Lincoln Square, Manhattan

Lincoln Square is located on the site of San Juan Hill, a historical community once comprising a predominantly African American neighborhood of tenements.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/21/nyregion/how-lincoln-center-was-built-it-wasnt-pretty.html|title=How Lincoln Center Was Built (It Wasn't Pretty)|date=December 21, 2017|work=The New York Times|access-date=May 31, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} San Juan Hill was generally bordered by Amsterdam Avenue to the east, West End Avenue to the west, 59th Street to the south, and 65th Street to the north. It has been suggested that the area was named after the 10th Cavalry that fought with Theodore Roosevelt at the Battle of San Juan Hill during the Spanish–American War, but this is not certain. It was possibly the most heavily populated African-American neighborhood in Manhattan in the early 20th century.{{cite web|url=http://web.jjay.cuny.edu/~history/amsterdamwebexhibit/buildingamsterdamhouses/building2.html|title=NYCHA Collection, LaGuardia and Wagner Archives|access-date=June 19, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100309114231/http://web.jjay.cuny.edu/~history/amsterdamwebexhibit/buildingamsterdamhouses/building2.html|archive-date=March 9, 2010}} One of the blocks within the neighborhood contained almost 5,000 residents.

Notable residents had included Thelonious Monk, who came to live there in 1922. In addition to the significant African American community, there was also an Afro-Caribbean community there, which has left its traces in the Bye-ya and Bemsha Swing compositions of Thelonious Monk, co-written much later with Denzil Best, who also grew up in this neighborhood.{{cite book|last=Kelley|first=Robin D.G.|title=Thelonious Monk : the life and times of an American original|year=2010|publisher=Free Press|location=New York|isbn=978-1-4391-9046-3|edition=1st Free Press trade pbk.}} James P. Johnson also lived in the neighborhood in the 1910s and 1920s, during which time he composed the music for the "Charleston" dance.{{cite web|url=http://riverwalkjazz.stanford.edu/program/runnin-wild-biography-james-p-johnson|title=Runnin' Wild: A Biography of James P. Johnson|website=Riverwalk Jazz|publisher=Stanford University Libraries|language=en|access-date=May 31, 2018}}

In 1940, the New York City Housing Authority characterized the area as "the worst slum section in the City of New York" and made plans to renew the area by demolishing the old tenements. The Amsterdam Housing Projects were built on the cleared land in 1948, replacing three blocks that had collectively housed 1,100 residents.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9mpsCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA104|title=Affordable Housing in New York: The People, Places, and Policies That Transformed a City|last1=Bloom|first1=N.D.|last2=Lasner|first2=M.G.|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2015|isbn=978-0-691-16781-7|page=104|access-date=May 31, 2018}}

During the 1950s and 1960s, a consortium of civic leaders and others led by John D. Rockefeller III built the Lincoln Center as part of the "Lincoln Square Renewal Project" during urban planner Robert Moses's program of urban renewals.[http://www.rockarch.org/philanthropy/pdf/RockefellerPhilanthropy.pdf "Rockefeller Philanthropy: Lincoln Center"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304064520/http://www.rockarch.org/philanthropy/pdf/RockefellerPhilanthropy.pdf |date=March 4, 2016 }} (PDF format). Respected architects were contracted to design the major buildings on the site, and construction started in 1959.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/05/15/archives/president-turns-earth-to-start-lincoln-center-he-describes-75000000.html|title=PRESIDENT TURNS EARTH TO START LINCOLN CENTER; He Describes $75,000,000 Arts Project as 'Mighty' Influence for Peace IN CITY FOR 13 HOURS Visits World Trade Fair and Receives Souvenirs on Behalf of 21 Nations Eisenhower Breaks Ground to Start the Construction of the Lincoln Arts Center HE CALLS PROJECT POWER FOR PEACE Sees Aid to Understanding in 75 Million Development -- Visits Trade Fair|last=Kihss|first=Peter|date=May 15, 1959|work=The New York Times|access-date=May 31, 2018|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} Over the next thirty years the previously blighted area around Lincoln Center became a new cultural hub.Roth, Leland M. (2001). American Architecture: A History. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press. {{ISBN|9780813336619}}, {{ISBN|9780813336626}}. {{oclc|47867623}}. Over 7,700 residents were displaced during the redevelopment project.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gIYlkHjZXYgC&pg=PA42|title=Fodor's 25 Best New York [With Laminated Pullout Map]|last=Sekules|first=K.|publisher=Fodor's Travel Publications|year=2012|isbn=978-0-307-92811-5|page=42|access-date=May 31, 2018}} The new developments contained 4,400 housing units, of which only a few were allocated to San Juan Hill's former residents.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=38qP65UY5Q0C&pg=PA123|title=The Exploding Metropolis|last1=Whyte|first1=W.H.|last2=Warner|first2=S.B.|publisher=University of California Press|year=1993|isbn=978-0-520-08090-4|series=Classics in Urban History|page=123|access-date=May 31, 2018}} Most of the area's former residents instead moved to Harlem, another predominantly African American neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, as well as the Bronx.{{cite web|url=https://www.6sqft.com/lincoln-center-from-dutch-enclave-and-notorious-san-juan-hill-to-thriving-cultural-center/|title=Lincoln Center: From Dutch enclave and notorious San Juan Hill to a thriving cultural center|last=Young|first=Michelle|date=July 21, 2014|website=6sqft|access-date=May 31, 2018}}

Lincoln Center was named after Lincoln Square. The reason for naming the area "Lincoln Square" is unknown, however. The name was bestowed on the area in 1906 by the New York City Board of Aldermen, but records give no reason for choosing that name.{{cite web |url=http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/50-years-in-lincoln-centers-name-is-still-a-mystery/ |last=Collins |first=Glenn |title=50 Years In, Lincoln Center's Name Is Still a Mystery |work=The New York Times |location=City Room Blog |date=May 11, 2009 |quote=Records conclusively show that the New York City Board of Aldermen formally named the area Lincoln Square in May 1906. The minutes of their meetings are devoid of discussion, however, about the reason for the name.}}

There has long been speculation that the name came from a local landowner, because the square was previously named Lincoln Square. City records from the time show only the names Johannes van Bruch, Thomas Hall, Stephen De Lancey, Jamesa De Lancey, James De Lancey Jr. and John Somerindyck as area property owners.

The area may also have been named as a tribute to U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. One speculation is that references to President Lincoln were omitted from the records because the mayor in 1906 was George B. McClellan Jr., son of General George B. McClellan who was general-in-chief of the Union Army during the American Civil War and a bitter rival of Lincoln.{{cite news|title=50 Years In, Center's Name Is Still a Mystery|author=Collins, Glenn|date=May 11, 2009|work=The New York Times|url=http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/50-years-in-lincoln-centers-name-is-still-a-mystery/|access-date=November 15, 2010}}

Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of Lincoln Square was 61,489, an increase of 6,250 (11.3%) from the 55,239 counted in 2000. Covering an area of {{convert|371.00|acres}}, the neighborhood had a population density of {{convert|165.7|PD/acre|PD/sqmi PD/sqkm}}.[http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/data-maps/nyc-population/census2010/t_pl_p5_nta.pdf Table PL-P5 NTA: Total Population and Persons Per Acre – New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010], Population Division – New York City Department of City Planning, February 2012. Accessed June 16, 2016.

As of the 2010 Census, the racial makeup of the neighborhood was 73.4% (45,103) White, 4.4% (2,710) African American, 0.1% (58) Native American, 11.2% (6,916) Asian, 0.0% (14) Pacific Islander, 0.3% (175) from other races, and 1.9% (1,196) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.6% (5,317) of the population.[http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/data-maps/nyc-population/census2010/t_pl_p3a_nta.pdf Table PL-P3A NTA: Total Population by Mutually Exclusive Race and Hispanic Origin – New York City Neighborhood Tabulation Areas*, 2010], Population Division – New York City Department of City Planning, March 29, 2011. Accessed June 14, 2016.

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• 27 West 67th Street Artists' studio cooperative built in 1901, anchor of the West 67th Street Artists' Colony Historic District
• ABC Television Center East studios, and its flagship station WABC-TV
• AMC Lincoln Square 13
• American Folk Art Museum
• Amsterdam Houses, New York City Housing Authority
• Leonard Bernstein Way (West 65th Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway)
• Central Park
• Church of St. Paul the Apostle
• Church of the Good Shepherd (152 West 66th Street)
• Columbus Circle
• Dante Park
• Ethical Culture Fieldston School, Lower School
• Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts
• Fordham University Lincoln Center campus
• Holy Trinity Church
• Peter Jennings Way (W. 66th Street between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West)

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• Juilliard School
• Martin Luther King Jr. Educational Campus
• Lincoln Center
• Lincoln Square farmers market (at Richard Tucker Square)
• Lincoln Square Synagogue
• Manhattan New York Temple (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
• Merkin Concert Hall
• Museum of Biblical Art (American Bible Society)
• New York Institute of Technology
• New York Society for Ethical Culture
• [[Powell Memorial Academy] (site of)
• Professional Children's School
• Richard Tucker Square
• Sesame Workshop
• West Side YMCA

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• Robert Altman (1925-2006), Ametican film director, lived in the Pythian condominiums in Lincoln Square at the time of his death in 2006.Designing Hollywood homes : movie houses / https://share.google/Wbw2osA1wWbKX0k8Q
• Lady Gaga (born 1986), Ametican singer and actress, grew up in the Pythian condominiums.{{cite web | url=https://nypost.com/2021/08/16/lady-gaga-fave-desmonds-tavern-has-a-new-owner/ | title=Lady Gaga fave Desmond's Tavern has a new owner | date=August 16, 2021 }}
• Lionel Hampton 1908-2002), Jazz vibraphonist and bandleader.{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/08/nyregion/fire-in-43-story-tower-near-lincoln-center-injures-11-and-forces-an-evacuation.html | title=Fire in 43-Story Tower Near Lincoln Center Injures 11 and Forces an Evacuation | work=The New York Times | date=January 8, 1997 | last1=Gelder | first1=Lawrence Van }}
• Barbara Hillary (1931–2019), the first African-American woman to reach both the North Pole and South Pole, was born in San Juan Hill.Collins, Lauren. [https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/03/26/true-north-4 "True North"], The New Yorker, March 26, 2007. Accessed September 25, 2017. "Hillary—who has a squat build and a powerhouse smile—was born in the San Juan Hill neighborhood of Manhattan (now near the site of Lincoln Center) and brought up in Harlem."{{Cite web|url=https://1010wins.radio.com/articles/trailblazing-african-american-explorer-barbara-hillary-dies|title=Barbara Hillary, 1st African-American woman to reach North and South poles, dies in NYC at 88|date=2019-11-23|website=1010 WINS|language=en|access-date=2019-11-24}}

• Lincoln Square Productions

Notes

{{Reflist|30em}}

Further reading

• [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/30/realestate/30livi.html Grand Buildings, but Also a Sense of Community], The New York Times, April 30, 2006

{{Commons category|Lincoln Square, Manhattan}}

• [http://www.lincolnbid.org/ Lincoln Square BID]
• [https://clio.columbia.edu/catalog/6663324/ Lincoln Square Community Council records, circa 1953–1981]. [http://library.columbia.edu/locations/avery/da.html/ Held by the Department of Drawings & Archives], [http://library.columbia.edu/locations/avery.html/ Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University].
• [https://clio.columbia.edu/catalog/6324981/ Lincoln Square Urban Renewal Project photographs, circa 1957–1958]. [http://library.columbia.edu/locations/avery/da.html/ Held by the Department of Drawings & Archives], [http://library.columbia.edu/locations/avery.html/ Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University].

{{Upper West Side}}

{{Streets of Manhattan}}

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Category:Squares in Manhattan