On a beautiful sunny day in Washington Heights, I finally finished my travels up Amsterdam Avenue from 181st Street to the corner of Fort George Avenue. My first stop was McNally Plaza as I crossed the street to start the walk-up Amsterdam Avenue. The park and its fall foliage were beckoning. McNally is a small park right by the Washington Bridge leading to the Bronx.
McNally Plaza Park is named after World War I Corporal Richard J. McNally, who lived in the neighborhood and was killed at the end of the war in September of 1918 (NYCParks.com).
I don’t recommend taking a walk on this busy bridge but for a short distance it offers the most amazing views of the East River and of the foliage in High Bridge Park below. You can see the few joggers and bicyclists below that had finished their day at work. The rolling hills remind me of my travels in Inwood.
As I walked up Amsterdam Avenue, I passed by the Washington Heights Expeditionary Learning School (Wheels), that was letting out for the day. There is the most amazing street vendor just outside the school who makes freshly fried pastilitos and croquets filled with beef, cheese or chicken. She is located just outside the door to the school at 182nd Street and try to catch her before she leaves the school area. You can pick up a nice lunch for about $3.00 and her beef pastilitos are the best.
As the kids were leaving for the day, there was a superhero performance that some outside vendor was putting on for the kids and they were truly engaged by the performance. They had the kids singing and dancing right on the street to the amusement of all the parents who looked happy for the distraction. I forgot what it was like to be in elementary school and have time to just relax and have fun. It may not have been the best performance, but the actors knew how to relate to the kids, and it was fun to watch.
The George Washington School at the tip of Amsterdam Avenue was letting out for the day, so when I reached the top of the avenue there was a swirl of activity. The students swarmed all the local businesses to socialize with their friends and have snacks. When school let out for the day, this is a very busy area. There are about five public and three private schools in the area and after school the kids keep themselves occupied with hanging out at the local parks or outside popular businesses in the neighborhood.
The tip of the Washington Heights neighborhood at the intersection of Amsterdam and Audubon Avenues in the Spring of 2026
My first stop in the neighborhood was an ice cream parlor that is a popular hangout, Rincocito Ice Cream at 1650 St. Nicolas Avenue (Closed in 2019), that I had passed many times in this part of the neighborhood. It is located by the convergence of all the avenues starting points to the north. I had a delicious ice cream named ‘Perry’s Birthday’ which you have to try when you visit this neat little shop. I had it in a fresh waffle cone, and it is a combination of birthday cake and cotton candy ice creams. For $2.50 for two large scoops, it was quite the deal and hit the spot on this unusually hot day.
After my snack started my long day of walking down the streets, starting at 193rd Street, one of the shortest streets in the walk to all the way down to 181st Street. The Avenues in the neighborhood are far longer.
It was walking on both sides of the streets crisscrossing the avenues. There was quite a view of High Bridge Park from Laurel Hill Terrance that abuts Yeshiva University. The fall foliage is in full glory in the park at this time and try to get into the park before the array colors is gone. Many of the students from Yeshiva and the local schools were using the park and the playgrounds in droves, enjoying the last warm days of the summer that crept into fall. Lauren Hill Terrace gives you such a nice view of the park.
In the Summer of 2026, the park was lush and in full bloom after a series of much needed rainstorms. It was nice to see the flowers in full bloom.
Walking through the park
The garden in bloom in Highbridge Park
Walking through Highbridge Park at 190th Street and Amsterdam Avenue
As I crisscrossed most of the streets, they are lined with beautiful pre-war buildings with less activity then in the past. As the weather has cooled, I don’t see as many people on the street either playing dominoes or conversing in fold-up chairs. Still there were lots of kids milling around talking to their friends.
On 182nd Street, there was a small grouping of brownstones that were out of place with the rest of the block. The residents had them beautifully decorated for Halloween with all sorts of spider webs, skeletons and hay/corn stalk displays. They did a good job putting me into the Halloween spirit. They were entertaining a group of people who were dressed like they were getting ready for a party.
Brownstones at Halloween in Manhattan
By the time I reached my goal of 181st Street in 2015, it was just about twilight with the bustle of a street teaming with activity. When I returned in the Spring of 2026, the Solstice was just about to happen and it bright, sunny and blue outside.
Since this is a major shopping block, the stores were bustling with activity. There are loads of interesting street vendors to choose from selling all sorts of hot snacks, from roasted pork, hot soup, pastilitos, croquettes, ices and soft tacos there is a never-ending choice of freshly cooked food that is made right in front of you. These vendors line 181st Street between Amsterdam and Broadway.
181st Street in Washington Heights is the shopping street of the neighborhood closer to Riverside Drive
West 181 Street shopping district closer to Amsterdam Avenue on the other side of Broadway
The West 181st Street shopping district
I liked the logos on Engine 93/ Ladder 45/Battalion 4
I thought the logos on the firehouse were pretty unique. The company always seems to be busy or out on a call. This is a very active firehouse.
This truck was traveling down the street and I thought the street art on it was very unique
Walking up and down Fort George Avenue can be exhausting
I finishing walking this section of Washington Heights again in 2026. Just to let everyone know, ‘the Heights’ really is up on a hill and be prepared to do some walking up and down small hills in this neighborhood.
My day ended at the Morgan Library at 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street for a screening of ‘Nosferatu’, the silent German version of ‘Dracula’ made back in 1922. The screening was packed on this pre-Halloween night with patrons who enjoyed the musical performance during the film. Between the foliage in the park, the decorations around the city and the movie, it put me into the spirit of Halloween.
Don’t miss ‘Nosferatu’ from 1922, the German Count Dracula
Please read my other blogs on walking Washington Heights. It was a big area to cover:
Day Twelve: Walking West of Broadway to West 170th Street:
I never realized that walking around Washington Heights would take so long but there is a little secret to the neighborhood. It isn’t flat! I have never walked up and down so many hills. This part of the island reminds you that hills and rock formations still exist on the island of Manhattan. You just don’t see them that much in Midtown.
I started my day just getting into New York City. The buses run so funny in the morning. Then it was a grueling day at the Soup Kitchen that I volunteer at some mornings when I am in the city. Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen was buzzing away today with a chicken curry entrée that had people coming back for thirds and fourths and we did not close until almost 12:40pm. Then it was the trip uptown. It does take a while to get to that part of Manhattan and as usual there were a lot of surprises that awaited.
When you get out of the A Train at 190th Street, the tunnel leading to the street on both sides has the most colorful street art on all the walls. Really take your time to look at the ‘tag’ work. This is now considered an art form in the city (as long as it does not disrupt or damage property) and you really have to look at the fringe neighborhoods, like Red Hook and Bushwick, for the inspirations. This tunnel shows a colorful display of street art that is actually allowed in the station and look to both walls and ceiling for the creative juices of many of these artists. The work is just amazing with colorful symbols and letter adorning the entire tunnel on the way out.
191st Subway Station is ever changing.
My walk today consisted of the entire lengths of the avenues in eastern Washington Heights. I walked the entire lengths of both Audubon Avenue and St. Nicholas Avenue and covered almost all of Amsterdam Avenue having to finally stop at 181 Street because it was getting dark, and my feet were killing me. I walked both sides of the avenues from the tip of the neighborhood at 192nd Street to the border of the neighborhood at 155th Street. Needless to say, it was a long trip.
190th Street and Bennet Avenue Subway Station
Looking down Bennett Avenue on a Fall day
The beautiful rock formations by the subway stop
The formations were just as beautiful in the Spring of 2026 when all the trees were in bloom and you could really see the formations through the trees. I think that the views during the Summer were nicer than the ones in the Fall.
West 193rd Street
West 193rd Street
The entrance to the 190th Street subway
The rock formations on Bennett Avenue
Audubon Avenue is more residential with many pre-war buildings that are in the middle of renovations or have already been renovation. St. Nicolas Avenue is more commercial with small businesses and street vendors filling up most of the storefronts along the avenue. Both of these Avenues run the tip of the neighborhood, where when you walk up the hill of Fort George Avenue, you are really entering the heights.
The start of Audubon Avenue at the bend with Amsterdam Avenue
My first stop was Esmeraldo Bakery at 538 West 181st Street (See review on TripAdvisor.com and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com), a small hole in the wall bakery that offers an array of sweets and hot snacks. I enjoyed a beef and rice croquet, which are well-known in many of the Dominican bakeries I have visited in Washington Heights and a large, twisted cinnamon sugar doughnut, which was a messy, sugary delight.
For the price of $2.00, this gem of a bakery is a reasonable place to fill up on carbs for the long walk around the neighborhood. The service is super friendly, and they speak both English and Spanish. Their selection is really good and take a few extras along the way.
The pastries at Esmeraldo Bakery are delicious and reasonable
The sugar donuts at the bakery are excellent
Audubon Avenue offers some beautiful pre-war apartment buildings, many of which like the rest of the neighborhood are in the process of renovation. A lot of this neighborhood is under scaffolding. There are unique brownstones and townhouses to view on the way down the street in between the buildings.
Walking down Audubon Avenue in Washington Heights
Yeshiva University sits in the low 180’s and this area during the day is dominated by college students and professors, who are milling around between classes and a lot of the businesses in the area cater to this population with many nice restaurants and stores. When classes let out in the evening, you are on a very business campus and would not know that you are still in Washington Heights.
While I was walking down Audubon Avenue, I was passing a small bodega at 175 Audubon Avenue and noticed this interesting mural outside on the sides of the building. This colorful painting shows a depiction of life in Washington Heights. I thought it was fun and whimsical.
I visited the Audubon Avenue playground in the afternoon to cool down. What a great playground that was very active that afternoon. Kids were playing all over the place, splashing in the fountains and running around all the swings and slides. The best was that they had GREAT public bathrooms and they were clean. This is a rarity when you have to go in Manhattan.
The best is the woman who sells the Dominican ices outside the park. When it is in the 80’s, there is nothing like a Cherry Mango ice to cool you down.
Another way of cooling down is the delicious Dominican ices available for sale. I love the Cherry Mango.
Audubon Avenue stops at 165th Street to merge into St. Nicholas Avenue and a very busy shopping area. At the merger of St. Nicholas and Amsterdam Avenues, you walk past the C-Town grocery store to find the Sylvan Terrace, which is 20 identical homes that were once part of the entrance to the Morris-Jumel Mansion (See review on TripAdvisor.com and VisitingaMuseum.com), once home to Aaron Burr’s second wife, Eliza Jumel.
The house was closed again in Spring of 2026 but you could walk around the grounds and it was a beautiful sunny day when I walked around.
Morris Jumel grounds
Morris Jumel estate grounds
The Morris Jumel estate grounds
Walking through the paths of the Morris Jumel estate
Walking some the paths at the Morris Jumel estate
Sylvan Terrace was built in 1882 and was once part of the original Old Post Road from New York to Boston. The homes that now surround the street were built by James E. Ray between 1890 and 1902. The architect was influenced by the Queen Anne, Romanesque and Renaissance Revival influences and the homes are built with the Queen Ann style in mind (IloveWashingtonHeights.com).
These homes have been painfully restored back to their true glory and rumored to be going for about a million each. Their uniform painting and beautiful cobblestone streets leading to the mansion seem totally out-of-place with the rest of the neighborhood. So, climb the stairs and enjoy the walk down the street. This pathway was once part of the East Post Road that led to Boston.
At the end of the block is the Morris-Jumel Mansion (see review on TripAdvisor & VisitingaMuseum.com), which was unfortunately closed the day I was there, but I got to walk the ground and sit in the mansion’s colorful garden that had yet to give way to the fall season. There was still a bit of summer left in that afternoon and it was nice to enjoy it walking the flowery paths and stone benches.
It has a great view of the river and the neighborhood below as this area was once the summer and weekend homes of the wealthy downtown when upper Manhattan was still considered the ‘wilderness’. Another version of this you can see at the Gracie Mansion in the 90’s which I will also see in the future.
Morris-Jumel Mansion gardens in the summer months
Take some time to stroll these paths and then walk around the Jumel Terrace Historical District, which is lined with turn of the last century apartment buildings and classic brownstones that are starting to be decorated for Halloween. They have a classic Edith Wharton look to them. This neighborhood is an oasis for the rest of the area and is tucked into this small three block radius. I took some time to really see how everyone had renovated their homes.
As you walk out of the Historical district, at 157th Street, you end up in a dead-end street with the picturesque Bushman Steps, a staircase that leads to Edgecombe Avenue and the very edge of High Bridge Park. On a sunny afternoon, this little park offers much refuge to the warm afternoon and a beautiful view to boot. This pocket park really makes the street pop and gives it a feel of ‘Old New York’, lined with trees and flowers.
Reaching the intersection of Audubon and Amsterdam Avenues in Washington Heights
Looking up Audubon Avenue from the intersection
Looking up Amsterdam Avenue from the intersection
At the end of 155th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, there is a series of unique brownstones at various stages of renovation. This row of brownstones is in various stages of renovation but like the rest of the area will be highly desirable in the future. These homes really stick out amongst the more modern buildings. My goal to 155th Street was complete as another more modern building is on the other side of 155th Street showing that many changes are happening in this area.
On the way back up St. Nicholas Avenue to the other side of Audubon Avenue, the schools were letting out and students and parents alike to converging to the bakeries and fast-food restaurants that line the area.
My next stop was at El Manantial Bakery at 325 St. Nicholas Avenue (see review on TripAdvisor) for pastilitos and a guava empanada. The pastilitos were filled with both chicken and beef and the guava empanada was filled with a guava jelly that all were really good. They also have terrific Apple Turnovers.
The pastilitos had just been fried and they had that juicy greasiness that something gets right out of the fryer. Make sure to order the beef ones. You will need a snack by this point. I only spend about $3.25 for two pastilitos, one pastry and a coke. Quite a steal!
On the side of the building was this interesting mural that had been painted here since the last time I visited entitled “Migration is an Earth Right” by Artist Carla Torres.
Artist Carla Torres is an Ecuadorian born but she relocated to New York City in 2006, looking to expand her horizons and vision as an artist. She works across several media including drawing, painting, illustration, animation, and murals. Since then her work has been exhibited in several galleries locally and internationally including the Queens Museum and the Noguchi Museum. Her work has also been awarded by the most prestigious illustration awards in the US, Canada, and Europe (CarlosTorres.com).
As I walked up Amsterdam Avenue, I came across more works by the artist Snoeman on the outsides of various bodegas. These works are a lot of fun and take time to really look at the detail work all along the walls.
The mural outside of 164 Amsterdam Avenue
The mural up close
The snowman at 166th Street and Amsterdam Avenue
Across Amsterdam Avenue there were two interesting murals by Artist TotemGraffx.
The artist Misael Rivas (also known as TOTEM) is a NYC born artist native to Washington Heights and is a graduate of the High School of Art & Design. The artist is known for his bold murals and Graffiti art (Artist bio).
The mural on Amsterdam Avenue and 170th Street
(I could not find the artist on this work)
I walked through Highbridge Park that was packed with people trying to stay cool. The pool was packed with people and the park had residents cooling under shade trees.
The entrance to Highbridge Park on Amsterdam Avenue
The first thing I did was visit the Highbridge Water Tower, which I always enjoy admiring. This class stone building was part of a system that used to bring fresh water from Upstate New York to the City.
The stairs leading to the lower level of the park from the water tower
Then I walked around the park at Amsterdam Avenue. This part of the park by the pool was very active and their were loads of people in the pool keeping cool.
Walking through the park
I then walked through the Sunken Playground inside the park looking for a bathroom (none are open and all under renovation)
The Sunken Playground in Highbridge Park at 167th Street and Edgecombe Avenue
Joel Bergner is an artist, educator and organizer of community art initiatives with youth in conflict-affected and marginalized communities around the world, from Syrian refugee camps to American prisons; the favelas of Brazil to an orphanage in South Africa.
Artist Angela Zirbes (AKA ‘Angfzir’)
Angfzir is the artist handle for Angela Zirbes ( Angela F.Z. ), a New York-based muralist, illustrator, and painter. She is highly recognized for her involvement in collaborative public art, community murals, and gallery group exhibitions.
Joel Bermudez
(Could not find a bio on the artist)
I came across this video on the artist Joel Bergner.
Joel is the CEO and Co-Founder of the non-profit organization Artolution. In this role, he mentors and supports local artists in vulnerable communities to lead their own youth art programs, affecting the lives of thousands of children who participate in hundreds of locally-led projects each year.
This little cat was hiding in the park
This little cat peeked out at me as I left the park. He had a very inquisitive look towards me.
The walk up and down St. Nicholas you will see one of the most active shopping districts that will compare to 207th and 181st Streets. So many things can be bought and sold on this avenue. Some of the most interesting street vendors are located between 180th to 187th Streets selling ices, pastilitos, fried pork, fried pastries, dolls, books, household appliances and even Christmas ornaments.
The shopping district on St. Nicholas Avenue in the Spring of 2026
On the side of the St. Elizabeth School at 162 West 187th Street, I saw this fascinating painting on the side of the school. I could not get close enough to get near it but I thought it was interesting. It was not there the last time I had visited the neighborhood.
Xmental (often stylized as XMental or Xmental Inc.) is a prominent NYC-based graffiti and street art collective and non-profit organization, founded by Ralph “Ralphy” Perez. XMental provides alternative, creative pathways for at-risk youth and individuals on probation. By partnering with NYC’s NeON Arts and the Department of Probation, they help young people channel their graffiti talents into legal, recognized public art (BK Reader.com/Brooklyn Arts Alliance).
While most of the buildings in the neighborhood are simple brink apartment buildings, here and there are embellishments that stand out. I saw this lion staring back at me around 182nd Street. It was one of the only embellishments to stand out to me.
Lion stating back at me on St. Nicholas Avenue building
Street art on St. Nicholas Avenue
Street art St. Nicholas Avenue
People were out in droves when school let out and many children were begging their parents for a snack. This can be a very active Avenue with many interesting restaurants to try in the future. St. Nicholas Avenue buzzed with activity from one end of the avenue to the other, especially as you arrived back at the hospital point by 168th Street. Columbia Presbyterian is taking over all the blocks at this location, changing the demographics and buildings.
I revisited the area again during the Christmas holiday season and this neighborhood is very lively with all the restaurants and stores in full swing. The area is also nicely decorated with light displays and music. There are a lot of nice restaurant and shops to choose from along the 181st Street corridor from Broadway to Amsterdam Avenue. Their merchant’s association did a nice job decorating the shopping corridor.
Washington Heights at 181st Street Shopping district at night during Christmas
The 181st Street Shopping district at Christmas time
My last part of the walk took me up and down the Amsterdam Avenue, which as it gets dark can get quite gloomy with its industrial feel to it. Parts of the it by High Bridge Park both by Fort George Avenue and between 181st and 170th Streets can be pretty, for the most part gentrification has left this part of the neighborhood alone. This was the part of the park near Yeshiva University.
The artwork celebrating the Knicks recent win (I do not know the artist)
By the time I rounded 155th Street and arrived at 181st, it was starting to get dark, and my feet and legs were ready to give out. Even the snacks did not help as I started to get hungry and with the dark started to come the fall cold nights. I have a lot more to walk in this neighborhood but just as much to explore.
The rock formations along Amsterdam Avenue near 191st Street
Please read my other blogs on walking Washington Heights. It was a big area to cover:
Day Twelve: Walking West of Broadway to West 170th Street:
I’m back in Washington Heights again traveling on the East side of Broadway and exploring all the side streets. I started my day walking along the length of 187th Street. I swear I find some great bakeries and restaurants in the neighborhood.
I started with a snack at the Grullon Bakery II at 575 West 187th Street. This local bakery has a wonderful selection of Dominican pastries and meat pies. The pastelitos here are really good. The chicken filling is spiced well and fried crisp. Their Cubanos’ stuffed pastries are wonderful as well. They are similar to the pastelitos but a different dough and a sweeten outside. They also had delicious Apple Turnovers.
Grullon Bakery II at 575 West 187th Street (Closed 2021)
All of their meat pastries run around $1.00 so it makes a nice travelling snack. Also check out some of their sweetened pastries as well. I have to say one thing, the staff seemed very amused by me eating there. I figured they don’t see too many customers who are not Dominican.
The Apple Turnovers were so good here
I was able to walk the whole distance of Wadsworth Avenue before nightfall. Now that the days are getting shorter, it’s harder to walk the distance before it gets too dark. Wadsworth is lined with many beautiful pre-war apartments but one section that is really nice is by Fairview Avenue with buildings that are shaped by the curvature of the road. Take a good look up and really look at this building. Its design is really unique, and the look of the apartments inside must be interesting.
Looking down Fairview Avenue from Wadsworth Avenue
Walking down Wadsworth Avenue in the Spring of 2026
Walking up Wadsworth Terrace in the Spring of 2026
Street art on Wadsworth Terrace
Walking down Fort George Avenue it seemed to me that everyone is obsessed with washing their cars. All up and down the street, everyone was power washing their cars and trucks so be on the lookout for streams of water. This is quite a walk up and down the hill passing the upper part of High Bridge Park which is loaded with trash in this part of the park. Even though this part of the park is loaded with interesting rock formation, it isn’t well taken care of and loaded with weeds.
Walking up Fort George Avenue in the Spring of 2026
I walked through Amelia Gorman Park off Wadsworth Avenue, which is unusual as the park starts on Broadway and you walk up the steps to the sitting area up above. It offers a nice view the surrounding area and the parks on the other side of the island. When you walk up the many flights of stairs, you will notice this park is also filled with weeds. The sitting area at the top of the park offers many benches and just as many nice views.
The park is dedicated to Gertie Amelia Gorman, a real estate investor at the request of her family. It is a nice place to relax after a long day of walking. Her daughter, Gertie Emily Webb gave the City Parks system $25,000 for the establishment of the park and a $50,000 trust to maintain it (NYCParks.com). The park finally opened up again in the Spring of 2026 and was beautiful with all the shade trees.
I walked the whole length of Wadsworth Avenue and back and then I started the length of St. Nicholas Avenue when night fell. I just walked one side of the road on the way back to the subway station. There is a lot of hustle on the avenue with street vendors hawking their wares and small food vendors selling ices, juices, pastelitos and fresh fruit. The stores that line this section of the block are loaded with life as everyone is rushing around either looking or buying.
There is nothing like a freshly fried pastilito
Walking back to Broadway down Fairview Avenue and all the new construction in 2026
For dinner that evening, I stopped at El Malecon Restaurant at 4141 Broadway. I passed the restaurant many times on the walk up and down Broadway and it offers a very interesting menu of Dominican, Caribbean and Spanish dishes. I had their chicken quesadilla there was served with fresh guacamole, which were freshly fried and bursting with flavor and then had the Shrimp with Garlic Sauce with a mound of rice and a side of beans.
The portion sizes are very big so come prepared with a big appetite. The service can be a little rough if you don’t speak Spanish that well, but they will try to help you with the menu. The place should not be missed when travelling up this way.
Their Shrimp with Garlic Sauce was excellent
On the way back to the subway, I noticed that people are still outside in the cool night air playing dominoes and cards. Even in the cool weather, the island way of life still rings true in this neighborhood, and it feels a whole lot safer.
Please read my other blogs on walking Washington Heights. It was a big area to cover:
Day Twelve: Walking West of Broadway to West 170th Street:
I finally finished the area on the western side of Broadway from 178th Street to 164th Street. It was a long day of walking. I also covered the entire lengths of Haven Avenue and Fort Washington Avenue past Columbia Presbyterian Hospital, which pretty much dominates over this area. There is a pretty distinct line in the neighborhood once you cross over 180th Street and you get to 165th Street, which is the border of the ever-changing Dominican neighborhood and the Hospital neighborhood. Things become much more commercial and a little upscale below 165th Street as it caters to the hospital staff.
Even the housing stock changes. The area around the hospital you can tell caters to the staff and the guests and once over the 168th Street border, it goes back to Dominican neighborhood. Between Yeshiva University and the hospital, this area you can see is going through a rapid flux. The streets are full of such beautiful, classic housing stock and if it were in the lower 90’s on both sides would be snatched up for more than double the price.
The corner of West 181st Street and Broadway
The stonework along on some of the buildings with pillars and statuary brings almost a European feel to this area. I call the changes the ‘new window’ theory. Whenever you see new window frames in an older building, you know the area is changing. The gentrifying cliché of white people walking their dogs or jogging rings so true around here. I see the looks in the faces of the guys playing dominoes in the park and their eyes roll.
I got up today as classes were letting out at PS 173 across from J. Hood Wright Park. The streets were lined with well-dressed students yelling and screaming at one another all over the street. The school is very impressive looking almost like an Ivy League school with its beautiful stonework and pillared entrance. It complements the park very nicely.
J. Hood Wright Park, the former estate of banker and financier, J. Hood Wright is located between 176th Street to 173rd Street and has gone through an over two-million-dollar renovation. The park was full of action this afternoon.
People were walking their dogs, sunbathing by the rock formations and reading on the backside park with the most spectacular views of the George Washington Bridge. The park has a dog walk in the back, a baseball and basketball court and walking paths that wind the whole park.
The rock formations at Hood Park
The best was all the street vendors outside the school. You had your choice of soft serve ice cream, shaved flavored ices, freshly fried Pastelitos (meat pies) and fresh fruit. The shaved ice is the best on a humid day. I had a mango-strawberry ice that was so refreshing. You can also get three very sweet peaches for a dollar.
The Mango ice is so refreshing on a hot day
The park in the summer of 2025
It was nice to just sit in the park and relax, watching kids chase each other around the playground and eating their snacks while dog walkers compared notes.
The views of the George Washington Bridge from the park
The lawn by the rock formations
The gardens by the dog walk in the park
The gardens in Hood Park in the summer of 2025
When walking down Wadsworth and Fort Washington Avenue again in the Spring of 2026, I forgot how amazing the views were both of the bridge and of the streets when the trees where in full bloom. The area between 181st and 178th Street offers the most spectacular views of the Hudson River and the George Washington Bridge.
The view at the bottom of East 181st Street
The view of the George Washington Bridge
The Plaza Lafayette at the end of 181st Street
Fort Washington Avenue
Looking up Fort Washington Avenue
I stopped by Mambi Steak House at 4181 Broadway at 177th Street, a Dominican restaurant that is very popular in the neighborhood. The fresh Pastelitos are great and there is a nice selection of other takeout items as well.
The Mambi Steakhouse at 4181 Broadway at 177th Street
On the hot line, there are all sorts of lunch specials such as beef, chicken and codfish stew, pepper steak, eggplant and lasagna. Wonderful smells wafted through the entire restaurant. With two Pastelitos and a coke in hand, I walked the lengths of Haven Avenue and Fort Washington Avenues and the side streets from 164th Street to 178th Street. The streets were lined with the most amazing pre-war apartment buildings and a lot of rebuilding and renovations especially around the hospital.
I concluded my walk at La Dinastia Restaurant at 4181 Broadway on the corner of Broadway and 171st Street, a Dominican-Chinese restaurant. This restaurant is wonderful and the pictures on the window of the place don’t do it justice.
I had a boneless chicken crackling with a special fried rice. The chicken cracklings had a breading that was a cross between a tempura and fried chicken with spices and the special fried rice was full an array of ingredients such as shrimp, ham, chicken, sausage and vegetables.
Chicken Cracklings with Fried Rice
My lunch of Chicken Cracklings with House Fried Rice and Salad
The Chicken Cracklings and Fried Rice is one of their specialties
The meal was huge. They gave me about eight large pieces of chicken with almost a pint of fried rice. It was a meal you cannot finish at one sitting, and it made almost three meals. The restaurant is well worth the trip with the combination of flavors and fusion of Spanish and Chinese cuisine. It will be worth a second trip.
The walk concluded the area from 164th Street to 178th Street west of Broadway. The next part will be the area east of Broadway from 193rd on down. I hope for good weather.
Street art off Broadway and 172nd Street
Please read my other blogs on walking Washington Heights. It was a big area to cover:
Day Twelve: Walking West of Broadway to West 170th Street:
I continued my walk in Washington Heights in the middle of the neighborhood west of Broadway when the heavens opened up. Thank God it did not last forever. The sun did come out later that afternoon and did cool down a lot. It was the perfect weather to walk around the neighborhood.
I took the subway back up to 181st Street and walked past the rock formation again that abuts the surrounding buildings. I can’t believe that someone would want to blast this away to build something but it looks like its under construction. This is such a focal point in a neighborhood filled with pre-war apartments.
My start point 181st Street Station in the Fall
The view of the side of the street
Looking down the street from the subway stop in the Fall of 2025
Bennett Avenue is just as beautiful in the summer months with all the trees in full form. You get a beautiful view of the rock formations while walking down the street.
West 193rd Street
West 193rd Street
The entrance to the 190th Street subway
The rock formations on Bennett Avenue
My first part of the walk took me down the 181st Street shopping area and maybe I missed it the first time but there is a Starbucks on the corner of 181st Street and Fort Washington Avenue. This is the tale tell sign that the neighborhood is changing again. This part of Washington Heights west of Broadway is really beautiful with its rolling hills, pocket parks and tree-lined streets and the most amazing view of the George Washington Bridge from the corner of 181st Street and Pinehurst Avenue.
West 181st Street by the George Washington Bridge
The West 181st Street shopping district is much quieter in the western side of Broadway than the eastern side
The street slopes down and you have a view of Riverside Park in the distance, a tree lined street and the pocket park next to the dead end of Pinehurst Avenue.
Walking up Pinehurst Avenue
This is a perfect place to take pictures and climb the stairs to relax on one of the many benches that line the walkway. Toward the top of the stairs, the fence is lined with modern art that is festive and unique. As I said on a previous day, this part of the neighborhood reminds me of the marina area in San Francisco.
The end of West 181st Street near Riverside Drive
Street sculpture in the West 181st Street shopping district
When you climb the stairs at Pinehurst Avenue, you are greeted by the Hudson View Gardens Apartments, a mixture of stone and Tutor apartments landscaped to match the adjoining parks. This offers the most amazing views and the buildings are so beautiful.
The Castle Apartments
The Castle Apartments on 181st Street
The Castle Apartment’s
The view at the bottom of East 181st Street
The view of the George Washington Bridge
The Plaza Lafayette at the end of 181st Street
This attractive apartment complex lines the streets of the west side on Pinehurst Avenue, across the street from James Gordon Bennett Park, a staple that attracts families from all over the neighborhood. The courtyards of the complex are colorfully planted and match the stonework of the buildings. The whole affect with the park across street is quite striking.
The Hudson View Gardens Apartments in lower Inwood
James Gordon was a newspaper publisher who launched the New York Herald in 1835. He donated this land which was part of his property. The land sat on the site of the original Fort Washington that had been part of the Revolutionary War battles. The park opened in 1929 and the unique aspect of the park is that is that the west side of the park site an outcropping of the ‘Manhattan Schist’, the layer of bedrock in which is the core of the island and how all the skyscraper’s are built on the island. This part of the schist is the highest point of Manhattan (Wiki).
James Gordon Bennett Sr. founder of the New York Herald Newspaper
I spent time in Bennett Park at West 183rd Street watching kids climb rocks, frolic around the playground and play with their parents, who were enjoying the park just as much as the kids. It gives me faith that raising children in New York City has changed over the last twenty years. I am seeing more and more young parents in the city staying put and bringing life back to New York establishing their roots here and not in the suburbs.
James Gordon Bennett Park at West 183rd and Fort Washington Avenue
Bennett Park offers a lot. There is lots of equipment in the playground to keep any child occupied. There is a area for soccer, kite flying, rock climbing and even a cannon to climb on. Kids were flying planes, throwing balls with their parents or chasing one another without a cellphone in sight. That gives me faith in the next generation.
Bennett Park in the Spring of 2026
This is noted to be the highest point in Manhattan in James Gordon Bennett Park
The sign for the highest natural point in Manhattan in Bennett Park
The highest point in Manhattan
When I walked out of the park entrance, I came across the memorial dedicated to Fort Washington which was once on the park’s location. I was surprised with the ‘250th Anniversary” of the country this year, this was not decorated.
Leaving Bennett Park and walking up the length of Pinehurst Avenue, I stopped at the little triangle park to rest and take a phone call.
Looking down Pinehurst Avenue
The Paterno Trivium, at the corner of Cabrini Boulevard, Pinehurst Avenue and West 187th Street is another small pocket park run by the NYC Park system.
The Paterno Trivium at Pinehurst Avenue is perfect for relaxing in the Fall of 2025
The Paterno Trivium sign
The Paterno Trivium in the Spring of 2026
It was a perfect place to converse with local seniors on the current status of New York City, happenings in the neighborhood and recommendations of restaurants on the small restaurant row on 187th Street. There is a little bit of everything in this area.
The park was named after Charles V. Paterno, a developer who was responsible for developing most of the Fort Washington section of Manhattan. He developed the Hudson View Garden Apartment complex, the Gothic apartment buildings near Fort Tryon Park in 1923-24. The park opened in 2000 and has become a Greenstreet site (NYCParks.org).
Castle Village Apartments around West 181st Street
I then walked around Chittenden Avenue off Cabrini Avenue to see the views of the Hudson River. This section of the City is like a hidden gem in one of the most picturesque sections of Manhattan. They really keep this area quiet.
Walking down Cabrini and Chitterden Avenues by the Hudson River
Looking down the Hudson River from Cabrini Chitterden Avenue
After walking both sides of Fort Washington Street and finished the upper western part of Washington Heights, I walked down 181st Street towards Broadway and made my way down Broadway to 165th Street following the western perimeter of the neighborhood.
The West 181st Street shopping district by Broadway
Make note of this shopping district around 181st Street on both sides of Broadway which is loaded with reasonable restaurants and stores all along the street and down Broadway, St. Nicolas Street and parts of Audubon Avenue. It was especially vibrant during the holiday season when all the overhead Christmas lights were up.
The West 181st Street shopping district at Christmas time
The shopping area again in the early Fall of 2025
I then walked around the Columbia-Presbyterian Hospital complex with dominates the 165th Street from Broadway to the Hudson River. All the housing surrounding the complex has been updated obviously for the staff of the hospital and in the later evening staff from the hospital was walking all over the neighborhood, conversing, walking their dogs and eating out.
Walking down Fort Washington Avenue on my way to the hospital
There is a distinct change in the neighborhood once you cross 169th Street on Broadway. It goes from a Dominican neighborhood to a more college oriented one, lined with chain stores, upscale restaurants and gourmet shops and businesses catering more to the college and hospital staff then to the neighbors slightly to the north. Honestly though, I see plenty of young Hispanic professionals in the restaurants.
Walking back up Fort Washington Avenue from Broadway
I had enough time to walk all the side streets between Broadway and Haven Avenue and the first three blocks up, the housing looks strictly for the hospital staff changing again around 172nd Street. I ended my walk for the evening walking the edges of J. Hood Wright Park, watching everyone walk their dogs through the park and the last playground stragglers leaving the park for the evening.
The entrance to J. Hood Wright Park in Washington Heights
J. Hood Wright was a wealthy banker and financier who owned a mansion on the site and donated heavily to the local Washington Heights branch of the library (NYCParks.org).
I stopped at La Nueva Empanadas Monumental at 3772 Broadway for some empanadas to munch on way back to the subway station. I had the chicken and cheese and the chicken. Not bad but a little doughy and be prepared to speak your broken Spanish if you unless you speak the language.
Most everyone is a Spanish speaker in the restaurant and some of the patrons seemed a little shocked that I walked in. To me, it’s a nice place for a quick, reasonably priced snack.
Their empanadas are really good!
I will be finishing the rest of this side of Broadway in the coming days.
Please read my other blogs on walking Washington Heights. It was a big area to cover:
Day Twelve: Walking West of Broadway to West 170th Street:
When you walk south on Dyckman Street you will be reminded they you are in a very hilly section of the neighborhood. I walked Broadway to Hillside Avenue, and I have to say I got my exercise today. Hillside Avenue and the surrounding streets are all up and down hills. Hillside Avenue as you are walking up has unusual rock formations and small patches of wooded area which was in 2015 unfortunately filled with garbage.
When I revisited in May of 2026, the entrance to the park had been renovated and cleaned up of all the garbage. It now has a new playground and dog park for the neighborhood to enjoy. Even the parks within the Dyckman Houses are going through a renovation.
The neighborhood should really rally around this because it is quite beautiful. It is even nicer toward the end of the street with the large rock formations and the trees growing out of them.
I covered the lower parts of Sherman Avenue, Nagle Avenue, Bogardus Place and then traveled west to cover Ellwood Street, Sickles Street, Arden Street, Thayer Street and Dongan Place. These blocks were filled with pre-war apartment buildings and local family businesses. The one thing I noticed on a lot of these blocks is that many families set up tables and chairs and sit outside in the afternoon and night and play dominoes and cards and talk to their neighbors.
The Dyckman Shopping district
I felt like it was a throwback to the days when my mom, who lived in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn back in the 50’s, would talk about everyone sitting outside because there was no air-conditioning, and you would converse with your neighbors because everyone was in the same boat.
What’s nice about this neighborhood environment is that these families watch what is going on and know the comings and goings of the people in their neighborhood. For all the talk about Inwood not being a safe place, I never felt nervous. The one thing I will remember after today is that Manhattan is not flat.
Walking through the Dyckman Houses is an interesting experience.
I walked around the Dyckman Street Houses and into the park area between the buildings. Word of advice, when walking around public housing. Never wear a ‘9/11 Remembers NYPD and FDNY’ shirt. At 6:4 with a thick mustache, I could see that some of the people on the park benches assumed I was a cop walking through to inspect what was going on and I saw a few small groups of people actually get up and leave when I looked at them. That was strange.
I finished the day by walking the border of the neighborhood by walking up Hillside Avenue and the edge of Inwood back to the subway station where I had started. There has been a lot of new construction in this area as more people want views of both Inwood and Fort Tryon Parks. I have to admit that the view is amazing.
Walking up Hillside Avenue from Broadway
Hillside Avenue separates Inwood from Washington Heights
Walking up Hillside Avenue rock formation
After a long walk on a hot day, head over to the corner of Nagle and Dyckman Street. There is a woman who sells the most refreshing mango and cherry ice for $2.00, and it will cool you down immediately. Before leaving this section of Inwood, double back to Bogardus Place and Hillside Avenue and watch the sunset. It is a pretty amazing sight.
Nothing cools you down more than a Dominican Cherry Mango ice on a hot day
Check out my other blogs on walking around the Inwood neighborhood:
Stop by the vendors on 207th Street from Broadway to 10th Avenue. There are all sorts of street cooks making everything from Pastilitos to fried breads and doughnuts. Take time to look at the wares in “Little Dominica”. This shopping district stretches from Broadway until you reach the other subway platform.
I had some extra time today to double back to some of the sites that either were not open the day I walked this part of Inwood or did not have time to visit. The Dyckman Farmhouse tour (See TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum@Wordpress.com) is defiantly something you should tour while you are in the neighborhood. Sitting on the top of a hill overlooking Broadway at 4881 Broadway, you have to be sure to visit the house when it is open. Its hours are from 11:00am-3:00pm Thursday-Sunday. It is worth the visit to step back to the 18th Century and see how people lived in comparison to today. It’s a small island into the past in a bustling neighborhood.
The Dyckman Farmhouse at 4881 Broadway during the summer months.
The tour is self-guided and free. The house was built in 1785 by William Dyckman in the Dutch Colonial style on what was once a 250-acre farm estate that he inherited from his grandfather who had come to the New World in 1661. The original house had been further in the estate, and it was destroyed during the Revolutionary War. The house left the family in 1868 and was bought again by Mr. Dyckman’s granddaughters in 1915 and was restored (Wiki).
Dyckman Farm now sits above the neighborhood in the Fall of 2024
The back of the farmhouse.
The house was donated to the City of New York in 1916 and is now part of the Parks system. The nice part is that the house has a self-guided tour, and you can take your time to look over the rooms and the gardens.
The Smokehouse behind the Dyckman house.
It really is a simple house as the Dyckman’s, who owned most of the land in this part of Inwood were farmers. They owned the house for several generations, and it was the last family member living their grandchildren who invested in the house to open it up to the public.
The back of the property by the old smokehouse
The back of the house in the Fall of 2024
It amazes me of how many people lived in this house at one time with the amount of space in which they had to work. The bedrooms are pretty small and take time out to see the downstairs kitchen. It makes us appreciate today.
The upstairs bedroom at the Dyckman Farmhouse
The Dyckman Farmhouse rooms reflect its rural past but the family still entertained and housed many extended family members.
The second bedroom
The guest bedroom
The gardens in the back are a nice place to roam and relax. The beds are set up with both flowers and vegetables and are maintained by their Friends group. Sit back under one of the trees and just enjoy the view. It really is a time capsule to our rural past in an extremely busy section of Inwood. Watch their events calendar too as there are many activities at the Dyckman House.
Touring the inside of the house at Christmas time
Touring the inside of the Dyckman Farmhouse during the holidays.
The first floor is a reflection of a working farm and home. Things are sensible without being overdone. Still the family would have held a prominent place in the Dutch farming community.
The formal parlor at the Dyckman Farmhouse
The parlor in the Dyckman Farmhouse.
The farmhouse kitchen in the basement of the home. The hearth was also part of the heating system of the house.
I double backed and explored the surrounding neighborhood of Payson Avenue, Cummings Street, Academy Street and walked down Dyckman Street to Nagle Avenue. I made a quick pit stop at Nagle Bakery at 121-B Nagle Avenue, which is pretty good.
I had a Pastilito, a type of Dominican beef or chicken turnover, which they make really good, and they are only a dollar. I also had a fruit filled Coconino, a type of flaky pastry with mango filling that was a little dried out but not bad. The bakeries in Inwood are wonderful and offer a lot of selection at a very fair price.
The pastries at Nagle Bakery at 121 B Nagle Avenue (Closed January 2023)
This was the unfortunate part of most of the bakeries I tried in Inwood. By the time I got to the bakeries it was later in the afternoon so everything seemed not as fresh as first thing in the morning and it had been sitting since the morning. Nagle Bakery, though is not bad and if you are in the neighborhood, it’s worth the stop.
Nagle Bakery at 121-B Nagle Avenue (Closed January 2023)
On my back to the subway at 207th and Dyckman Street, I stopped at Tony’s Pizza and Pasta at 4771 Broadway (now closed) for a quick slice before the ride downtown. You have to watch them here. On the outside sign, they advertise a $1.00 slice but when you go in its $1.50.
Then when you order the slice, you have to designate that you want the $1.50 slice, or they will try to bait and switch you with a larger slice that is $2.50. The $1.50 slice is not bad, and the sauce is pretty good, but the more expensive slice is much bigger. Not a good business practice but the pizza was pretty good, so I forgave them for that, and it is close to the subway station.
Tony’s Pizza and Pasta at 4771 Broadway (Closed 2018)
The cheese pizza was really good.
With both Nagel Bakery and Tony’s Pizza both closed before and during the pandemic, my favorite place to eat in the neighborhood now and when I visit the Cloisters is G’s Coffee Shop at 634 West 207th Street. The food and the service at this local neighborhood spot is excellent and the prices are extremely fair (see my reviews on TripAdvisor and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com).
I made trip to the Cloisters and the Dyckman Farmhouse for a Christmas themed “Holiday Decoration” tour for both places and stopped in for a late breakfast because I was starving. They had a wonderful all day breakfast special, a Breakfast Burrito ($7.95), filled with eggs, chorizo sausage, salsa, avocado and hashbrowns wrapped in a soft burrito shell. It was very large and delicious. The flavors were really brought out by the salsa, hot sauce and the sausage. With a cool Lime Soda is really made the meal.
The Breakfast Burrito with Chorizo sausage was excellent.
When visiting the Dyckman Farmhouse again for a Spring walking tour, I stopped by G’s for lunch and had the Bacon Cheeseburger Deluxe that I saw everyone ordering on the last two trips to the restaurant I had made and it was worth the trip.
The Bacon Cheeseburger was perfectly cooked with a nice amount of caramelization on the meat and was loaded with freshly cooked bacon and topped with a few pieces of cheese, chopped lettuce and tomatoes. The French Fries were cooked to order and were the small shoestring type that were crisp and plentiful on the plate. The burger had a nice complexity to it and the meat had a lot of flavor to it as it was a fresh patty not frozen. For less than $10.00, it made a nice lunch.
The Bacon Cheeseburger lunch at G’s Coffee Shop.
The service is very nice and the orders come out quick. It is a Hodge Podge of neighborhood types but that’s what I think makes this G’s Coffee Shop special, it really is a neighborhood restaurant catering to everyone. It is a restaurant that every neighborhood should have.
It was a quick afternoon in the city but a nice walk for the day. I just wanted to revisit the Inwood neighborhood to be sure that I covered everything and see the Dyckman Farmhouse. Don’t miss it at the holidays as well.
The front of the Dyckman Farmhouse in the Fall of 2024
The street level view of the home in the Fall of 2024
Check out my other blogs on walking around the Inwood neighborhood:
My walks in Manhattan seem to have a late start. Work and household responsibilities come first but then the ride into the city is always anticipated. I look forward to that walk around the neighborhood. My walk took from 218th Street to 207th Street from 10th Avenue to Inwood Hill Park. Today I started my trip in the late afternoon and started to walk on the other side of Broadway at 218th Street, home to the Columbia Athletic Complex.
The entrance to the Hudson River from Muscato Marsh at 218th Street
As a Cornell Alumnus, I have spent many a day at the Stadium watching the on again off again rivalry between the two schools. In the last six years, I have attended three away games at the Columbia Stadium, and I believe we have an even record with them. I have to admit that Cornell’s football record has not been great in the past few years but we as Alumni can still dream of that unbeaten season.
The inlet in the summer months
As I walked through the complex watching the Columbia team do its warmup, I have to tell you one thing, even though our teams sit at the bottom of the Ivy League each year (we’ll get better), over the past three years I have noticed more cheering Cornell Alumni at the games, which our team seems to appreciate. It is funny to go to an away game and there are more people on the Cornell side of the stadium then the home team.
Columbia C at Marble Hill
The Columbia C
Walking around the complex brings back many great memories of warm afternoons and the Alumni parade to the Cornell Club. Don’t miss the Lion statue in the middle of the complex. It really is quite a site. The Lion Statue was a result of the Class of 1899 and was designed by artist Fredrick G.R. Roth.
Fredrick G. R. Roth was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. He was trained at the Academy of Design in Vienna and the New York Academy. He studied animals in their native habitat. In the early 1930’s, he worked in the Works Projects Administration as head sculptor.
The statue has been moved to a few locations over the years since its inception. In 2005, the school renamed the mascot “Roar-ee” (Columbia Alumni Page).
Artist Frederick Roth was a Brooklyn born American artist who studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna and the Royal Academy in Berlin. He continued his studies at the New York Academy and was known for portraying living animals (Wiki).
Grab an ice cream cone at the ice cream truck that is always parked at the entrance to Inwood Hill Park. His soft serve ice cream is $3.00 plus the chocolate topping, a dollar less than downtown.
On the edge of 218th Street, past of the Columbia Boathouse is the Muscota Marsh (See my reviews on VisitingaMuseum@Worpress.com and TripAdvisor) that overlooks the big ‘C’ on the cliffs in the foreground. This beautiful and relaxing little park can be reached by walking down the hill from the sports complex. It is the only freshwater marsh in the City of New York.
The Columbia Boathouse in Muscato Marsh
The Muscota Marsh at 218 Street and Indian Road is a one-acre public park adjacent to Inwood Hill Park and located on the shore of the Spuyten Duyvil Creek, which is a section of the Harlem River. Opened in 2014, the marsh has both a freshwater marsh and a salt marsh. Besides attracting plant and animal life, these wetlands are intended to help filter rainwater runoff, and this helps to improve the water quality of the river. (Wikipedia).
Muscota Marsh at 218th Street and Indian Road in Inwood
The benches overlook both the Bronx and cliff views of New Jersey and a small piece of land that juts out from Inwood Hill Park that has a picturesque view in the foreground. It makes a nice walk to stroll amongst the benches and look at the plantings or just sit on a bench on a sunny afternoon and just enjoy the views. It is quiet and relaxing.
The boathouse and the Big C
The views of the bridge from Muscato Marsh
Once you leave the marsh, you enter Inwood Hill Park, which offers its own beauty, strolling along the paths and walking through the lawns and woods. You will pass Indian Road Playground at 570 West 218th Street, a small park that is popular with the neighborhood kids. I went to the point of the park that juts into the river and watched a group of teenage boys fishing in the river. Traditions don’t die hard in this city as my grandfather did the same thing in the East River in the early 1900’s.
Walking through Inwood Park is like stepping back through time when there was nothing in Manhattan but woods.
Inwood Park
Inwood Park pathway
Inwood Park in the Spring
Walking through the paths
Walking through Inwood Park
In the middle of the park are the old Indian caves when Lenape Indians once camped
The old Indian caves
As you stroll down the path from this spot in the park and continue along the path, you will come across Shorakkopoch Rock, a boulder marking the site where Peter Minuit bought the island of Manhattan from the native Reckgawawang Indians for about 60 guilders of trinkets and beads in 1626 (See VisitingaMuseum@Wordpress.com and TripAdvisor).
The boulder marks the spot of a giant 280-year-old 165-foot tulip tree once stood until it died in 1932. Legend has it that this is the spot of one of the greatest real estate investments took place. It is such an important part of Manhattan history that most tourists miss.
Shorakkopoch Rock inside Inwood Park where Peter Minuit bargained for Manhattan
The historic Shorakkopoch rock. This is where Peter Minuet ‘bought’ Manhattan from the Native Americans
A closer view of the plaque
Strolling back to the neighborhood, I walked down 218th Street and admired the homes that line the beginning of Park Terrace and the south side of 217th Street. These gothic looking homes have beautiful features and gardens to admire in the front. Their well-landscaped yards showcase the best in colorful flowers and shrubs that attract both small birds and butterflies.
These homes remind us of a time when the neighborhood had a real residential feel to it. This part of Inwood reminds me a lot of Beacon Hill in Boston, with its sloping streets, well-tended courtyards and prewar apartment buildings. It’s a nice stroll just to pass the buildings and be taken back to a different time in the city.
The Houses in Inwood are really beautiful
Inwood Rose Garden
In the middle of the neighborhood sits Isham Park at Isham Street & Seaman Avenue. This was once part of the Isham family estate that the Isham family had donated to the City during the early part of the 20th Century. It was home to the Isham Mansion of William Bradley Isham. The mansion was torn down in 1940 due to disrepair. Bounded by Seaman Avenue and Broadway, this offers the neighborhood a quieter alternative to the bustling Inwood Hill Park next to it. What a lot of people don’t know is that Park Terrance leading into Isham was the original entrance to the Isham estate.
On this quiet afternoon, residents were reading, playing ball and catching up with their neighbors. It had a real family feel to it. Right off the park sits the Bruce Reynolds Memorial Gardens at 11 Park Avenue. These beautiful, well-landscaped paths were dedicated to Bruce Reynolds, a local resident and a former member of the N.Y. Parks Department and a Port Authority Police Officer who died on 9/11.
Mr. Reynolds had been a big part of the neighborhood cleanup of the park and got local youths to help set it up when the gang problem in the neighborhood got to be too much. After time spent in the Parks Department as a ranger, he moved on to become a Port Authority Police Officer (NYCParks Department).
These gardens are a legacy of his hard work to maintain this local neighborhood garden. It is a quiet place to sit and relax. The flowers were in full bloom when I visited, and the gardens were loaded with bees, butterflies and birds moving along the flowering beds. I also want to note that the members of the community have Saturday potlucks and there are concerts open to the public in the warmer months. It is a pleasant park to sit and relax in.
The bird feeders of the gardens
My walk continued down 207th Street after covering all the roads from 218th Street to 207th Street from Inwood Park to Broadway. I was quite the hike up and down the hills. The neighborhood is surrounded by elegant pre-war housing especially around Park Terrance with its pocket gardens between the buildings. A nice place for the residents to get together and mingle while walking their dogs. 207th Street is mostly residential from the park to Broadway and then gets very commercial from Broadway to the entrance to the University Heights Bridge.
The art show at the Bruce Reynold’s Gardens
On a bustling summer day, people are out socializing, selling their wares on the sidewalk and there are fantastic street vendors selling everything from shaved ice with syrup, rainbow ices, fresh orange and fruit juice and pastelitos fried right in front of you. All along this shopping street are reasonably priced stores selling clothing, cell phones and housewares. Here and there you can see some changes in the neighborhood with new restaurants catering to both old and new residents, but for the most part 207th Street is the equivalent to Mott Street in Chinatown except this street caters to the neighborhood’s strong Dominican community.
There is nothing like a rainbow ice on a hot day
There are terrific pastelitos at a small cart on the corner of Sherman and 207th Street that fry theirs right in front of you and you have a choice of chicken, beef, egg and pork for a $2.00.
The pastelitos at 207th Street street vendor are delicious
The pastilitos are delicious at this vendor
The chicken pastilitos
The beef ones
This is one of the best deals and they are sizzling hot. Recommendation: buy two chicken and one beef and a coke with the guy next to them. It is a great walking lunch while exploring both sides of the shopping district. Finish the meal off with a rainbow ice, three scoops for $1.00 at a vendor on the other side of Sherman Avenue. Be prepared to speak your broken Spanish if you are not fluent.
Another good option for reasonable food in a nice atmosphere is D’Lillian Bakery at 526 West 207th Street for wonderful baked products like sugar doughnuts and fruit turnovers. They also sell pastelitos as well and most items here are around $2.00. Just be prepared to speak Spanish.
After my snack, I walked around the parks again, going up and down stairs and walking down pathways to explore all the landscaped spots. It really was a nice way to spend the afternoon.
Isham Park during the summer months
I ended my day at the corner of 207th and 10th Avenue having covered this whole part of Inwood. This is a beautiful, diverse and active neighborhood where everyone seems to get along and look out for one another. Even the vendors look you over as you enter the Number One subway back downtown. I don’t know if they are looking for business or making sure you’re not creating funny business. It’s part of the neighborhood that I wish more tourists would see especially in supporting our Dominican residents.
Check out my other blogs on walking around the Inwood neighborhood:
Taking the number One subway back uptown, I continued my travels to 215th Street station right next to the Columbia complex and sports center. My journey took me to 10th Avenue from the tip of the island to West 220th Street to West 207th Street. For you folks out there they think the island of Manhattan is completely gentrified with upscale housing and businesses, you must visit this part of Manhattan. There is hardly a Gucci store on every corner.
This has got to be the most commercial area of Manhattan I have seen so far. Home to Time Warner repair trucks, the NYC Sanitation Department, the MTA Headquarters and the Knightsbridge Terminal it made for interesting walk. Between 9th and 10th Avenue from 218th Street to 216th Streets is the Knightsbridge Bus Terminal, which is the center of much action throughout the day.
Tenth Avenue near all the restaurants near the 207th Street shopping district
I then walked the length of 10th Avenue past the bus repair building and the Sanitation Building. This is a very busy place during the week.
The New York Sanitation Department is located from 216th Street to 214th Streets and it is best to avoid this area most of the day. It was quiet on the 4th of July. The only person I saw was a security guard and his dog, who was so happy to see someone he jumped up and down.
Walking past the Bus building on 10th Avenue
The MTA Facility and the New York Sanitation Department Facility take up most of the corner of this part of Manhattan
Passing the bus building and subway on 10th Avenue
This is how the City runs and its lined in a row
When I went back to tour the area later in the month, it was a whirlwind of action with garbage trucks going in and out of buildings and the place really smelled. It is not exactly an area I would recommend to tourists unless they want to see how the city really runs.
The intersection of Sherman and 10th Avenue
All along 9th Avenue are places to get your car repaired and washed. At the end of every street, there is a nice view of the river, but I would suggest holding your nose. From 214th Street to 207th Street, The MTA has their building behind high walls and barbed wire. 208th Street has a parking lot and a few truck vendors. Not much to see here and the operation is behind closed doors.
Walking Tenth Avenue near the 207th Street Shopping area
Parts of lower 10th Avenue are being gentrified as some of the former parking garages and repair shops are giving way to small more upscale restaurants. The area around the subway station at 207th Street is a bustling shopping area catering to the large Dominican population living on the Broadway side of Inwood with everyday stores, very reasonable and good restaurants specializing in Dominican and Spanish cuisine and several clothing stores. This area is slowly going through a transition as the neighborhood is starting to change to a younger, artier crowd.
As I walked both sides of both 10th and 9th Avenues, I visited places that I must have missed the first time or had been closed off at the time. I missed the 203rd Street sitting area just off 9th Avenue, which offers beautiful views of the East River.
The 203rd Street Sitting area park
This tiny park at the end of 203rd Street is not the most well maintained but it does offer respite to the rest of the neighborhood which has the powerplant, the bus and sanitation buildings off 9th Avenue. The views were amazing on this clear sunny afternoon.
Looking down the East River from 203rd Sitting area park
Looking up the East River from the 203rd Street Sitting area
The area on 207th Street leading into the Bronx has been rezoned and new luxury buildings have been built between 9th and 10th Avenue. They looked like they have not opened yet but at the end of Sherman Avenue, these will bring big changes to the this part of the neighborhood.
Changes coming to 207th Street with the rezoning of the area
Walking up 9th Avenue I passed many creative pieces of street art. This area of the neighborhood is mostly commercial but along the walls is some of the most interesting graffiti art in a row that I have seen in along time. It was like looking at one panel after another.
9th Avenue Street Art
9th Avenue Street art
9th Avenue Street art
9th Avenue Street art
9th Avenue Street art
9th Avenue Street art
9th Avenue Street art
10th Avenue Street art
9th Avenue Street at the subway stop
9th Avenue Street art
Walking back down Broadway from the tip of the neighborhood, you can see the whole shopping district on Broadway and then Fort Tryon Park in the distance.
Looking down Broadway in Inwood from 208th Street
I walked through all the middle streets of Sherman, Nagle, Post and Vermilyea Streets, which are lined with rows of brick apartment buildings on tree lined streets. Changes are coming to the neighborhood with a new luxury building on the corner of Sherman Avenue and on the edges of 207th Street as you cross the bridge to the Bronx. You can tell that this neighborhood is in a slow transition since my initial walk here in 2015.
My walk started with a trip down Nagle Street by the corner of Hillside Avenue and seeing the changes in stores and restaurants over the last ten years. Many of my favorite spots are gone while some have modernized with new customers coming in.
I then turned around and walked down Sherman Avenue and through the shopping districts of Dyckman Street and 207th Street, which have lots of reasonable restaurants and many street vendors.
Sherman Street at 207th Street shopping district
Sherman Avenue and 204th Street artwork
Eating homemade Pastelitos on Sherman Avenue and 207th Street
This small family food cart has some of the freshest and most delicious pastilitos that I had on my return walk to the neighborhood. They were also still warm. The husband and wife team that run this cart also have fresh juice which looked so good. When I finished walking all the side streets, I did a more detailed walk down the 207th Street shopping district.
Looking down 207th Street shopping district from Broadway
The 207th Street shopping district
The best part of this part of 207th Street is the local street cart vendors selling everything from Pastelitos (a kind of empanada) to fresh mango juice and shaved ice all for around a dollar. Visiting El Lina at 500 207th Street is a nice way to have a reasonable to go meal while you are walking around. It is one of the best restaurants for delicious Pastelitos.
Their fillings are generous, and the service is very friendly. It is one of the many restaurants that line the ‘restaurant mile’ on 207th Street. From the subway station to Broadway, it is interesting to look at the menus and peak in the windows of the many shops and dining establishments that line both sides of the street.
El Lina’s Pastilitos are delicious
Both the Chicken and the Beef are great and perfectly cooked
This vibrant section of the neighborhood hustled every day that I visited it and the subway stop is always busy. If you are looking for tourist spots and excitement, it’s not for you. If you want a true experience in Dominican culture and food, a trip to this part of Inwood is for you. It is not just the restaurants and shops that make the neighborhood, it is the interaction of the people in the neighborhood, the music, the conversations and debates and the overall life of the streets that make this neighborhood a neighborhood.
The street art in the neighborhood on West 204th Street
Don’t miss the interesting street art in the neighborhood. These taggers are very talented!
One of the taggers was sending a message of crime in the neighborhood (I think)
When you are in the neighborhood, take time to really walk through Inwood Park. I feel it is one of the best parks to visit in the warmer months. It is like New York City does not exist. This is a nice place to relax on a warm sunny afternoon.
Inwood Hill Park by the Hudson River. Walking through Inwood Park is like stepping back through time when there was nothing in Manhattan but woods.
Inwood Park
Inwood Park pathway
Inwood Park in the Spring
Walking through the paths
Walking through Inwood Park
At the end of the day, I was exhausted with all the walking and was trying to make a decision on what to do for dinner. I did not want to trek all the way down to Chinatown, I did not want to walk to 181st Street to go to a restaurant I wanted to try again and then I saw the lights to the Santos Gourmet Deli Grocery and decided to check it out.
Dinner that evening at the Santos Gourmet Deli Grocery at 4672 Broadway
I saw a bunch of people in Fort Tryon Park across the street playing a game (that ended up being Bingo) and decided to get a sandwich and have a late night picnic in the park. I looked over the menu and ordered my dinner, a Chicken Parmesan Hero. It was the perfect dinner at the end of the evening.
Chicken Parmesan sandwich
The sandwich was so good
The days are getting longer and I sat down in the park and ate dinner while watching this large group play bingo. More people watched and maybe they got the same idea as it stated to get dark, more people just sat in the park and watched the sunset.
Picnicking in Fort Tryon Park
Picnicking in Fort Tryon Park
I thought I would be done early but ended up staying in the neighborhood at nightfall. This is some of the changes you are starting to see happen with new construction and many new businesses surrounding them to cater to both old and new neighbors.
The new apartment building on the corner of Broadway and Sherman Street at night when I finished my walk of the neighborhood at the end of the day
I will keep revisiting to see more of the changes coming to Inwood.
Check out my other blogs on walking around the Inwood neighborhood:
I started the first day of walking on Father’s Day, June 21, 2015. I thought it was coincidental that the first day of Summer was Father’s Day, so it made the start of my walk even more special. I would have spent this day with my dad doing something special as we always did.
So in the spirit of the day and in memory to him, I started this project, “MywalkinManhattan” exploring the island that we both loved so much. I took the number One subway uptown to Marble Hill, a section of Manhattan that is located on mainland side of the Bronx.
Marble Hill is the northern most neighborhood in Manhattan and has a very interesting history. Marble Hill has been occupied since the Dutch controlled the area. On August 18, 1646, Governor Willem Kieft, the Dutch Director of New Netherland, signed a land grant that comprised of the whole present community.
The name Marble Hill was conceived when Darius C. Crosby came up with the name in 1891 from the local deposits of dolomite marble underlying it. Dolomite marble is a soft rock that crops out in the Inwood and Marble Hill communities, known as Inwood marble. This is the marble that was used for the federal buildings in lower Manhattan when New York was the capital of the United States in the 1780’s. (Wikipedia)
After an increase in ship traffic in the 1890’s, the United States Army Corps of Engineers determined that a canal was needed for a shipping route between the Hudson and Harlem rivers. In 1895, the construction of the Harlem River Ship Channel rendered. Marble Hill became an island bounded by the canal to the south and the original course of the Harlem River to the north.
The river between Inwood and Marble Hill from the Muscato Marsh
The Greater New York Chapter of 1897 designated Marble Hill as part of the Borough of Manhattan. Effective January 1, 1914, by an act of the New York State Legislature Bronx County was created but Marble Hill remained as part of New York County. Later in 1914, the old river was filled in, physically connecting Marble Hill to the Bronx and the rest of North American Mainland. (Wikipedia)
The Marble Hill Bridge crossing from Inwood
So, I took the subway to the Marble Hill-225 Station and started the walk. Who knew while it had been sunny and warm the whole trip into the city from New Jersey and on the trip up that the heavens would open up once I got the subway stop and I would have to run from the subway station to the River Plaza Mall which is around the corner from the subway station? I would spend a half hour at Target looking for a good map of the island.
By the time I paid for it, it cleared and was still cloudy. I have to say for a city neighborhood, Marble Hill has the best of the suburbs with many chain stores and restaurants within reach of everyone in the community. There are two malls in the neighborhood, one inside and the other right around the corner from the public housing.
The Train station at Marble Hill
I walked Exterior Street first, which is where the Marble Hill Houses are located. Not much to report but the street could use a good weed whacking. It was so over-grown that you have to walk in the street.
The Marble Hill Housing Project is one side of the neighborhood
The housing in this area is pretty standard with a large complex of buildings with a common yard and playground with benches. Because of the weather, there weren’t many people outside or on the streets. As I revisited Marble Hill in the Spring of 2024, there were more people in the playgrounds but most of the families preferred the one closer to the Bronx border.
The Marble Hill Houses are on one side of Broadway
Once you cross Broadway, you have an array of unique turn of the last century homes mixed in with low pre-war apartment buildings. The Victorian style homes that line Jacobus Street and Fort Charles Street have true character and beautiful urban landscaping for the space the homes have for yards. There are all sorts of secret doors and terraces that you can only see from the street and there was a lot of pride in this neighborhood.
Marble Hill Homes are quite unique
The small side streets are filled with uniquely designed homes that have gotten a bit run down in the nine years since I visited the neighborhood. I was surprised that this neighborhood has not been discovered yet but most of the houses could have used some work. Some blocks looked better than others. Still there were some beautiful homes in the neighborhood.
Some of the homes are really unique but still need some work.
From the core of Marble Hill, you would never know that you were in the city. It is good to take time to walk these small streets, especially on a nice day to enjoy flowers and plantings from the sidewalks. Even by the Marble Hill Houses, someone joined in and planted a vegetable garden on raised beds by Broadway. By the middle of the summer, this will be filled with fruits and vegetables to the residents that planted it.
The raised bed gardens at the Marble Houses are still going strong in 2023
Broadway is the commercial strip on both sides of Marble Hill that continues around the corner of 225 Street by the subway station entrance. For a quick snack, bypass the traditional fast-food places in the neighborhood and stop by Taveras Food Center at 5193 Broadway for their Pastilitos (a type of Cuban Pastry similar to Empanada).
Tavernas Food Center 5193 Broadway
They make them in both chicken and beef and at a $1.00 they make a nice quick meal while walking around.
Fresh Pastilitos at Taveras Food Center at 5193 Broadway
Pastelitos make the best snack when walking around
Walk around the corner with these treats and admire the view of the river at 225th Street or the quirky street paintings by the downtown subway entrance. Even though some people might consider this a nuisance, if you have seen the recent prices for urban art, it might be easier to pull down the wall and bring it to market. You never know when one of these ‘taggers’ may become famous.
Walking down Broadway from Taveras, stop at Rosarina Bakery at 5219 Broadway for a doughnut. Their thickly iced doughnuts are a real treat for a $1.00 and they have a nice selection of other pastries as well. There are all sorts of small businesses along Broadway that cater to the residents of Marble Hill, so take time to explore some of these shops.
Rosarina Bakery in the strip of stores by Broadway at 5219 Broadway
I took a tour around the Marble Hill Houses and they are looking more run down considering they are being renovated. They have been under this renovation for two years now and the yards on both sides of Broadway look worse for the wear. I never see anyone outside enjoying the grass and the playground on the other side of Broadway never has any children in it.
The front of the Marble Hill Houses facing the water
The Marble Hill Houses sign
Marble Hill can be walked in about two hours but take time to stroll along the winding streets of the middle of the neighborhood and admire the homes and gardens and take time to walk along the river on 225th Street before taking the subway back to where you are going. The hills and parks are very pretty as the sun goes down.
The border between Marble Hill and the rest of Manhattan
The border of Manhattan
Happy Father’s Day, Dad with all the love a son could send you!
My father and I at “Tap O Mania” in front of Macy’s June 1994
To get there: take the Number One subway to Marble Hill (you can walk the whole neighborhood in two hours)
Walk along the winding streets in the middle of the neighborhood along Jacobus, Charles Place and Adrian Avenue to see the unique architecture. The views by the river on the Manhattan border are also quite nice of Inwood Park.
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