Inwood

As you are all aware, the Hellers are moving to Inwood. Yes, Nilda, you're a Heller now. Fine, you can be Jewish too. I never thought that I would live so far north, but I'm really excited about moving there. The only local street that goes into Inwood from the rest of Manhattan is Broadway, giving the neighborhood a separate feel from the rest of the city. These are some pictures Nilda and I took a couple of weeks ago in the park, in the brief amount of time I had before Nilda got too cold:

That's me holding a carton of apple cider we got at the farmer's market, which is there every Saturday. Farmer's markets are awesome! You get to spend a lot of money for tiny, misshapen apples with holes in them.

Here's a tennis court that's nearby. Nilda and I are talking about how we could play tennis there, an idea we expect to be laughing about hardily, months from now. However, if you hear yelling and a lot of cursing, you know we're trying:

This is a picture of birds that Nilda made me take. I have no idea why this was such an important picture, but here it is. Nilda, this is your punishment. What did we learn???

Here are some other points that the public needs to know about Inwood:

• Peter Minuit's "purchase" of Manhattan from the Lenape Indians on May 24, 1626 allegedly took place in Inwood. There is a plaque marking what's believed to be the spot of the sale in Inwood Hill Park. I hope they used a coupon.
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Jim Carroll (who wrote "The Basketball Diaries") are both from Inwood. Really? Are those the best people we have. Fine, then. Barak Obama is from Inwood. Yeah, that's the ticket.
• Inwood Hill Park is the last natural forest standing on Manhattan Island and contains a natural salt marsh. Nilda's standing in front of it in the picture above. I still don't know what a salt marsh is, but they have one there if you're into that kind of thing.
• The area was first developed in 1906 when the IRT train (the "1") opened, with many houses built east of Broadway. There was a second boom when the IND subway (the "A") was built, when many of the area's art deco buildings, like ours, were built west of Broadway.
• The neighborhood was initially populated by Irish immigrants, which gave way to a large Dominican population, until the awful, horrible yuppies moved in.
• There are also a lot of classically trained musicians up there, and you KNOW those people like to party.
• The area is not known for its restaurants, but there are a couple of really good ones, including Park Terrace Bistro, a Moroccan place owned by a husband and wife, Mamajuana, a fancy Latin-American place, and Grandpa's Brick Oven Pizza, which has great thin crust pizza. Too bad that buying this place means we will never, ever be allowed to eat out again.
• Best of all, our apartment is almost across the street from PJ Liquor Warehouse, probably the greatest, most amazing, best selection and best prices of wine and liquor store I've ever been to. Nilda and I go there every so often and stock up, now I can stop by on the way home. Goodbye liver, hello weight gain!!
• It's the last stop on the A. At first that sounds terrible, but then I realized that I'll always get a seat and, best of all, there is a bathroom in the station, as a safety precaution for tequila shots. Finally, you're safe, tunnel at the 190th Street station.
• Like with most neighborhoods in New York, some residents can get a little obsessive. One has even started an Inwood blog, which I have to admit I'll probably wind up reading. I promise, here and now, never to blog exclusively about the neighborhood, but only about things that will matter only to my readers, meaning Andrew and Nilda.