Washington Heights

Washington Heights is a New York City neighborhood. Located in northern Manhattan, it is named after George Washington, whose army defended the area for a while during the American Revolution. It should not be confused with Washington Heights, New York, a town in Orange County.

Washington Heights is bounded on the south by Harlem and on the north by Inwood. It runs from roughly 155th Street to 200th Street and one of its now-vanished riverfront estates was Minnie's Land, the home of artist John James Audubon, who is buried in the churchyard of the neighborhood's Church of the Intercession, a masterpiece by architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue.

The most important tourist attraction in Washington Heights is The Cloisters in Fort Tyron Park. This branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art is devoted to Medieval art and culture, and is located in medieval buildings that were purchased in Europe, brought to the United States, and reassembled. Another major museum, though little visited, is The Hispanic Society, which reportedly has the largest collection of El Grecos and Goyas outside of the Museo del Prado, including one of Goya's famous paintings of Cayetana, Duchess of Alba.

The neighborhood has a large Dominican population, and Spanish is commonly heard on the streets. There is also a significant Jewish population, descended from a previous wave of immigration, as well as students (and recent graduates) of the neighborhood's Yeshiva University.