150th Street between Amsterdam and Convent

Scarednycgal, no reason to be scared. Not sure where you heard that above 145th street is not safe- but it isn't true (though it was a different story when I moved here 7 years ago). There are many threads on this board on the neighborhood (Hamilton Heights) and you can do a search of the talk board for the neighborhood. FYI- there is a church on many blocks in the neighborhood, perhaps even a majority of blocks. Next time you are checking out the neighborhood- you should stop by The Chipped Cup coffehouse or Harlem Public (gastropub)- just a couple blocks from where you are looking, Broadway btwn 148th and 149th st. As to the 2 new condo buildings- they were priced a bit high for awhile. I haven't looked at pricing in awhile, but I think they made some concessions and got some units into contract. I heard the other one had a lot of problems and just decided to rent out the units. The neighborhood has a rapidly changing demographic.

Thanks Semerun! It really looks like such a beautiful area, and the 125th street area is already so built up, I would think the 145th street area should be the next area to be developed. THe transportation is so good up there I would have thought it would have happened by now. Maybe it's because there are too many section 8/free housing/welfare type people that live up there and NYC is too liberal about supporting people like that or can't kick them out because laws are in their favor. I hope the next mayor is able to change that.

Do you know if you can get kosher or halal meat anywhere in the area?

Also, I hate to bring this up, but I saw a house on 152nd street with a big rat problem....(rat droppings in front of house and in basement). IS this a widespread problem over there, or just specific to certain houses and buildings?

Don't be scared!

You are talking about my block (though my building is on Convent), and I promise you it's not only totally safe, it's very nice. My building has young single gals, families with small kids, older people who are a bit fragile in physical health--all sorts of residents who might feel vulnerable living in an un-safe place--and all are well and happy here.

But I have to say, asking strangers what they think is safe is kind of meaningless.. Come on over and take a walk. Do it in the daytime if you're scared. Then come back at 9PM on a weeknight, and if you are still at all unsure, come (with whomever you need to bring along to feel OK) at 2 AM on a Saturday night/Sunday morning. That'll tell you whatever you need to know.

I'm not sure what bearing that church has on safety, by the way. Neighborhoods are safe because people live and work in them, and come and go bringing their safe presence to the streets all day and night. And this neighborhood is exactly like that. North of 145th has no real bearing on danger. St Nicholas in the block below 145th probably has more crime incidents than the block above, for instance--though both are perfectly secure and viable. My point is, you can't sit at a computer or look at a map and say 'this would be better than that location'--go and see for yourself. The precinct on 150th has exactly the effect you would expect--if the cops are your neighbors, you get to expect no crime on the block, but it's not as if a few blocks away suddenly get tough or scary. Our whole zip code is a totally viable place to live as far as safety is concerned. Whether the amenities of the neighborhood are what you want or not is a different, more subjective matter.

New condos, HDFC buildings (like mine), gorgeous townhouses, gorgeous townhouses divided into apartments, stately older apartment buildings--we have them all, and all are good of their kind. Come check them out!

I love my neighborhood and want everyone else to, too--but only you can decide what you like and where feels like home to you. Good luck!

Small female here, 3 small children...live on 157th/Broadway. Never have felt unsafe and we moved here 7 years ago.

>Small female here, 3 small children...live on 157th/Broadway. Never have felt unsafe and we moved here 7 years ago.

In fairness, 157 and Bwy is a busy intersection. Not saying 150 and Convent is bad at all, but seems like a very different feel.

Thanks eliz18114! Where do your kids go to school?

True--there is a safeness that comes from the bustle of lots of people, lots of eyes, the availability lots of potential help if a bad situation ever developed. But there's also the peaceful safeness that we associate with prime blocks in Carnegie Hill or the West Village--leafy streets, residential neighborhoods, familiar people. Hamilton Heights, especially near Convent Ave, is a quiet residential neighborhood with mostly smallish buildings.

Over by eliz181144, which is Wash Hts, it's also very nice, though in a different way. They have lots of gorgeous big grand buildings (more like RSD in the 80s) just adjacent to a busy and less fancy little shopping district by the subway stop. I would feel exactly as safe in both places, I like both places, and I think both places are gentrifying on a steady basis. Some of the apts in the superb big buildings near 157th are as imposing as anything anywhere on the west side, and some of the townhouses over here can rival anything on this island. And both areas have a nice mix of more modest buildings as well

I hope scarednyc is getting less so!