The Upper West Side in Manhattan is a very lively neighborhood. It is very well situated. It is along Central Park and next to numerous historical monuments of Manhattan. Upper West Side is a rich neighborhood also known for its stores and restaurants. Upper West side is situated in the North-West part of Manhattan. It is surrounded by Morningside sites in its north part,Central Park in its East part, Hell’s Kitchen in its South part, and the Hudson River in its West part.Thus, it is between east 59th street and West 110th street, the river and the park which makes it a very green
neighborhood. You won’t miss its beautiful parks and its streets planted with trees. The architecture is gorgeous, with those wonderful old buildings and brownstones.
Interview with Desmond Shaw, resident of the upper west side.
In which part of the Upper West Side do you live?
I live on 57th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues.
How would you describe your neighborhood?
The Columbus Circle area and Hell’s Kitchen area are my stomping grounds, and I enjoy a great variety of shopping, entertainment, cultural, educational and recreational opportunity and abundance.
Do you know if your neighborhood is more family oriented or business oriented?
It is a strong balance of both, actually, with a great deal of businesses of the Mom and Pop variety still existing among chain and franchise editions. Bicycle stores, Pizza places, Chinese, Mexican and Indian food eat in/take outs, coin operated laundries, cafés and hardware stores exist shoulder to shoulder with fast food places like Subway, Starbucks, and McDonalds, supply stores like Staples, big drug stores like CVS, Duane Reade, supermarkets like Morton Williams, Whole Foods, D’Agostinos
and the usual neighborhood fixtures of Hospitals, Urgent Care Centers, Veterinarians, US Postal Services, UPS, Banks galore, and just west and south of me are real neighborhoods long established, with block after block of apartment buildings, mostly three to five story walk ups and then to the immediate north begin the fifteen to fifty story high rises, hotels and famous landmarks like the Dakota, where John Lennon lived, and Yoko still does. I was actually in their place once, visiting a girlfriends’ Mom who worked for Yoko Ono. That was a while ago….
Do you think that Art is thriving there?
Art is everywhere, though Galleries are mostly downtown and Museums mostly on the East side. We do have the Art Students’ League on 57th St between Broadway and 7th Avenue, and there are some Theaters here north of the main areas West of Broadway. Movie theaters are aplenty, and we have the Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center, very close as well. Dance thrives with Lincoln Center the undisputed Hub, home of the New York Ballet and the School of American Ballet established by Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine, the foremost modern Ballet Choreographer. Down Ninth Avenue, a mere 12 years old, is the newest home of Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, which began in 1968 in Brooklyn. The American Museum of Natural History, not least on this list, is home to the Hayden Planetarium and incredible lectures by real Astrophysicists who can explain you the difference between Einstein’s Theory of Relativity
and String Theory. Art in the form of Architecture is displayed along the Upper West side streets filled with brownstones and delightful façades of magnificent residential buildings on Broadway in the Seventies and Eighties, even some as far up as 110th Street.
How about Music?
Most Definitely ! We have Jazz at Lincoln Center only three blocks away, on 60th Street and Broadway, Carnegie Hall on 57th St at 7th Avenue, and all of Lincoln Center’s vast repertoire, including the Juilliard School of Music, New York City Opera and Avery Fisher Hall.
Is there any cultural structure for young people?
This is question is hardest to answer, as I am not much in touch with youngsters, though obviously schools have sports programs, and
kids everywhere cannot resist dancing and creating on all levels, from art to film to doing tricks on wheeled devices of every kind. There could be a stronger attack on the political level to halt and reverse the trend towards eliminating after school activities , which likely has to do with costs thereof, but may have political motivations.
Do you think that the Upper West Side population is diverse?
Less so than “ cool “ places like SOHO, Tribeca, the East Village, where international visitors and residents alike descend upon the offerings of galleries, restaurants, poetry readings, shopping and sheer hanging out. But – there are strong Jewish communities, large diverse student communities such as at Fordham and Columbia Universities where students come from the whole world to attend. also,as more and more folks move out of Manhattan, including the Upper West Side, the remaining folks who can afford to stay or have just arrived become a more homogenous group, centered around their affluence.
Do you find your neighborhood expensive?
Yes, actually, as more small businesses get squeezed out because of ever higher rents, the price of everything goes up. Inflation does not help either, of course.
Do you find it secure?
Pretty much so, though there are always stories in the paper, and you hear things. As in any large metropolis, you must keep awareness of your surroundings up front on your attention priority list.
What in your opinion should be done to make the Upper West Side a better place to live?
The first thing, in my opinion, is always the same : Give a Damn. Follow that by denouncing Political Correctness, as that simply forces certain factions opinions down everyone’s throats, but allows SO much nonsense and bad behavior to fester and be gotten away with. Follow those two by getting out and doing stuff. Walk. Bike ride. Run. Skate. Take photos of things that are not you. Smile, help others. Perform random acts of kindness and senseless beauty. Give where you can, of time, of effort, of your knowledge and talent. It will pay you back many times over, and even such a little thing as a Smile can alter a persons’ whole outlook, while a compliment can take the cloud away from over some expectant persons’ outlook.
