Marble Hill

BY JONATHAN SCHEFF | Special to amNewYork

March 30, 2006

Marble Hill suffers from Borough Identity Disorder. The community's residents belong to Manhattan politically -- they vote and serve jury duty there -- but they receive municipal services from the Bronx.

It was once the northernmost neighborhood on the island of Manhattan, separated from the Bronx by the Spuyten Duyvil Creek. In 1895, a new ship canal detached Marble Hill from Manhattan, making an island out of the small hill. Nineteen years later, the earth removed for the ship canal was used to fill Spuyten Duyvil Creek, adhering the hill to the Bronx. The neighborhood had a 212 area code, however, until the 1990s, when it changed to the Bronx's 718.

As the name suggests, the area was once a marble quarry. What was known as the Inwood marble deposit was quarried for federal buildings in lower Manhattan.

The area is primarily residential, save for the strip mall on 225th between Broadway and Exterior avenues. Dining options include chain restaurants, a pizza restaurant, several Chinese restaurants and fast food joints. For entertainment, many younger residents take the train into other parts of Manhattan. A local alternative is Kingsbridge or Riverdale, a short walk or one train stop away, which has several restaurants and bars.

The Buzz

Retail development is forcing out older businesses. Stores have been clearing out along Broadway between Carolina Baptist Church and C-Town on the corner of 228th Street. The last store in the strip, Uneeda Check Cashing, is expected to leave as well. Workers have been removing the dividing walls between stores, but they don't know what will move in. Another retail development is expected near Broadway and 230th Street. Does this suggest creeping gentrification? "It's an area that can still go either way," said Dawn Sparks, who lives in The Promenade, a government-subsidized rental high-rise "The influx of Target and the proposed development on 230th, which might have a Whole Foods -- that's going to change the neighborhood."

Find It

Marble Hill is bounded by the Harlem River on the south, West 230th Street on the north, Johnson and Irwin Avenues on the west, and Exterior Street on the east. It is bordered by Riverdale, Kingsbridge and Kingsbridge Heights in the Bronx, and Inwood in Manhattan.

Real Estate

"Things don't come up on the market often," said Lisa Castro, a resident of Marble Hill and a real-estate agent at New Heights Realty. "Properties are often sold neighbor to neighbor or home-owner to tenant. A lot of times things sell and they don't even hit the open market. That's one of the things about Marble Hill: it drives the appraisers crazy. [Properties are] all different: different in size, style, footage, updates, renovations ... the range in prices is just enormous. It's difficult to say since it's such a unique area."

Castro is selling a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom, fully renovated home with a front and back yard for $519,000.

Recent sales

Two-family homes:
3 Terrace View Ave., $583,000
52 Marble Hill Ave., $665,000

Source: Century 21 Sheik's Realty.

To rent

Three apartments at 119-121 W. 227th St.:
-Studio for $995
-One-bedroom apartment for $1,195