Inwood is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, at the northern tip of Manhattan Island, in the U.S. state of New York. It is bounded by the Hudson River to the west, Spuyten Duyvil Creek and Marble Hill to the north, the Harlem River to the east, and Washington Heights to the south.
Inwood is part of Manhattan Community District 12, and its primary ZIP Code is 10034. It is served by the 34th Precinct of the New York City Police Department and Engine Company 95/Ladder Company 36 of the New York City Fire Department. Politically, it is part of the New York City Council's 10th district.
History
Colonial history
On May 24, 1626, according to legend, Peter Minuit, the director general of the Dutch colony of New Netherland, bought the island from the indigenous Lenape people for 60 Dutch guilders and, the story goes, some trinkets. On the southern tip of the island Minuit founded New Amsterdam. A plaque (on a rock) marking what is believed to be the spot of the sale is in Inwood Hill Park, the only natural forest left in Manhattan.
During the British occupation of Manhattan in the American Revolutionary War, there was an encampment containing more than sixty huts occupied by Hessian troops between 201st and 204th Streets along Payson Avenue. The camp was discovered in 1914 by local archeologist and historian Reginald Bolton after a series of digs around the neighborhood.
19th century to present
The area between 190th and 192nd Streets was occupied by the Fort George Amusement Park, a trolley park/amusement park, from 1895 to 1914. Its site is now a seating area in Highbridge Park, which itself was laid out in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Inwood was a very rural section of Manhattan well into the early 20th century. Once the New York City Subway's IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, the modern , reached Inwood in 1906, speculative developers constructed numerous apartment buildings on the east side of Broadway. Construction continued into the 1930s, when the IND Eighth Avenue Line, the modern , reached Dyckman and 207th Streets along Broadway and the large estates west of Broadway (Seaman, Dyckman, Isham, etc.) were sold off and developed. Many of Inwood's impressive Art Deco apartment buildings were constructed during this period. The area around Dyckman Street and 10th Avenue formerly contained a stadium called the Dyckman Oval, with a capacity of 4,500 spectators, which hosted football games, boxing matches, and Negro league baseball games until it was replaced by public housing in the 1950s.
The last family-owned farm in Manhattan is believed to have been in Inwood, close to the intersection of Broadway and 214th Street. It was operated by the Benedetto family and occupied an entire city block. The farm site was developed after being sold in 1954.
Demographics
For census purposes, the New York City government classifies Inwood as part of a larger neighborhood tabulation area called Inwood and Marble Hill. Based on data from the 2010 United States Census, the population of Inwood and Marble Hill was 46,746, a change of -2,341 (-5%) from the 49,087 counted in 2000. Covering an area of , the neighborhood had a population density of . The racial makeup of the neighborhood was 15.1% (7,060) White, 9.1% (4,239) African American, 0.1% (64) Native American, 1.9% (884) Asian, 0% (5) Pacific Islander, 0.4% (179) from other races, and 1% (458) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 72.4% (33,857) of the population.
The racial composition of Inwood and Marble Hill changed moderately from 2000 to 2010, with the most significant changes being the Black population's decrease by 13% (661) and the Hispanic / Latino population's decrease by 5% (1,880). Meanwhile, the White population grew by 5% (335) and remained a minority, as with the Asian population which grew by 11% (86); the small population of all other races decreased by 24% (221).
The entirety of Community District 12, which comprises Inwood and Washington Heights, had 195,830 inhabitants as of NYC Health's 2018 Community Health Profile, with an average life expectancy of 81.4 years. This is about the same as the median life expectancy of 81.2 for all New York City neighborhoods. Most inhabitants are children and middle-aged adults: 33% are between the ages of 25 and 44, while 25% are between 45 and 64, and 19% are between 0 and 17. The ratio of college-aged and elderly residents was lower, at 10% and 13% respectively.