Inwood Hill Park: THIS is Manhattan?!
When most people think of Manhattan, they think of skyscrapers, congested tourist attractions, bumper-to-bumper traffic, pedestrians everywhere. The vast majority of people would not think of this:
Manhattan is a completely different world north of 125th Street. Crowded, office-building-lined avenues turn into hilly, in many cases winding, residential streets, and you can't walk very far without hitting a park. Continue about half an hour past midtown on the A or 1 trains to the Dyckman Street stop, and you'll be within a short walk of Inwood Hill Park, a woodsy, mountainous park more reminiscent of something 100 miles or more outside of a major city.
I only got to check out the waterfront sliver of the park, which runs from Dyckman Street (the equivalent of 200th Street) to roughly 207th Street along the Hudson River. The inland section of the park actually proved to be too deserted and undeveloped for me to confidently wander through--something I've never said about any other part of Manhattan. That said, this is definitely one of the prettier sights in the borough.
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world...
Yogi Bear, Boo-Boo, and a picnic basket are about the only things missing from this picture.
This would be a very nice place to play baseball, if I were good at baseball. True story: One summer when I was in middle school, I was put into a sports camp for some reason, and we played baseball every day. I was horrible. But one week, out of nowhere, I got a few hits, and I was made the leadoff hitter. I was so excited about this. That excitement deflated like a popped balloon when I found out from one of the counselors that they made me the leadoff hitter so they could get my spot in the lineup over with right away, and get to the better hitters.
Inwood Hill Park is about a mile north of the George Washington Bridge, pictured in this shot. Until about two years ago, I assumed anything north of the GW was the Bronx, not Manhattan. Not quite.
Inwood Hill Park is directly opposite New Jersey's Palisades. I didn't know until about a minute ago that a palisade is "a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure." (Thanks again, Wikipedia!)
The Amtrak Empire Line, which runs from New York City to Albany and then continues west to Buffalo, runs along the Hudson straight through Inwood Hill Park. Remind me to take Amtrak to Albany sometime; that must be a beautiful ride.
If Amtrak trains had windows that opened, you could virtually shake hands with passengers on the passing trains.
Inwood Hill Park is one long block from the Dyckman Street A train station, and three long blocks from the Dyckman Street 1 train station. While the A is underground in Manhattan, the 1 becomes an elevated train north of 191st Street. Here, a scene more reminiscent of a Brooklyn "el" than a Manhattan train line.
Manhattan is a completely different world north of 125th Street. Crowded, office-building-lined avenues turn into hilly, in many cases winding, residential streets, and you can't walk very far without hitting a park. Continue about half an hour past midtown on the A or 1 trains to the Dyckman Street stop, and you'll be within a short walk of Inwood Hill Park, a woodsy, mountainous park more reminiscent of something 100 miles or more outside of a major city.
I only got to check out the waterfront sliver of the park, which runs from Dyckman Street (the equivalent of 200th Street) to roughly 207th Street along the Hudson River. The inland section of the park actually proved to be too deserted and undeveloped for me to confidently wander through--something I've never said about any other part of Manhattan. That said, this is definitely one of the prettier sights in the borough.
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world...
Yogi Bear, Boo-Boo, and a picnic basket are about the only things missing from this picture.
This would be a very nice place to play baseball, if I were good at baseball. True story: One summer when I was in middle school, I was put into a sports camp for some reason, and we played baseball every day. I was horrible. But one week, out of nowhere, I got a few hits, and I was made the leadoff hitter. I was so excited about this. That excitement deflated like a popped balloon when I found out from one of the counselors that they made me the leadoff hitter so they could get my spot in the lineup over with right away, and get to the better hitters.
Inwood Hill Park is about a mile north of the George Washington Bridge, pictured in this shot. Until about two years ago, I assumed anything north of the GW was the Bronx, not Manhattan. Not quite.
Inwood Hill Park is directly opposite New Jersey's Palisades. I didn't know until about a minute ago that a palisade is "a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure." (Thanks again, Wikipedia!)
The Amtrak Empire Line, which runs from New York City to Albany and then continues west to Buffalo, runs along the Hudson straight through Inwood Hill Park. Remind me to take Amtrak to Albany sometime; that must be a beautiful ride.
If Amtrak trains had windows that opened, you could virtually shake hands with passengers on the passing trains.
Inwood Hill Park is one long block from the Dyckman Street A train station, and three long blocks from the Dyckman Street 1 train station. While the A is underground in Manhattan, the 1 becomes an elevated train north of 191st Street. Here, a scene more reminiscent of a Brooklyn "el" than a Manhattan train line.