Community Board 12 encompasses the northern tip of Manhattan, from 155th Street to the Harlem River including the neighborhoods of Washington Heights and Inwood. Surrounded on three sides by water — the Hudson and the Harlem Rivers — these neighborhoods enjoy the most varied topography of Manhattan including its highest natural point, 265' above sea level, in Bennett Park at 183rd Street. This is the narrowest part of the island, but access to the waterfront is not always easy. The dramatic range of topographic elevations results in steep cliffs and discrete neighborhood pockets, as the street grid dissolves in the face of the area’s natural features.
Population: 208,414. Land area: 1,886.6 acres (2.9 square miles), including 500 acres of park space.20
Density: 110 people per acre or 71,867 people per square mile (factoring out park acreage, density is 155 people per acre).
Note: Manhattan County’s density is 66,940 people per square mile — the highest in the nation. District 12’s population has grown since 1990 at a rate (5%) nearly double that of Manhattan (3%).21
