Inwood, Park Terrace East at Isham Park

Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….…………… ………......………….. click to enlarge

Having covered 217th Street pretty thoroughly, I proceeded to "downtown" Inwood to pick up my boots.  This is where Park Terrace East begins at Isham Park.

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Inwood, Park Terrace East Between 215th and 217th Streets

Mary Sargent © 2009 ………………….…………… ………………….. click to enlarge

Suspense over.  It wasn't so bad outside, but at the same time, it wasn't that good, so I stuck to my neighborhood and photographed 217th Street, one block long, between Park Terrace East and Park Terrace West.  But before I got there, this scene caught my eye.  It's hard to believe there's anything behind that wall, but I'm pretty sure there is.

See comment for answer.  Thanks, Dhalgren.

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Inwood, Park Terrace East Between 217th and 215th Streets

Mary Sargent © 2009 …….. click to enlarge

I somehow got it in my head that it was going to be around 50° today. Probably NY1 with their dependably unreliable forecasts. So I'm sitting inside in my overheated apartment, thinking about the nice long walk I'm going to take. I'm getting all excited about nice long walks. But I did have sense enough to check the weather on my computer before I left. NOT 50°. 43°, feels like 33°. That's when I started getting cranky. And canceled my nice long walk. Decided to stick close to home. Went out and almost got knocked down by the wind. I took ONE photograph and came back home.

This is a view (just a small slice) of the Park Terrace Garden apartments.

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Inwood, Park Terrace East Between 217th and 215th Streets

Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge



Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

(continuing from last night) Whereas on the east side of the street, we have these rather utilitarian buildings. They're in two groupings, but look so much alike in structure and materials that they must have been built by the same builder. But look how unfinished the first grouping looks compared to the second one. Not only does the second group have finished tops with architectural elements I don't know the name of, but it has decorative brickwork going down the corners of the building.



Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

And just look at the entrance! Embassy, no less.

Which has me wondering. Did they plan it this way from the start and charge cheaper rent in the plainer version? Or were they going to construct them identically and then something happened to prevent it? The war, for example. That's the Second World War to you youngsters. Like, uh, their decorative workers were drafted? They ran out of money? These are the questions I ponder.

And here's another one. Who named these streets? There's no 216th Street west of Broadway and there's no 217th Street east of Broadway. Did they have a certain number of numbers they had to fit in so that the last street in Manhattan was 220? Were they drunk?

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Inwood, Park Terrace East Between 218th and 217th Streets

Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

On the west side of the street, there are lovely garden apartments. Please ignore the razor wire.

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Inwood, Park Terrace East Between 218th and 217th Streets

Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

Park Terrace East is one of Inwood's shortest vertical (loosely speaking) streets, running only three blocks, being stopped by Isham Park at one end and Baker Field at the other. It is also separated from Broadway, the next easterly street, by a steep hill, so no streets cut through. It would probably be a good street to defend should we be attacked.

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Inwood, Park Terrace East at 215th Street

Mary Sargent © 2008 ………. click to enlarge


Isn't this a beauty? You've seen the side of this house before.

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Inwood, Park Terrace East Between Isham Park and 215th Street

Mary Sargent © 2008 …………………………………….. click to enlarge


First I'll tell you what this is and then I'll tell you what it does (to me). This is a New York City Government Parks truck (for official use only) parked in front of Bruce's Garden. Bruce Reynolds was an Inwood resident and a Port Authority Police Officer who lost his life in the terrorist attack on 9/11/01. When he was a child, he was involved with his father in restoring the park and garden. This garden is now dedicated to him. His father still works there.

Oh, never mind what it does to me. Well, I'll just say that artificial green laid next to natural green affects me more than is reasonable.

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Inwood, Park Terrace East at 215th Street

Mary Sargent © 2007 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

And so back home. And what's this then? Some of you have seen this building before, but now there is a large painting in front of the door, adding a lovely surreal touch. Here's a close-up of the art.

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Inwood, Park Terrace East between 215th Street and Isham Park

Mary Sargent © 2007 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

Can you find the sparrow? Well, okay. But I bet if I hadn't told you, you wouldn't have seen it. This is in the wooded area beside the last building on the street, before you get to the park, but it's still Park Terrace East, and down below, lies Broadway.

Other photo: 2 sparrows up close, looking windblown

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Inwood, Park Terrace East between 215th Street and Isham Park

Mary Sargent © 2007 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

Here's a pretty little doorway I've walked by 923 times and never noticed till now.

Other photos: building façade, long shot of street. The building above is the middle building in the long shot.

In other news, last night I discovered wikimapia, and there went an hour or two. If you don't already know it, check it out. It's done on the same general principle as wikipedia, allowing contributions from anyone, subject to approval. People put in names of places along with information about them, including photos at times. Someone had a little box with an address in it and the information said "my house". Naturally, I didn't approve.

Very absorbing, and best of all, it's beautiful. Someone has taken pains to make aerial shots not only fascinating but beautiful to look at. Thank you, whoever you may be.


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Inwood, Park Terrace East between 215th Street and Isham Park

Mary Sargent © 2007 …………………………………….. click to enlarge

As I said last night, I HAD to get out today with my camera. Had to. Didn't want to, but had to. The temperature was in the low 30's, not that bad, but it was windy, and that makes all the difference. So, once again, the monthly catfood pickup provided me with a destination. But first, just in case my fingers froze later, I took some shots close to home.

Park Terrace East is three blocks long, ending at Inwood Park, and this boarded up building has been there since I moved here in 1995. Do I know what it is (or was) or what happened to it? No. You would think . . . ....I'll find out.

Click here for a view of the whole building.

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Inwood, Park Terrace East

Didn't shoot today OR yesterday. Here's a
favorite from June 2. Please click to enlarge.


Mary Sargent © 2006