s unique qualities is its organization in to 5 boroughs: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island. These boroughs are part pragmatic administrative districts, and part vestiges of the region’s past. Each borough is an entire county in New York State - in fact, Brooklyn is, officially, Kings County, while Staten Island is, officially Richmond County. But that’s not the whole story …
Initially, New York City was located on the southern tip of Manhattan (now the Financial District) that was once the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam. Across the East River, another city was rising: Brooklyn. In time, the city planners realized that unification between the rapidly rising cities would create commercial and industrial opportunities - through streamlined administration of the region.
So powerful was the pull of unification between New York and Brooklyn that three more counties were pulled into the unification: The Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island. And on January 1, 1898, the City of New York unified two cities and three counties into one Greater City of New York - containing the five boroughs we know today.
But because each borough developed differently and distinctly until unification, their neighborhoods likewise uniquely developed. Today, there are nearly 390 neighborhoods, each with their own histories, cultures, cuisines, and personalities - and each with residents who are fiercely proud of their corner of The Big Apple.
