Wash Heights, Inwood Barely Added Housing Since 2010: New Study

UPPER MANHATTAN, NY — While it might feel like new developments are continually shooting up in Upper Manhattan, Washington Heights and Inwood actually gained less housing in the past decade than almost every neighborhood in the borough, a new analysis found.

The community district for Washington Heights and Inwood has only gained 644 housing units in the past decade, according to the study by the Department of City Planning.

It is the second least of any neighborhood in Manhattan.

Only the Upper East Side, which has added a measly 278 units since 2010, saw less of an increase in available housing.

On the flip side, Midtown Manhattan, Battery Park/Tribeca, and Chelsea/Hell's Kitchen saw the biggest jumps in housing units in their respective Manhattan community districts.

Specifically, the community district for Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen saw by far the biggest jump since 2010 — adding 14,460 housing units in the last decade.

The lack of housing units gained in Upper Manhattan might seem particularly puzzling given Mayor Bill de Blasio's long-touted Inwood rezoning plan.

The administration has made clear that adding affordable housing in the neighborhood is a central point to the Inwood rezoning project.

However, while the Inwood rezoning plan was first announced in 2015, there hasn't been any actual progress due to various lawsuits from community organizations.

Another reason that housing units aren't getting added in Upper Manhattan is developers knocking down existing apartments to construct new buildings or homeowners combining existing apartments to form bigger units.

Patch reporter Nick Garber contributed to this report.