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 is unfortunately filled with garbage.
Highbridge Park entrance by Fort George Avenue is under 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.
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 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.
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.
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. 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 at 348 Dyckman Street on one side that offers sweeping views of Hudson River and the Palisades on the New Jersey side.
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.
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.
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.
The entrance to High Bridge Park off 207th Street in the Spring of 2024 (park under renovation)
High Bridge Park entrance right off the subway stop in Spring 2024
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. 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. 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
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
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.
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).
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.
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
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 $1.00. Just be prepared to speak Spanish.
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
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. 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.
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.
The MTA Facility and the New York Sanitation Department Facility take up most of the corner of this part of Manhattan
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.
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. It is a nice way to have a reasonable to go meal while you are walking around. One restaurant for delicious Pastelitos is El Lina at 500 207th Street.
El Lina Restaurant at 500 207th Street
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)
Check out my other blogs on walking around the Inwood neighborhood:
I had to take some time out from my walk to attend the Fancy Food Show at the Javits Center in mid-town Manhattan and walking the show for three days was not enough. It was three days of talking with vendors, sampling products and seeing what new developments were happening in the industry. As a college professor in a hotel school, there are three shows I have to attend for work every year, the New York Hotel/Motel Show, the New York Restaurant Show and the New York Fancy Food Show and of the three of them, this is my favorite. You get to sample food products from all over the world and get to see what new and innovative food items are being created. It is also nice to be able to support small cottage businesses starting out. Some of the best items from the show come from them.
I broke the show down in three parts, walking the show upstairs in the domestic and foreign pavilions and then downstairs where the new products area is located along with the wines and spirits and some of the foreign vendors who they did not have space for upstairs. There are a lot of exciting products that will be coming on the market soon at your local gourmet or supermarket. These are some of the samplings of the vendors to look out for. I have to say too many people are chasing after the gourmet soda, candy bar and popcorn businesses and too many are getting lost with so-so products, bad packaging and snotty owners who will push you out of the way so that they can talk only to Whole Foods and Fresh Direct buyers. I know that they hold a lot of clout in the industry, you have to look at everyone who comes to your booth as a potential customer who can recommend your product. These were my favorite picks from the food show.
In the frozen dessert category, there are independent ice cream makers out there making small batch ice cream that would put any national brand to shame. Most of these vendors use fresh cream, sugar and fresh ingredients such as fresh fruit, tea, homemade cake mixes and chocolate. One ice cream maker that really impressed me was Tea-rrific Ice Cream who uses a an infused tea in all their flavors. The flavor that impressed me the most was their Lavender’s Blueberry, which had a richly sweet flavor of fresh cream and fresh blueberry. Made with fresh cream, organic cane sugar, a black tea infusion and a blueberry puree, this makes a delightful dessert that convert any Ben & Jerry’s lover.
Tea-rrific Ice Cream flavors
Another vendor who creates unusual flavors is Phin & Phebes, whose vision towards ice cream making is to make exciting flavors that are true to taste and made with real ingredients that make the best ice cream. Their flavors with names like Coconut Key Lime and Ginger Cookie Snap were impressive. My favorite was the Vanilla Cinnamon, which combined the creaminess of the vanilla infused flavor with the richness of the fresh cinnamon. The flavor combination is like eating a frozen cinnamon bun.
Phin & Phebes Ice Cream
My hands done choice as the best ice cream at the show was Grateter’s Ice Cream, which was my personal favorite last year. Made in small batches by a gentleman who has been working for the family for years. Graeter’s still uses the French Pot concept of slowly spinning the cream into ice cream without adding air which results in a dense creamy ice cream. Their ice cream is used with only the freshest ingredients and the taste can transform your mood it is that good. I think their peach ice cream is the best which they told me is only made certain times of the year when the peaches are at the peak of the season. There is a distinct difference in the flavor of fresh peach and a flavoring. This has an intense sweetness to it.
Graeter’s Ice Cream is best in show!
I also give an honorable mention to Mereer’s Wine Ice Cream for a good concept for adults but any kid would love a sneak a scoop from their parents.
Of the novelty frozen desserts, three really stood out to me. Enlightened Ice Cream bars were rich and dense and I had to fight with other patrons for a taste. I was able to get one of their new flavors, the Sea Salt Caramel, which was delicious. This seems to be the ‘In’ flavor right now in ice cream making. One novelty I really enjoyed and went back for seconds was JC’s Pie Pops. These delightful treats were a cross between a cake and an ice cream pop. Different from most ice cream coatings these have a crunch to them when you bit into them and their taste is the best. I had the Caramel Apple Crumble and it tasted like a frozen apple crisp a la mode on a stick. Their distinct flavors such as S’mores, Banana Cream and Caramel Turtle are a real improvement to the standard Chocolate Éclair and Strawberry Shortcake offered by the commercial companies.
JC’s Pie Pops
The most unique product that is my hands down choice as best in the show the Smooze Fruit Ice in an unusual push up packaging. These delightful treats are packed in the companies farm on the Equator in East Sumatra, Indonesia. I found these in the Indonesia Pavilion while walking around. These are the perfect dessert for children who don’t like their fresh fruit. I was able to try all the combinations, the coconut and pineapple, the coconut and pink guava and the coconut and mango. It tasted like an intense frozen fruit puree and the packaging is whimsical and childlike that would attract the child in any adult. The best was the coconut and pink guava with the sweetness of the guava really standing out. The rep was nice enough to give me a sample of each and I was sample all of them later. One nice thing about them is that they do travel well.
The snack food market continues to grow in leaps and bounds at the food show and in the industry in general. The problem is that too many vendors are doing the same thing. There is only so many ways to make cheese popcorn. Yet there were many standouts at the show that were packed with flavor and crunch.
Jody’s Gourmet Popcorn was one standout in the popcorn category. I tried their caramel corn and it had the sweetest flavor as it had a proper coat of caramel on it. They do not skip on the syrup. Their Cinnamon Toast had rich flavor of French Toast and will have you grabbing a bag at breakfast. Pretzel Pete has delicious pretzel bites in Cheddar Ale and Honey Mustard that are terrific and have a great crunch to them. The Sweetery came up with a unique product with Wine Sticks as they market as ‘the biscotti for wine’. Their chocolate sticks give a distinct flavor to wine. I don’t think these will go over with purists but they can give a complexity to certain wines. 34 Sesame Crisps have a good snap and crunch to them and go good with any spreads or just on their own.
Jody’s Gourmet Popcorn
Rick’s Chips is a small company that specializes in holiday chips with creative shapes that cater to holidays like Halloween, Forth of July, Easter and Christmas. The product has a sameness in flavor to the standard chip but the shapes and packaging make it the perfect present for a host or just to open and entertain your guests at a party. G..H. Cretors has the most delicious organic popcorn. Their Simply Salted was plain and simple and perfectly popped and their Just the Cheese Corn was the cheesiest and one of the best cheese popcorns in the show. Geraldine’s came up with a unique product as their potato sticks in Cheddar and Sweet Potato. Packed with flavor and a great crunch they make a great snack. State Street Snacks had hands down the best Caramel Corn at the show. With a thick coating of caramel on each kernel, it can be considered both a candy and a snack. If you like a sweet caramel corn, then State Street is for you. Sweet Corn Tortilla Chips have a great crunch and are low in sodium and GMO free.
Two stand outs from aboard that can compete with any company in the states are Sunshine Snacks from Trinidad in the West Indies. Their Cornados (which look like Bugles) and their Crispy Mix pack some serious crunch and have great flavor. Their Chipsters are very good as well. Superior Products out of Ecuador has some cookies, such as the Deli Chook and the Krispiz that have a crunchy chocolatey taste. Their Integral Salticas have a nice flavor and go good on their own or with cheese and spreads.
The two best products that I found at the food show were The Breaking Craves Lentil chips. These had the richest flavors and the best crunch to them. The aged white cheddar had me eating the whole bag in one sitting with its deep, flavorful cheddar flavor. Their Tomato basil was excellent too. This is not your standard snack as these are made with Lentil beans but you would never know it. The other stand out product was Mr. Cheese O’s, whose cheese rings have the tangiest cheese flavor and a snap to their crunch. It is like biting into a piece of crispy cheese. Made by the Sonoma Creamery Company, this cheese manufacturer found an extension to their cheese lines. Both of these companies had the stand out snacks of the show.
Beverages at the show come in all flavors, colors and packaging. There are so many artisan sodas and teas on the market that have no flavor. It has gotten to the point where many of these small cottage manufactures, in a race to be GMO and sugar free, have forgotten that customers want taste as well. I sampled so many tasteless products during the show I could not even count them in the end and had to keep a smiling face as their makers bragged that they didn’t have this or that in them. There is a reason why Coke is number one in the market.
Some of the stand outs that I sampled were MOO, Mrs. O’Leary’s Organic Chocolate Milk, which had the rich consistency of a chocolate shake. A product of New York State, this creamy product contains cane sugar and natural cocoa and would be an asset to any lunch box. IQ Juice had some interesting flavors with Memory that features pressed apple cider and passion fruit juice and Immunity with passion fruit and organic blueberry juice. Both claim to have healthy properties to help with memory and fight infections. Sipp has a refreshing and interesting beverage made with ginger blossom that has a sweet gingery flavor and I thought would be perfect with a spicy Chinese meal. Joe Tea has some interesting tea flavors in raspberry and peach and their raspberry lemonade is terrific. La Gloria products shines with their three sodas in clementine orange, Mediterranean cola and Sicilian Lemon. These sodas are packed with flavor and the packaging in a wooden container is very clever.
MOO Chocolate Milk
The foreign pavilions offered several interesting products as well. Fresh Start concentrates from Trinidad, that have a tangy and fruity flavor that when mixed with water offers a refreshing summer drink. Two standouts from the Chinese Pavilion were Amazonia beverages in orange and grape. One of the best products I tried along with MOO and La Gloria was the Honey Sun Groups Honey Sun wild Blueberry juice. The company specializes in all things blueberry and this flavorful naturally sweet drink is a real standout. Over ice or mixed with club soda this is another great summer drink.
In the prepared foods area, I tried many sauces, pastas and soups but the ones that really stood out were Stuffed Foods ravioli like the Chicken Confit filled with roasted chicken, broccoli rabe and romano cheese and their Ricotta impasata ravioli with mozzarella and pecorino cheeses. Chinese Southern Belle, a standout from last years show, offers sauces such as Wild West East, an Asian barbecue and Teriyaki sauce and You Spicy Thing, a stir-fry sauce and marinade. Blake Hill offers a line of delicious jellies in peach and ginger and raspberry and hibiscus. La Maison Gourmet Gravies were just excellent full of deep rich flavors and a great addition to any meat dish. Their Burgundy Peppercorn was the real standout.
The two entrees products that really shined were the Stratta Lorraine from Giorgio Foods Inc. with their flaky crust and dense flavorful fillings. It is a meal in itself. My top pick from the show was from the Van Cleve Seafood Company. Their Chesapeake Blue Crab Pie was the most delicious seafood product I have tasted at the show. A combination of fresh seafood, cheeses and spices in a flaky crust, the pie reminded my of our own fishing history and how it is a truly American product. The flavor of the cheeses and spices and the sweetness of the seafood make a delicious combination. These two knockouts would be perfect at any holiday gathering.
Van Cleve Seafood Pie
Like beverages, the show was loaded with new products in the candy and dessert area. Some items really stood out in this category as well. Hammond’s Candies featured brittle crisps and hard candy canes that were sweet without being overwhelming and their canes were fruity and colorful. Torie & Howard Chewie Fruities in blood orange & honey were really good, sweet and tangy at the same time. I really enjoyed Annie B’s caramels and her popcorn was delicious. With Love Chocolates were another standout. Their Choc-Aid was very unique. You could taste the real fruit in Pure Gummy jelly gummie products. The juicy peach was a sugary treat.
Anette’s Chocolates of Napa Valley has a line of Chocolate Wine and Liqueur sauces that are very good. These can turn an ordinary ice cream dessert into a showpiece. Deep and rich in flavor, the liqueur brings out the best of the chocolate. Le Belge, also out of Napa Valley were a standout with their rich and decadent chocolates, which were beautifully packaged for the perfect gift. Butternut Mountain Farms of Vermont has a tasty maple leaf that makes a nice treat in the fall.
Le Belge Chocolates
Two standout from abroad were Charles Chocolates of Trinidad with their layered candy bars and Fruity Poppers from Thailand which has their little fruit poppers known as a molecular food that you can see in many Asian drinks and desserts.
The top two standouts in the show were Sanders products of Michigan with their delicious and rich chocolate sauces and their chocolate bumpy cake with a cream topping is so dense and chocolaty and the creamy ‘bump’ topping really brings out the flavor of the chocolate. It tastes like a gourmet ‘devil-dog’. The best candy I tried at the show was Butterfields fruit hard candies. These candies, made with fresh fruit juices, were a knockout. One bite and you could taste the sugary, fruit flavors really burst of flavor as they claim. You can really taste the peach flavor in every crunchy bite. This is a candy you should seek out.
The last category of tasting I did at the show was the cookie and cracker area. There were many to choose from but the ones that I thought stood out for flavors and packaging varied by product. The Vienna Cookie Company offered delicious butter cookies with varied flavors but what made this product standout was their beautiful packaging. The boxed packaging is almost as beautiful as the cookies themselves. Wow Baking Company offers large chewy cookies that when wrapped individually offers a generous, sweet dessert. Their chocolate chip and Snickerdoodles were real standouts. Bella Lucia features pizzelle cookies that have a crisp, anise flavor to them and are a perfect light dessert after a large Italian meal. Aunt Butchie’s has cheesecake cones which are a cheesecake filled cone that are rich, sweet and crispy at the same time.
Vienna Cookie Company
The Belgian Kitchen offers a Liege Waffle made with real butter and vanilla extract that make a real breakfast treat. The dough is premade and ready to ship to make these richly sweet waffles. Rustic Bakery has a line of beautifully crafted and sweetly crunch star sprinkle cookies. Dimitria Delights baked goods offer a delicious butter stollen for the holidays accented the tastes of cinnamon and raisins. The Zesty Cookie Company has a lemon zinger cookie that is chewy and takes like a sugary lemon. Dolectini tea cookies have a delicious powdery Meyer lemon cookie that you can pop into your mouth.
The two standouts in the cookie category though were MK Patisserie’s Choux pastries and mini pound cakes baked to perfection and tasted as fresh as when they were first baked. Their rich flavors and beautiful appearance make the perfect ending to a fine meal. Viovanta Cookies from Greece has the hands down winner with their chocolate pinwheel full 45 cookies. It takes like a little lava cake when you bite into it and has a dense chocolaty flavor.
Viovanta Cookies from Greece
After three days of sampling and snacking through the whole show, I didn’t get back to some of my favorites and barely had the chance to finish the show. These are just some of the items featured at the New York Fancy Food Show but because of their taste, unique packing and rich flavors are items to add to your household kitchen in the future. They all make entertaining so much easier.
I started the first day of walking on Father’s Day, June 21, 2015. I thought it was coincidental that the first day of Summer was Father’s Day, so it made the start of my walk even more special. I would have spent this day with my dad doing something special as we always did.
So in the spirit of the day and in memory to him, I started this project, “MywalkinManhattan” exploring the island that we both loved so much. I took the number One subway uptown to Marble Hill, a section of Manhattan that is located on mainland side of the Bronx.
Marble Hill is the northern most neighborhood in Manhattan and has a very interesting history. Marble Hill has been occupied since the Dutch controlled the area. On August 18, 1646, Governor Willem Kieft, the Dutch Director of New Netherland, signed a land grant that comprised of the whole present community.
The name Marble Hill was conceived when Darius C. Crosby came up with the name in 1891 from the local deposits of dolomite marble underlying it. Dolomite marble is a soft rock that crops out in the Inwood and Marble Hill communities, known as Inwood marble. This is the marble that was used for the federal buildings in lower Manhattan when New York was the capital of the United States in the 1780’s. (Wikipedia)
After an increase in ship traffic in the 1890’s, the United States Army Corps of Engineers determined that a canal was needed for a shipping route between the Hudson and Harlem rivers. In 1895, the construction of the Harlem River Ship Channel rendered. Marble Hill became an island bounded by the canal to the south and the original course of the Harlem River to the north.
The river between Inwood and Marble Hill from the Muscato Marsh
The Greater New York Chapter of 1897 designated Marble Hill as part of the Borough of Manhattan. Effective January 1, 1914, by an act of the New York State Legislature Bronx County was created but Marble Hill remained as part of New York County. Later in 1914, the old river was filled in, physically connecting Marble Hill to the Bronx and the rest of North American Mainland. (Wikipedia)
The Marble Hill Bridge crossing from Inwood
So, I took the subway to the Marble Hill-225 Station and started the walk. Who knew while it had been sunny and warm the whole trip into the city from New Jersey and on the trip up that the heavens would open up once I got the subway stop and I would have to run from the subway station to the River Plaza Mall which is around the corner from the subway station? I would spend a half hour at Target looking for a good map of the island.
By the time I paid for it, it cleared and was still cloudy. I have to say for a city neighborhood, Marble Hill has the best of the suburbs with many chain stores and restaurants within reach of everyone in the community. There are two malls in the neighborhood, one inside and the other right around the corner from the public housing.
The Train station at Marble Hill
I walked Exterior Street first, which is where the Marble Hill Houses are located. Not much to report but the street could use a good weed whacking. It was so over-grown that you have to walk in the street.
The Marble Hill Housing Project is one side of the neighborhood
The housing in this area is pretty standard with a large complex of buildings with a common yard and playground with benches. Because of the weather, there weren’t many people outside or on the streets. As I revisited Marble Hill in the Spring of 2024, there were more people in the playgrounds but most of the families preferred the one closer to the Bronx border.
The Marble Hill Houses are on one side of Broadway
Once you cross Broadway, you have an array of unique turn of the last century homes mixed in with low pre-war apartment buildings. The Victorian style homes that line Jacobus Street and Fort Charles Street have true character and beautiful urban landscaping for the space the homes have for yards. There are all sorts of secret doors and terraces that you can only see from the street and there was a lot of pride in this neighborhood.
Marble Hill Homes are quite unique
The small side streets are filled with uniquely designed homes that have gotten a bit run down in the nine years since I visited the neighborhood. I was surprised that this neighborhood has not been discovered yet but most of the houses could have used some work. Some blocks looked better than others. Still there were some beautiful homes in the neighborhood.
Some of the homes are really unique but still need some work.
From the core of Marble Hill, you would never know that you were in the city. It is good to take time to walk these small streets, especially on a nice day to enjoy flowers and plantings from the sidewalks. Even by the Marble Hill Houses, someone joined in and planted a vegetable garden on raised beds by Broadway. By the middle of the summer, this will be filled with fruits and vegetables to the residents that planted it.
The raised bed gardens at the Marble Houses are still going strong in 2023
Broadway is the commercial strip on both sides of Marble Hill that continues around the corner of 225 Street by the subway station entrance. For a quick snack, bypass the traditional fast-food places in the neighborhood and stop by Taveras Food Center at 5193 Broadway for their Pastilitos (a type of Cuban Pastry similar to Empanada).
Tavernas Food Center 5193 Broadway
They make them in both chicken and beef and at a $1.00 they make a nice quick meal while walking around.
Fresh Pastilitos at Taveras Food Center at 5193 Broadway
Pastelitos make the best snack when walking around
Walk around the corner with these treats and admire the view of the river at 225th Street or the quirky street paintings by the downtown subway entrance. Even though some people might consider this a nuisance, if you have seen the recent prices for urban art, it might be easier to pull down the wall and bring it to market. You never know when one of these ‘taggers’ may become famous.
Walking down Broadway from Taveras, stop at Rosarina Bakery at 5219 Broadway for a doughnut. Their thickly iced doughnuts are a real treat for a $1.00 and they have a nice selection of other pastries as well. There are all sorts of small businesses along Broadway that cater to the residents of Marble Hill, so take time to explore some of these shops.
Rosarina Bakery in the strip of stores by Broadway at 5219 Broadway
I took a tour around the Marble Hill Houses and they are looking more run down considering they are being renovated. They have been under this renovation for two years now and the yards on both sides of Broadway look worse for the wear. I never see anyone outside enjoying the grass and the playground on the other side of Broadway never has any children in it.
The front of the Marble Hill Houses facing the water
The Marble Hill Houses sign
Marble Hill can be walked in about two hours but take time to stroll along the winding streets of the middle of the neighborhood and admire the homes and gardens and take time to walk along the river on 225th Street before taking the subway back to where you are going. The hills and parks are very pretty as the sun goes down.
The border between Marble Hill and the rest of Manhattan
The border of Manhattan
Happy Father’s Day, Dad with all the love a son could send you!
My father and I at “Tap O Mania” in front of Macy’s June 1994
To get there: take the Number One subway to Marble Hill (you can walk the whole neighborhood in two hours)
Walk along the winding streets in the middle of the neighborhood along Jacobus, Charles Place and Adrian Avenue to see the unique architecture. The views by the river on the Manhattan border are also quite nice of Inwood Park.
(This project is dedicated with much love to my father, Warren George Watrel, who still inspires me!)
Hello and Welcome to ‘MywalkinManhattan.com’, an extensive project to walk the entire island of Manhattan. My name is Justin Watrel and I will be your guide in exploring the island of Manhattan, searching every nook and cranny of the island for the unusual, the usual and the in between.
The official walk started in front of the Marble Hill Houses in the Marble Hill neighborhood
‘Walking the Island of Manhattan’ may not be terribly original as there are about four other people doing the project at the same time, but this project is different in the way I see the island. Not rushing through to prove I have walked it but to see what these neighborhoods are all about and what is there to discover and enjoy.
The unique homes of Marble Hill were my starting point in June 2015
For all you ‘Manhattanites’ who think you know your island, I will show you things that you have never seen and places you have never gone, restaurants you have never tried and historical sites and museums you never knew existed. Maybe just a few blocks from where you live. As the son of two “Brooklynites’, I have traveled around the city a lot since 1969, my first time in the City when my parents took me to Chinatown to Hunan Gardens, a Chinese restaurant on Mott Street. I ended up there for eight birthdays until it closed in the early 2000’s.
Lunar New Year Parade in Chinatown every February
“My Walk in Manhattan” is a project to walk the entire island of Manhattan in New York City from top to bottom from the beginning of the Summer of 2015 until I finish the walk. Manhattan is 13.4 miles long and 2.3 miles wide and covers a total area 23.7 square miles. Along the way of walking the streets of Manhattan, I will be walking into parks, museums, restaurants and looking at the architecture of the neighborhoods and the buildings in them.
My soon to be path around the Island of Manhattan
I have found that people miss a lot when they walk with their cellphones and only look down at it. When you look up, you see the true beauty of the City. You see the stone work of old brownstones, you see small boutiques off the beaten track and can indulge in those hole in the wall restaurants that are usually found by foreign tourists. Nothing is more interesting then seeing a stone face on a building staring back at you, a tiny pocket park that residents created out of a garbage dump and that small entrepreneur trying to create a vision.
The Cable Building at 611 Broadway
This project was inspired by many things. My major inspiration for this project follows the recent passing of my father, Warren George Watrel. My dad and I loved to walk around the city and spend the day at various museums, walking around Central Park and the Conservatory, taking the subway to try new restaurants in Chinatown or Little Italy or any new place I had read about in the Village Voice (my Bible when looking for things to do on weekends).
Columbus Circle on the West Side
My father was a ‘Brooklynite’ from Williamsburg (long before it was ‘Hipster Central’, he would have been amused) and loved the city, so this voyage is dedicated to him. Having watched the movie “The Way” with Martin Sheen, we look for inspiration in our travels and try to find the answers to why something happens the way it does. Walking to explore does that.
I was my father’s caregiver after his illness hit him and I continued my trips into Manhattan as my father got better. It was the inspiration to this site’s sister site, ‘BergenCountyCaregiver.com’. After he passed in 2014, I wanted to spend Father’s Day doing something different yet do something that we would have done together. Thus started the first walk in Marble Hill.
My first Day in Marble Hill, Manhattan
Another inspiration was a recent article in New York Magazine entitled “Which New York is Yours? A Fierce Preservationist and a Pro-Development Blogger Debate” in which the author Justin Davidson asks about the disappearance of New York’s Character. “What does that character actually consist of? If we did make an all-out effort to preserve it, how would we know what to protect?” How much is the city changing? I have worked off and on in New York City since 1988 and the answer is in some parts of Manhattan it is night and day. Could you imagine walking in Bryant or Tompkins Square Parks in 1990?
I did and they were very different places back then. With the changing Zoning Laws and gentrification of many neighborhoods, its not the city of 1970’s movies. What I am looking for are those unique little pocket parks that we pass, those statues of people we have no clue who they are and those historic plaques of places gone by and people we don’t know.
Astor Row Houses in Harlem
Another are the books, ‘Vanishing New York: How a Great City Lost its Soul’ by Jeremiah Moss and ‘The Death and Life of the Great American City’ by Jane Jacobs. How do cities keep progressing and changing? How does change effect a city and what direction are we going in? Does the Island of Manhattan have to be all luxury or can it be mixed to help keep the creativity alive and keep innovation going? Do we want the big bad 70’s again or the luxury brand of the 2010’s and 20’s? How is it impacting and changing the city? How much has Manhattan and the rest of the boroughs changed with the rezoning of the city under the Bloomberg Administration. This can also be looked at in the documentaries “Gut Renovation” and “My Brooklyn”.
The last inspiration was my doctor. He said I have to lose ten pounds. I am hardly over-weight but like many people he feels that I will be healthier if I lose the weight and keep it off. I want to see how a walk like this tones the body.
Bowling Green Park in Lower Manhattan
I know many people before have walked the entire length of Manhattan while others have or are attempting to walk the every block in the city, mine has a more personal reason. To really see the city I love from the ground up and explore parts of the island that I have never ventured to and see what I find there. Along the way, I want to see how the city changes while I am taking the walk. This is not the “Christopher Columbus” attitude most people are taking when exploring the neighborhoods but more honoring those residents who are trying to make the City better.
The Bowling Green Park Fence
My project also includes stops at various points of interest and to get a better feel for all the neighborhoods, I am walking both sides of the street to get a better look at the buildings in each neighborhood and what defines the character of a neighborhood. I get the impression from some of the readers of Mr. Davidson’s article and from comments on the Internet that Manhattan is some “playground of the wealthy that is being gentrified to the hilt and soon no one will be able to afford any part of Manhattan”. Like in any place, there are people struggling everyday to survive in New York and like every city in the country, people are moving back in droves and want a quality of life for them and their families.
Delacorte Clock in Central Park
In the Age of COVID, it has been interesting starting the project again. I had been on hold from March 13th, 2020 through June 10th, 2020 when the City was closed for anyone other than First Responder and people who had to work there. I was so happy when I could return and continue walking Manhattan. My walk down Broadway for the forth time was a surprise with all the businesses closed on the Upper West Side and I met the challenge of “The Great Saunter Walk” , the 32 mile walk around the perimeter of the island in 14 hours. There is now more to see and explore and write.
The COVID world though has me facing closed businesses that I have covered over the years. Restaurants and stores that I have mentioned in this blog since 2015 have since closed permanently or closed for the time being, I am not too sure. We also have a walking world of masks that keep us safe. The times in Manhattan are changing from the way we eat in restaurants to the way we shop and visit museums.
SoHo boarded up after the June Riots 2020
Fifth Avenue boarded up after the June Riots 2020
Things are constantly changing in Manhattan since the riots in June and COVID keeps raging in the City with people not wanting to wear masks. I hope that things will get back to normal soon. I still see people out and about doing their thing and enjoying the warm weather so I am optimistic about life. Still though, Manhattan keeps changing with the Theater District boarded up and Chinatown looking like a ghost town. We will see how New York City recovers from COVID like the rest of the country.
By August of 2025, the area completely bounced back
I have now expanded this site to three other blogs, ‘VisitingaMuseum’ (VisitingaMuseum.com), which features all the historical sites, community gardens and small museums and galleries I find in not just Manhattan but throughout the rest of the NYC and beyond in the suburbs.
‘DiningonaShoeStringinNYC’ (DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com), where I feature wonderful little restaurants, bodegas and bakeries that I find along the way. The one requirement is that the meal is around $10.00 and under (for us budget minded people).
“LittleShoponMainStreet” (LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com) where I find unique and creative stores in Manhattan and locally whose merchandising, displays, merchandise and service stand out in an age of Amazon. This harks back to a time when shopping was enjoyable and not a chore.
I have also added two new sections to the blog, “My life as a Fireman”, which I have moved from an old site that I had created for my old engine company to describe my experiences on the Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department over the last 16 years. Also, this is what takes up my time when I am not exploring New York City.
Justin Watrel, Fireman
Another is “A Local Journey” are tours of downtown’s and communities outside the New York City area to travel to when you need to escape the City’s clutches. I have specific guidelines in finding stores, restaurants and museums/cultural sites in the area. This has lead me to really explore my own town of Hasbrouck Heights, NJ and exploring out of town destinations like Red Hook, NY and Beach Haven/Long Beach Island, NJ. You would be amazed on what these small towns offer.
Downtown Red Hook, NY in the Summer months
With COVID still rearing its head when I am in New York City, I do everything to stay safe from being fully vaccinated (I have take both shots and no I have not turned into a ‘Pod Person’) to wearing a mask and keeping hand sanitizer on me. I abide by all NYC Parks rules and try to stay away from people when in museums and restaurants.
Downtown Red Hook, NY during the Christmas holiday season
Even with all its problems, New York City is still the most exciting City on earth and follow the blog, neighborhood by neighborhood and join me in discovering what makes Manhattan one of the greatest places on Earth!
So to readers who will be following me on the journey walking through Manhattan and beyond, I hope you enjoy trip walking by my side!
Me in Red Hook, Brooklyn discovering my new love in “Street Art”
This project is dedicated to my father, Warren George Watrel, with lots of love and many wonderful adventures and memories to keep me company as I take “My Walk in Manhattan”.
My dad, Warren and I at his 60th high school reunion in 2013
‘Break My Stride’ still plays in my mind when I do this walk.
This walking song plays in my mind when I start ‘Walking’. Thank you Mary Mary!
mywalkinmanhattan 