Okay, I did not make my goal of walking the whole city by the end of the Summer but when work, book edits, fire and ambulance calls and life in general get in the way, there is not much you can do but keep on walking. I started my walk today at the 165th Street subway station. At least I am moving down the subway lines.
Exiting the subway, I took the long walk down Broadway towards 155th Street to 153rd Street the traditional border of Washington Heights and Harlem. For all the reputation that these neighborhoods have to the rest of the city, they are really nice especially west of Broadway by the Hudson River. I concentrated on the west side of Broadway today, making 153rd Street my border until I start the eastern part of Broadway. At 84 degrees, the Summer has not let go yet and it was a beautiful sunny day to venture into the city.
I started down the hill on 153rd Street at the Trinity Church Cemetery, which is advertised at the ‘only active mausoleum’ on the island of Manhattan. By the time I got into the city at 3:30pm, the cemetery was closed for the day, but people were still walking around the sides of it, jogging, walking, biking and just enjoying the day.
The entrance to the cemetery at West 145th Street
The cemetery in the summer of 2025
By the wall on Broadway, I read a plaque that said this was the line of defense for General Washington against the British during the Revolutionary War. Many people forget how much Manhattan played a role during the war. If General Washington were only to see the neighborhood now, he would be pretty shocked. That is just about the sticker price on an apartment in the area as this area is getting more costly.
As I walked this section of Broadway, I ventured into the Sweet Life Pastry Bakery at 3887 Broadway for something to munch on to keep the sugar high. I had one of their fresh Concha pastries that is a type of sugary sweet cake. For a dollar, it quite a bargain for this red topped sugary pastry.
Venture inside for many other delicious sweets. Munching on the cake and walking around the other side of the cemetery at 155th Street, at the end of the street there is a series of steps that takes you to a set of stairs that leads to a small patch of Riverside Park with the most breathtaking views of the river and Fort Lee, New Jersey.
It’s nice on a sunny day to take in the view and the way the sun shines off the water and the river rushing by creates a very inviting and relaxing place to take in the views of the park. I sat and watched the joggers, bikers and people just walking and talking pass by enjoying their afternoon. Then it was back up the steps to continue up Riverside Drive.
As I walked down the side streets between Riverside Drive and Broadway, there are many pockets of small sites to see and enjoy. At the end of the stretch of 158th Street, there is a row of townhouses with different designs, all sitting in various stages of renovation, with a few still boarded up.
There are not many places in the city where you are going to see much of this. I was pretty surprised that two or three were still in bad shape. I don’t give it that much time before someone passes these homes and snatches them up for a new home. Still, they look genuine. Like the people that live there have seen the good times and the bad times of the neighborhood.
At the start of corner of 157th Street and the beginning of Riverside Drive at 811 Riverside Drive, there is the most unique home sitting next to an apartment building with similar architecture, but it looks more like a Gothic house that was once someone’s mansion until it was turned into apartments. This now two-family house looks almost like a frat house but kept in the utmost care. It is worth the wait to stare at from the street.
The house was built in 1922 for clothing manufacturer, Nathan Berler and was supposed to be part of a bigger development of duplex homes. It was the only one that ended up being built. This unique home sits amongst the buildings known as the Audubon Terrace (Untapped Cities).
Another is a pocket park on Riverside Drive West which mergers into Riverside Drive. What I have found is that when these communities ban together, they can create small, picturesque parks for all the neighbors to enjoy. Their form of community gardening has created a place for seniors and their caregivers to relax and kids to run around in without fears of cars. It is a nice place to sit on a bench and watch the world go by. The start of Riverside Drive off 158th Street and Edward Morgan Place offers another beautiful patch of hilly park space on two levels of stone wall with a staircase in between.
Many people were sitting on the wall chatting away enjoying the day, not noticing the trees still in full form and several brownstones with potted plants and window gardens decorating their fronts. These colorful displays accented the brownstones’ and almost brought the park to the front of their homes. A black cat followed me up the street, my first companion on this walk. After a block, it meowed and walked back down the street.
I walked all the side streets between 158th Street to 164th Street, admiring the pre-war buildings and watching the families outside setting up tables and chairs and talking to their friends and families or just playing dominoes or cards. These folks seriously pay attention to what is going on around them. My walk up and down Riverside Drive will complete this side of Broadway in Washington Heights.
The front of the Hispanic Society Museum at 613 West 155th Street
The main gallery of the museum
I stopped one day to visit the Hispanic Society Museum & Library at 613 West 155th Street (see my reviews on TripAdvisor & VisitingaMuseum.com) on one of the rare days that it was open. It is a wonderful place to admire Spanish art from different eras. Take time to admire the murals towards the back of the museum and then some of the Medieval art in the middle of the museum.
Hispanic Society Museum & Library in the main gallery
I ended my day with a soda and some freshly fried chicken Pastelitos at La Terraza at 3881 Broadway. This little restaurant displays their selection of entrees in the window. The pastelitos they in big demand as they disappeared quickly from the window display, and I lucked out with ones that just came out of the fryer. They were the best with spicy shredded chicken squirting out with every bite. That with a Coke is a nice way to end the day.
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
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:
I finished the remainder of my walk of the lower part of Fort Tyron Park today. What a scorcher of a day at 95F and the humidity was not great either. The initial part of this walk started at the middle of the park at the 190 Street station. Take the elevator from the subway station to the top floor and exit through the park. You will be in front of the Margaret Corbin Circle, a beautifully landscaped cul-de -sac at the lower end of the park, where the buses drop everyone off. In season, the flowers are a colorful bouquet of different varieties with the green of the trees in the background.
The Margaret Corbin Circle by the entrance to Fort Tryon Park
I walked around the extension of the park at the subway entrance which I had never noticed before and saw all the Tiger Lilies in bloom. Large shade trees surround this part of the park. Then I walked through the main entrance to walk through Heather Garden again which is in full bloom this time of year.
The sign for Fort Tryon Park
Fort Tryon Park
Fort Tryon Park
The entrance to Fort Tryon Park
Fort Tryon Park sign at Margaret Corbin Drive Circle
Entrance to the park off the circle at Margaret Corbin Drive
I walked around the Stan Michels Promenade past the Heather Gardens. It is such a great place to stroll and look at the various plantings. I was floored when I saw crocuses blooming this time of year when they are a Spring flower. The Heather Gardens to the side of the promenade was in full bloom and I took the time out to see what was planted. All sorts of birds, butterflies and bees make this their home so be on the lookout for things flying around.
The entrance to the Stan Michels Promenade and Heather Garden in 2025
The Heather Gardens in the Stan Michels Promenade
The Heather Gardens in the Spring of 2024
The Heather Gardens in bloom
The gardens were just as spectacular in the Spring of 2026. The colors were so vibrant and it was fun to walk along the beds.
Walking through the Heather Garden
Walking through The Heather Garden
Walking through the Heather Garden
The other side to Heather Park
I stopped for lunch at the New Leaf Café at 1 Margaret Corbin Drive (Closed in January 2020). This pretty little restaurant is as you enter the park and a short walk from the subway terminal. I have to admit that the restaurant is just beautiful with a great location and the view from the patio is pretty spectacular, but the food doesn’t match it.
The cheeseburger I ordered nicely cooked with no flavor, the fries were standard, and the dessert menu was pretty boring. It can be pricey on the lunch menu so stick to the sandwiches. The restaurant closed during COVID and has finally reopened in 2026 as ‘The Bonnefont’.
The Bonnefont Restaurant replaced the New Leaf Cafe
The New Leaf Café in Fort Tryon Park (Closed January 2020)/The new Bonnefont Restaurant is open for lunch and brunch
The service is friendly and attentive. The waiter I had, Sarah, was explaining to me how she was training in some new people and was a little distracted. I thought she was perfectly fine. I told her I loved the view and the restaurant, but the meal did not match the atmosphere. She explained that they are still working on the dessert menu and new things are being added. It is a place to visit for the view alone. (Note to readers: You can see all my restaurant and attraction reviews on TripAdvisor and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com).
Fort Tryon Park gardens and paths
I relaxed after lunch on the Linden Terrace, a stone terrace that has views of the park and in the distance, the Hudson River. It is a great place to relax in the shade on a hot day and read a book or the paper. I plotted my game plan of the neighborhood and took the elevator back down to Broadway and walked from 190th Street to 177th Street. It was a nice walk on a hot day.
The bench area in Fort Tryon Park
The beautiful flowers by the benches
Fort Tyron Park has an interesting history. The park is named after Sir William Tyron, the last British Governor of the Providence of New York. It was donated to the City by John D. Rockefeller Jr in 1935 after buying the old C. K. G. estate and employing the firm of the Olmsted Brothers, who created Central Park, to redesign it into a park.
The Fort Tryon Park plaque right by the bench area
The Battle of Fort Washington was fought here during the Revolutionary War and the first women to fight in Battle here, Margaret Corbin (who the road is named after) was wounded here. The park had fallen in hard times in the 70’s and 80’s and has now received a full restoration (Wiki).
Walking under the George Washington Bridge is something new for me. You never realize how busy that bridge is until you walk under it and around it. I was surprised by all the construction around the bridge. It seems that they are building retail space under the bridge. Who knew you could develop upscale shopping under the George Washington Bridge?
As I walked around 177th Street on the west side of Broadway the one thing I noticed was the classic housing stock around Cabrini and Haven Avenues. It is really beautiful with elegant entrances and pillared fronts. The buildings do need some work, but this area has interesting housing stock.
I took an interesting detour around the playground and under the bridge off Haven Avenue. When you walk up the crumbling steps to the walkway around the entrance and exit to the George Washington Bridge, it takes you around a spiral path around the streets through mountains of household garbage that the homeless must discard, places where these people must sleep, or gang members meet. The worst part is when you finish following the path, you must turn around and go back the way you came because the path is blocked off at the other end by a wooden door as the stairs on the other side is being repaired. This little side trip is not for the faint hearted as you do not have much room to walk around and to any passerby by car, they would have their own thoughts of why you are up there.
The street art around the playground at 177th Street is very interesting and if you decide to take the walk around the bridge area, check out the painting along the cement rail of the three faces. It really is a unique piece of artwork. Walking up the hill on 181st Street, there are some great shops and restaurants and the view walking up the hill is quite a site. It looks like a street in San Francisco.
I then walked through Jacob Javits Playground and watched the parents and their children enjoying themselves in the early afternoon. There must have been a half day because the playground was really crowded in the early afternoon.
My path took me up Cabrini Avenue past the Castle Village Apartment complex, a series of buildings with a spectacular view of the Hudson River and nicely landscaped yards around the buildings. The details along the buildings really make the complex seem like a series of medieval buildings and from what I could see from the street level a very nice place to live. The path up the road lead me right back to Fort Tyron Park, fitting from what I saw on the way up the road.
Castle Village Apartments and Park at 120 Cabrini Boulevard
Walking down Cabrini Chitterden Avenue by the Hudson River
Looking down the Hudson River from Cabrini Chitterden Avenue
The Castle Apartments on Cabrini Avenue
On my way back down the avenue, I crisscrossed the side streets at 190th, 187th, 181st, 180th and 179th, looking over the various restaurants and stores in the area. All around me I can see signs that the neighborhood is in the process of changing as the smaller low scale establishments are being replaced with more updated restaurants, shops and coffee bars.
Some of the true neighborhood stores you can tell are keeping up by changing their signs and frontage displays to cater to the newcomers. There is a real change going on in this part of the area and local merchants are starting to cash in on their new clientele while keeping the old ones happy. I stopped by a vendor selling shaved rainbow ice for $1.00. These little ice vendors are a pleasure on a hot day and are located at various spots on Broadway.
I double backed on Broadway and walked up Overlook Terrace and believe me, there is a reason why they call it that. You really have to walk up a hill and by time you reach the top by the hospital, you really have a nice view of the neighborhood. I took this to 190th Street right back up to Fort Tyron Park. You’ll find that all the roads on this side of Broadway lead back to the park. I walked the side streets back down and made the turn making Bennett Avenue my final part of the day.
Fort Tryon Park overlooking the Hudson River
Bennett Avenue like the other streets in this part of Washington Heights is dominated by natural rock formations that line pockets of the streets. Bennett Avenue is no exception as there are beautiful formations of rocks and trees that line the sides of the road on the western part of the street. Halfway up make sure to stop at the Bennett Rest, a pocket park near the rock formations to take a rest. It was a long day of the walking, and this little park is right near a Gothic looking Lutheran Church that was having a Farmers Market. A nice distraction from looking at all the apartment buildings.
West 193rd Street
West 193rd Street in the Spring of 2026
The entrance to the 190th Street subway
The rock formations on Bennett Avenue around 190th Street
Overlook Terrace
This part of upper Bennett Avenue must cater to the families working and attending Yeshiva University on the other side of Broadway as many Jewish families were walking around the neighborhood after work and relaxing in the parks in the neighborhood. The street is filled with classic looking pre-war apartments, some with doorman and chandelier foyers.
I complete my walk today walking back down Bennett Avenue. Note the beautiful rock formation that faces you walk down 192nd Street from Broadway. It is quite the site and reminds you that not all of Manhattan was blasted away to build things. I crisscrossed all the side street from the edge of Bennett to the beginning of 181st Street, noting all the businesses that faced Broadway and the restaurants that started to fill up for the evening. Note to walkers, there are some interesting restaurants around the 187th Street between Cabrini and Fort Washington Avenues to check out as well as some nice stores.
Walking down Bennett Avenue from 192nd Street during the Fall of 2025
By nightfall, I was walking up the west side of Broadway from 179th Street to the Dyckman Street A Train entrance passing Fort Tyron Park for one last time that day. People still walk in this park at night, and I saw joggers exiting. It is obviously an active park at all hours of the day. Ann Loftus Playground was still going strong even in the dark with little kids running around at 8:30pm.
The subway station by the Fort Tryon Park entrance
Walking through Fort Tryon Park from the Cloisters into Ann Loftus Park is beautiful in the late Spring and early Summer. Everything was lush and green and the gardens were all in bloom.
Exploring Fort Tryon park
The pathways of Fort Tryon Park
Fort Tryon Park
Fort Tryon Park by Broadway
Fort Tryon Park
Note: Avoid the McDonald’s on Broadway and 180th Street. The service is terrible, and they mix up your order. Also, the food is not that good.
For all the things people say about Washington Heights, you have to see it to believe it. It really is a nice neighborhood.
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 wanted to get off the beaten track of the streets today, especially since it was so hot out and explore the paths of the parks in the area. Inwood has so many beautiful parks, rock formations, valleys and peaks that when you walk the remote paths to the middle of Inwood Hill Park, with the exception of a train passing by you would never know that you were in Manhattan and not in the middle of the wilderness.
In the Spring of 2026, I revisited Inwood again for a more extensive tour for the afternoon and revisited the neighborhood and explored the blocks to see if anything changed since my original visit. The parks were really lush and in full blooming trees and flowers.
Getting off the subway stop at 207th Street. The artwork on the wall of the subway station said it all about coming back to this neighborhood.
I made my way up Broadway and have to say that the stores and restaurants keep changing with the economy. More of the upscale restaurants have closed and newer cafes, coffee shops and some Dominican gourmet restaurants have opened in their place. The neighborhood is so beautiful in the warmer months.
Getting off the 207th Street subway by Isham Park walking up Broadway
I started the day at 218th Street and started my walk of Inwood Hill Park (See review on TripAdvisor). I walked the Muscota Marsh at 218 Indian Hill Road (See review on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum@Wordpress.com) part of the Columbia campus, again at low tide and observed the many birds that call the marsh home. More people were enjoying their day at the park and all over the ball fields and lawns people were enjoying baseball games, soccer and picnics. There was a lot of activity at the upper end of the park and as you start the walk up the hill into the paths leading to the woods, you really are transported to another world.
Muscota Marsh at 218 Indian Hill Road near the Columbia Stadium
The Columbia C inside the Inlet of the Harlem River
As I walked the paths to the upper reaches of the park, I was reminded that once upon a time when Manhattan was all wooded and what the Dutch must of thought of Manhattan when they arrived. It is quite the experience walking around the park in the middle of the afternoon and no one is around this part of the park. For the all the ballgames and soccer games below, it is peaceful, relaxing and a sense of tranquility is the feeling you get as you walk along the hills and valleys of the park. These are things that you don’t see from the apartment buildings and streets below.
Muscato Marsh in the summer of 2023
Walking around the park and up through the paths into the woods is like going to another world. It is so quiet and peaceful with beautiful views, you forget that the City surrounds you.
Before you exit the playing fields and make your way through the paths that take you up through Inwood Hill, you will pass the Shorakkopoch Rock, the spot where Peter Minuet ‘bought’ the island of Manhattan from the Native Americans.
The historic Shorakkopooh rock. This is where Peter Minuet ‘bought’ Manhattan from the Native Americans
A closer view of the plaque
The upper paths of the park offer logs to sit and relax on, the view of Indian Caves, beautiful rock formations and dozens of types of wildflowers along the paths. When walking this part of the park, wind down multiple paths before reaching street level. There is lots to see in the middle of the park and if you want to be by yourself this is the part of the park you want to be in.
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. These rock formations have a history older than the City itself.
The paths of Inwood Park during the “Great Saunter”.
The rock formations in Inwood Park.
Rock formations in Inwood Park
Reaching the highest point of Inwood Park gives you the best views of the Hudson River.
The Hudson River behind the trees
The views of the Hudson River and inlet from the highest point of Inwood Park
Walking down the path through Inwood Park
As you exit the park by Dyckman Street, make a left and head back to the pier and little beach at the end of the street. It is a nice place to relax after a long walk around the park.
Walking through the back of the park on Payson Avenue
Walking to the pier at the end of Dyckman Street offers some of the most breathtaking views of the Hudson River. One side is the Hudson Restaurant which has the most amazing views of the Hudson River and look in the other direction and there is the Palisades for miles along the river.
The view of the Hudson Restaurant and looking down the Hudson River to the George Washington Bridge
Looking up the Hudson River from the pier at Dyckman Street offers
Enter the park from the lower side of Dyckman Street and enter the ball fields. On a busy Saturday, I watched a soccer game that had the intensity of an Olympic match. It was the Mexicans vs the Mexicans and you could feel the pressure from the fans. There were loads of families watching the game and picnicking by the river. What was nice was the food carts offering all sorts of Mexican food choices at very reasonable prices.
A special note when walking this section of Inwood is that there are lots of choices of places to go to the bathroom. You have the public bathrooms under the bridge, you have the public bathrooms in the playground on the corner of Dyckman Street and Payson Avenue and at the local library by the corner of Dyckman Street and Broadway.
Inwood Hill Park Rose Garden
I crossed Dyckman Street and walked into the Fort Tyron Park. At the beginning of the park is Lt. William Tighe Park Triangle. This park was open today and offered much relief from walking around Broadway. The park was named after William Tighe, a decorated veteran of two wars and a local resident (NYCParks).
William Tighe Park at Dyckman Street and Broadway during a recent art show
This little gem of a park reminds us of the positive benefits when a neighborhood of volunteers bans together to create a little park so magical and polished. There is a little pool full of golden fish to the back of this little pocket park, colorful flowers and small benches perfect to relax and read a book.
The inside of William Tighe Square Park in one of the rare days it was open
William Tighe Square Park during the art show
The reflecting pools at William Tighe Square Park
The gardens were open again in the Spring of 2026 and this section of the park was called “Jardin Abierto”. The gardens were in bloom and it was really relaxing to walk around.
I walked through the extremely busy Anne Loftus Playground again. It was some afternoon trying to avoid all the kids running all over the playground, splashing in the fountain area and chasing one another up the jungle gym while parents chatted amongst themselves or read books. This well-laid out playground is very popular with the locals at all times of the day because as I passed it one night late in the evening, the kids were still running around the park. Kids of all ages, shapes and sizes play together and they show real neighborhood unity by watching out for one another.
The Anne Loftus Playground is really popular in the late Spring and early Summer
The Anne Loftus playground was named after the District Manager and Community Board Leader for District 12, who tirelessly fought for improvement in the parks and the neighborhood. The park was name after her in 1990 when it opened. It has currently received a face lift and is being enjoyed by children and families from all over the neighborhood.
Anne Loftus Playground at Broadway and Dyckman Street
In the warmer months, the neighborhood has a wonderful Farmer’s Market on Isham Street right next to the park area. Many upstate New York vendors come down the to market and there is a nice selection depending on the season.
The Inwood Farmers Market during a Summer of 2025
The vendors are more plentiful during the summer and the beautiful produce in the summer months
At the corner of Isham Street is the Catholic Church of the Good Shepard, where I have stopped in on quiet afternoons to sit and cool down and charge my phone. The church building is beautiful inside and out.
The Catholic Church of the Good Shepard at 4967 Broadway
The Church of the Good Shepherd, built by the Paulist Fathers on land purchased from the Isham family, has been a spiritual and social center for Inwood’s Roman Catholic community for more than one hundred years. The priests ‘ ultimate aim was to establish a great Catholic centre in a part of the city which, in the near future, is destined to have a large population. Good Shepherd Church 1915 (from the church website).
The Catholic Church of the Good Shepard
The first church was a wood frame building that was moved across Cooper Street around 1930 and later razed to make way for an addition to the elementary school. As Inwood’s population increased in the 1930s following the opening of the IND subway under Broadway, the need for a larger facility for the predominantly Irish congregation was recognized. Architect Paul Monaghan was commissioned in 1935 to design the present church, a handsome, Romanesque-style building featuring a random coursed granite facade with limestone and granite trim and a roof of terra-cotta barrel tile. Three stained glass windows set between stepped buttresses are recessed above a prominent porch that projects onto the street. The building’s massing gives it prominence as a work of architecture and a symbol of the community. An impressive interior space seats approximately 1,000 people (from the church website).
The arch on the doorway
From the arch
I try to take a break in the church when I am hot and tired from all the walking. It is so beautiful inside.
I took some time to walk around both Isham Park and Bruce Reynold’s Garden which is part of the park along Cooper and Park Street. Like all the other gardens in the neighborhood, the flowers were all in bloom, there were places to sit and relax in the shade and it was so peaceful just to walk around and have some time to myself.
Like other parks in northern Manhattan, the site of Isham Park played a crucial role in the battle of Fort Washington during the American Revolution. The site served as a landing point for Hessian troops coming up the Harlem River to drive the American forces to Westchester and New Jersey (the park website).
Isham Park in the Spring of 2026
The Isham Park oval in the Spring
The oval during the Spring
The oval with the roses in bloom
All the cars were turning around at the end of the oval and what was really pretty was the roses were in full bloom at the time I visited.
The roses in bloom
Isham Park in the Spring
The Bruce Reynolds Garden was open when I was there as volunteers were cleaning and trimming the plants in the park that afternoon. It is always so nice to walk around the paths and see all the flowers and well maintained garden beds.
The gardens inside Isham park were created and maintained by Officer Bruce Reynolds, who died on 9/11 while rushing to help people escape the falling towers. The gardens were his pride and joy and he along with many volunteers took a neglected section of Isham Park and created this area to revitalize this section of the park as a place of peace and tranquility (Park website).
The Bruce Reynolds Garden
The Garden in the Spring
The gardens in bloom
The gardens in the Spring
The roses were in full bloom
The gardens were in full bloom
What I love about visiting this area of the City is that the Metropolitan Museum of Art has their Cloisters Branch of the museum on the top of the hill in Forty Tryon Park. This is where the museum houses some of its Medieval collections and the gardens inside the Cloisters when they are in bloom are so colorful to see.
I love to tour the Cloisters during any season especially in the Summer months and during the holidays. I try to walk around the upper reaches of the park before nightfall. If you like this type of art, it is one of the best of its kind. Do not miss the courtyard area to sit and relax amongst the flowers and the patio area to overlook the park.
‘The Hunt of the Unicorn Tapestries’ at the Cloisters Museum
One of my favorite exhibits is the ‘Hunt of the Unicorn’ tapestries. These world renown tapestries show the pursuit and capture of the mythical unicorn. The artwork and detail are breathtaking considering the age of these works. You can spend as little or a lot of time here, but it is a small museum.
The Cloisters at 99 Margaret Corbin Drive in Fort Tyron Park
In 2015, I ended my day back in Inwood Hill Park and stopped at the Indian Road Café at 600 218th Street #3 (it is now Inwood Farm Restaurant), a farm to table concept restaurant for dinner and a history lesson. First off, this restaurant is amazing. It is small and cozy and I was lucky to snag a table by the screen on ‘History Night’.
Indian Road Cafe at 600 West 218th Street food is excellent (now called ‘Inwood Farm’)
The front of Inwood Farm Restaurant in Spring 2026
I love the inside of the restaurant with its interesting artwork and fixtures. The room is as innovative as the menu. They also have a very nice outdoor cafe in the warmer months where you can people watch. It is a real neighborhood restaurant as many of the patrons were greeted by name and it looked like a lot of the neighborhood eats here on a regular basis.
The inside of Inwood Farm
The inside of the dining room Inwood Farm Restaurant
The bar area of the restaurant
The speaker from the Museum of Natural History, who had just given us a talk and tour on Inwood Hill Park for a museum tour that afternoon, was there talking about the history of the neighborhood and you would be floored by the number of adults hanging on every word. The gentleman discussed the history of the area with details on the amusement parks that were once here, the trolley and bridge systems and the progression of development in Inwood. The food was fantastic that evening.
When I visited in 2015 when it was Indian Road Cafe, I ordered the Cuban Panino sandwich with an iced tea for dinner that I really enjoyed. The restaurant is a ‘farm to table’ concept and you can see it in the taste and freshness of the entrée. The pork was perfectly cooked and sandwich combination worked. The salad was the right amount with a light dressing.
When I revisited again in 2026 when when the name changed to the Inwood Farm Restaurant, the food was the same high quality and I had to have the Cuban sandwich again, this time with freshly cut French Fries. The sandwich was packed with meat and cheese and pressed to perfection. I could barely finish it.
The Urbano Cubana sandwich with French Fries
The Urbano Cubana sandwich with French Fries
The sandwich was over sized and delicious
For dessert, in 2015, I had a Blueberry Cobbler that was more of a dump cake with fresh blueberries baked inside. The whole meal was wonderful, and the service was friendly and not rushed. In 2026, this was no longer on the menu so I had the Croissant Bread Pudding that had layers of honey and chocolate in it and was topped with Vanilla Gelato. It was a pretty sizable piece for dessert and it was delicious.
The Honey Bread Pudfing
The Bread Pudding with Vanilla Gelato
I sat back, ate my dinner and enjoyed my lesson on the history of Inwood. Check out the restaurant’s website for other special events and I have read many reviews on their wonderful weekend brunch. It was a nice way to end my evening touring the parks. (Special note though, watch the pricing here. They charge for refills on Ice Tea and overcharged me for the Cuban sandwich the second time by $2.00. Make sure to double check the menu on these things).
Walking up Seaman Avenue in the Spring of 2026 to tour the park again
I finished my afternoon with a quick walk around Muscato Marsh again and enjoyed the view on this warm sunny afternoon.
The inlet during the Spring by Muscato Marsh
As I headed down Broadway in the late afternoon on my way back to the “A” subway at Dyckman Street, I passed the Inwood Animal Hospital and admired the paintings of a dog and cat that were on the roll down doors. The doors just happened to be down that afternoon and I was able to get a good look at them.
I covered a lot of ground between all the parks and walking all the streets on Inwood on the west side of Broadway. There is a lot to see and do and please be prepared to walk when you go up and down the pathways in Inwood Park. It is an amazing neighborhood especially in the warmer months.
Christmas in Inwood:
Even during Christmas time, the area is really beautiful. There is also lots to do as the parks have their own Christmas trees, holiday celebrations, farmers markets and holiday traditions.
The Christmas tree in Washington Heights/Inwood.
The holiday celebration on Dyckman Street.
The Christmas tree in William Tighe Park during the holidays.
Even the Cloisters was decked out for the holidays and for the Epiphany. I have taken museum tours on the history of “Three Kings Day” and the use of plants and greenery during the holidays in the Middle Ages. The museum always have great walking tours during the holidays.
The inside of the Cloisters at Christmas time.
The greenery at the Cloisters at the holidays.
The Pagan symbols of the Christmas holidays that the Catholics adopted into the holiday.
The beautiful plants that decorate the Cloisters during the holidays.
Each of the Cloisters were lined with fresh greens and potted plants giving each of the Cloisters its own special mood. The whole museum was decorated with potted and flowering plants.
One of the Cloisters bright with plants
The stairs leading into the chapel decorated for the holidays
The chapel on the main floor decorated for the holidays
The colorful floral displays lining the window sills of the chapel
This led to a discussion about what each plant, flower and fruit meant in the Christian tradition, a clever way to justify decorating and celebrating during the holidays. Ivies, pine, winter flowers and even late season apples not only lined places of worship but gave a festive look and district smell to these buildings. A symbol of life in the cold winter months while they waited for the arrival of Spring.
One of the artifacts at the Cloisters for the talk on “Three Kings Day”.
This is what I love about the neighborhoods in New York City. You don’t have to go to just Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas tree. There are many around the City and they are beautiful in their own way. This is what makes a neighborhood as neighborhood.
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 strawberry ice for $1.00, 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.
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 walk today took me all over the lower park of Inwood. My all day walk took me from the northern border of 207th Street to the Harlem River covering both sides of Dyckman Street to Inwood Park and the Marina area covering Payson Avenue and the lower part of Seaman Avenue. My legs were killing me at the end of the day but the sites I saw were amazing.
Walking through the back of the park on Seagram Avenue
I started at the 207th Street stop and walked up 207th Street walking both sides and peeking into the small businesses that lined the street. There are still a lot of Mom & Pop stores in this area catering to the local clientele.
On a recent visit to the neighborhood, I had both breakfast and lunch at G’s Coffee Shop at 634 207th Street (see reviews on TripAdvisor and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com). The food is so reasonable (their breakfasts are delicious) and the service is very friendly. You feel like you are part of the neighborhood here.
G’s Coffee Shop burgers at 634 207th Street are excellent
I walked both sides up and down Seaman Avenue lined with pre-war apartments and sprinkled in with some small houses. Then I back tracked to walking the side streets of 204th Street, Cooper Street, Academy Street, Beak Street and Cumming Street admiring all the buildings and pocket parks along the way. I doubled back to Seaman Avenue and walked Payson Avenue which lines Inwood Hill Park.
Payson Avenue during the Spring of 2026
The apartment buildings that face the park are offered spectacular views of the flora and fauna of the park and paths leading into the park are just steps away. It is interesting that taking some of the paths off Payson Avenue lead you right into the interior of the park and takes you into the interior of a forest right on Manhattan Island.
Once you exit Payson Avenue to Dyckman Street, walk the stretch of Inwood Hill Park to the end. You will pass a very active playground which on the weekend seems to be one long birthday party.
Walking to the pier at the end of Dyckman Street offers some of the most breathtaking views of the Hudson River both looking up the river to the Palisades and down the river to the George Washington Bridge.
The view of the Hudson Restaurant and looking down the Hudson River to the George Washington Bridge
At the end of Dyckman Street on the Hudson River side you will find the very edge of Inwood Park that leads to La Marina Restaurant (now called the Hudson Restaurant in 2026) at 348 Dyckman Street on one side that offers sweeping views of Hudson River and the Palisades on the New Jersey side.
Looking up the Hudson River from the pier at Dyckman Street offers
The entrance to the Dyckman Beach Cove
The other side of the street leads to the soccer fields and to the Dyckman Street pier and next to it a small, picturesque beach and rock formation. It offers some of the best views of the Hudson River and who knew that there was a beach in this part of Manhattan. On a sunny day, it is the most relaxing place to relax on the benches and just look at the view of the Hudson River and the cliffs across the river.
The Dyckman Beach attracts more than just people on a warm day.
The ducks on the beach
After a long rest, I walked back down Dyckman Street to cover the area between that and Riverside Drive which opens to Fort Tryon Park. These streets have a row of pre-war apartment buildings that offer great views of the park and as you exit, more small pocket parks and playgrounds are on both sides. Dyckman Street between Payson Avenue and Broadway is lined with upscale eateries making it the ‘Restaurant Row’ of Inwood with more on the way.
Walking through Heather Garden during the early Spring and Summer is a very colorful and engaging experience. The gardens are so well attended to and so beautiful in season.
Walking through the Heather Garden
Walking through The Heather Garden
Walking through the Heather Garden
The other side to Heather Park
I took the walk to the other side of Dyckman Street that led to Fort Tyron Park and from the hill offers another view of the Hudson. I relaxed in two smaller parks that are part of this sea of green on Dyckman Street.
The entrance to Ann Loftus Park in the Fall of 2025
The very active Ann Loftus Playground, named after a local neighborhood leader, had all the rambunctious charm that a playground should have with kids playing on the swings, jumping through an active fountain and climbing on the jungle gym, which I thought had been outlawed since the 80’s. Parents chatted with one another while kids ran all over the park.
The Ann Loftus Playground just finished their renovation
The park again in November 2025 when I walked through to enjoy the foliage
The park was not as busy on a cool November afternoon in 2025
Enjoying the views during the Fall of 2025
Sidewalk Art in the park
Another park across the street, the Lt. William Tighe Park Triangle, which is named after a prominent Inwood resident and veteran of two World Wars, was locked in the day but I could see the colorful plantings and small benches that lined the park. This park sits across from the Dyckman Street ‘Restaurant Row”.
There was a free art show in 2023 in William Tighe Triangle Park
In 2023, the park gates were finally open (in the nine years I have been doing this project, they have never been open), they were having a small art show, so I was able to walk around the garden. The artwork was nothing interesting, but the park is so beautifully maintained and landscaped that it was fun to walk around and take a quick break from the walk to see it. This is why it took so long to leave upper Manhattan, there was so much more to see and do that not been open before.
In 2026, the garden gates were open for the afternoon as volunteers were maintaining the park and cleaning up the remnants of the Winter months. They called the garden “Jardin Abierto”.
The Jardin Abieroto in the Tighe Park
The garden in Spring
The gardens in the Spring
The gardens in the Spring
I made my first pit stop of the day at McDonald’s for one of their new frozen Strawberry Lemonade ($2.00). I have been swearing off McDonald’s for a while, but this is something so perfect and wonderful to have on a hot humid day. It is so sweet and tart it will quench your thirst while you are walking around the area. It is the perfect fast-food drink.
Dyckman Avenue shopping district
I made my way down Dyckman Street on the other side, passing many family-owned businesses catering to the neighborhood and a few national chains proving that this area is very up and coming. I covered the lower parts of Sherman, Post and Nagel Streets lined with their apartment buildings and businesses until I passed Fort George Avenue and the start of High Bridge Park.
Named after the High Bridge, the city’s oldest standing bridge, Highbridge Park was assembled piecemeal between 1867 and the 1960s, with the bulk being acquired through condemnation from 1895 to 1901 (NYCParks.org).
Although widely known for its important landmarks, the Highbridge tower and formerly mentioned bridge, the park offers natural beauty and recreational fun that serve as reason enough to visit. The park boasts the city’s first mountain biking course and a world class skate park. Open vistas and an unusual geologic makeup greet visitors who stroll the pathways north and south through the park, while pedestrians and waterside cyclists on the greenways cherish its magnificent cliffs and large rock outcroppings. The Highbridge Recreation Center and Pool have kept active New Yorkers busy since 1936, and several playgrounds and ballfields have been constructed throughout the park over the last century (NYCParks.org).
The Dyckman Houses at the end of Dyckman Street in the Spring of 2026
In 2015, along the stretch of Dyckman Street the park while rustic was full of trash. It wrecked the effect of the high hills and large boulders with their small paths. In the Spring of 2026, this part of High Bridge Park had been fully renovated and the park thoroughly cleaned. It was like a whole new park with an updated playground and a dog park.
Once passing 10th Avenue, I reached the entrance of Harlem River Drive and the beginning of High Bridge Park with the lush greenery and small parks and gardens within the larger park.
High Bridge Park is unique in itself that there are many smaller parks that are part of it. As I walked into the park on a busy weekend day, it seemed that every family in the area was either having a barbecue or a birthday party as people were cooking in every part of the lawn that was open. As you enter the park and walk down the path off Harlem River Drive you find the quiet and secluded Swindler Cove Park with its well-tended paths and natural preserve appearance along with beautiful views of the Harlem River. These winding paths will take you through the back woods and offers nice places to sit and chat.
High Bridge Park at West 190th Street and Amsterdam Avenue
I then walked up 10th and 9th Avenues crisscrossing the side streets up to 207th street. At the end of each side street from 201st through 207th there is a small park at the end of the block that the park system runs. Again these parks, as small as they were filled with families having small parties. Each little park was called Sherman Cove Park, and all offered nice views of the Harlem River.
Sherman Creek Cove Park at 3703 Harlem River Drive
It was a nice place to rest after a long day of walking. I finished my walk on this side of Inwood with a grape soda at the Community Food Store at 2893 Broadway. This bustling store offers everything you need for a day in the park or to run a small business.
Sherman Cove by the East River with new grass regrowth
My last stop of the day when I doubled back down 207th Street was a snack at Dichter Pharmacy and Soda Shoppe at 4953 Broadway. This Pharmacy is a throwback to the old Woolworth stores with the things you need to buy in the front and an ice cream parlor and lunch counter to the side. I saw their sign for ‘the best ice cream sundaes in New York’, so I had to test their claim. I was not disappointed. I had a vanilla and blueberry sundae that hit the spot after a hot day and was tempted with an order of Mozzarella sticks but decided to be good (they did stop making the hot food in 2023).
They have a full menu of lunch and dinner items, and it is worth checking out this unique spot (in Spring of 2026, most of the menu was cut and it now serves just ice cream and snacks. No more hot food). It is worth it just to sit back and chat with the soda jerk. So many great things to see today though my feet were killing me.
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:
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