The Manhattanville Valley lies on the west bank of upper Manhattan, sandwiched between Morningside Heights to the south and Hamilton Heights to the north. From the start of its industrialization in the mid-19th century, the area was converted from wooded forest and farmland to a major transit hub for New York City -- containing the West Harlem Piers on the Hudson, the landmark Riverside Drive viaduct, and the city's first above-ground platform for the first New York City subway line at 125th Street and Broadway.

By the 1950s, however, rapid urbanization overtook the rest of the city and left Manhattanville on the outskirts of New York. Many of the existing structures were relegated to storage facilities and autobody shops, and the area began to stagnate without any significant subculture. Today, Columbia University -- whose main campus is located blocks away in Morningside Heights -- owns most of Manhattanville, and has plans to build another campus in the 17-acre tract from 125th and 133rd Streets between Broadway and Amsterdam. This website is a culmination of a semester's worth of research and nearly three years of photographs in an attempt to capture Manhattanville as it exists now -- on the cusp of its next major reincarnation.