View source for Inwood Hill Park

{{Short description|Public park in Manhattan, New York}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2025}}
{{Infobox park
| name = Inwood Hill Park
| photo = Native Caves.jpg
| photo_width = 225px
| photo_caption = Rock formations (used as Wecquaesgeek dwellings)
| type = [[Urban park]]
| location = [[Inwood, Manhattan]], New York City
| coordinates = {{Coord|40.8725|-73.9250|region:US-NY_type:forest|display=title,inline}}
| area = {{cvt|196.4|acre|ha}}
| created = 1926
| operator = [[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation]]
}}

'''Inwood Hill Park''' is a {{Convert|196|acre|ha}} public park in the [[Inwood, Manhattan|Inwood]] neighborhood of [[Manhattan]], New York City, operated by the [[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Inwood Hill Park |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/inwood-hill-park |access-date=August 10, 2022 |archive-date=August 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808150037/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/inwood-hill-park |url-status=live }}</ref> On a high [[schist]] ridge that rises {{convert|200|ft|m}} above the [[Hudson River]] from [[Dyckman Street]] to the northern tip of the island, Inwood Hill Park's densely folded, glacially scoured topography contains the largest remaining [[old-growth forest]] on the island of Manhattan. The area is also known as the Shorakapkok Preserve, ''shorakapkok'' meaning 'the sitting place' in the [[Munsee language]] used by the [[Wecquaesgeek]] tribe who inhabited the area for nearly 700 years.<ref name=":2" /> Unlike other Manhattan parks, Inwood Hill Park is largely composed of natural areas, consisting of mostly wooded, non-landscaped hills.

==History==
=== Site ===
[[File:Inwoodhillpark.jpg|thumb|left|Looking at the [[Henry Hudson Bridge]] from the park along [[Spuyten Duyvil Creek]]]]
[[File:WPA workers Inwood Hill Park (1938).jpg|thumb|left|[[Works Progress Administration|WPA]] workers constructing a paved pathway in Inwood Hill Park (1938)]]

Inwood Hill Park has a human history that goes back to the [[pre-Columbian era]]. Through the 17th century, the Wecquaesgeek, a [[Munsee language|Munsee]]-speaking band of [[Wappinger]] people, inhabited the area. There is evidence of a main encampment along the eastern edge of the park, known as the village of Shorakapok. The Wecquaesgeek relied on both the Hudson and [[Harlem River]]s as sources for food. Artifacts and the remains of old campfires were found in Inwood's rock shelters, suggesting their use for shelter and temporary living quarters.

[[Fort Cockhill]], one of many forts built in New York by the [[Continental Army]] during the [[American Revolutionary War]], stood in the northwestern extremity of the park. A small, five-sided earthen structure equipped with two cannons, it overlooked the mouth of [[Spuyten Duyvil Creek]] at its confluence with the Hudson River. At the time, the area was known from colonial to post–Revolutionary War times as Cox's Hill or Tubby Hook Hill.

European colonization introduced numerous farm and garden weeds, such as [[dandelions]] and the [[common plantain]]; they cleared the forest and established farms, including the planting of orchards and herbs.<ref name=":2" /> Both the British and American troops burned the forests of what would become Inwood Hill Park during the Revolutionary War.

Even though the area which is now Inwood Hill Park was the site of one of the last farms in Manhattan – which lasted to at least c. 1890<ref>Eldredge & Horenstein, p. 9</ref> – by the 19th century, it was largely the location of country retreats for some of the wealthier families of the community and the rest of New York's social elite.<ref>{{cite news |author=Unknown |url=http://myinwood.net/inwood-in-1886/ |title=Big Woods Right In Town (Inwood in 1886) |newspaper=[[New York World]] |date=December 26, 1886 |archive-date=October 25, 2020 |access-date=March 21, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201025173412/https://myinwood.net/inwood-in-1886/ |url-status=live }}</ref> One such notable who had a summer estate in Inwood was [[Isidor Straus]], co-owner of the [[Macy's]] department store and a passenger on the ill-fated voyage of the ''[[Titanic]]''. The Lords of the [[Lord & Taylor]] department store chain owned two mansions built within the park; both mansions were destroyed by fire in the latter part of the 19th century. Additionally, an [[orphanage]] was located high on a bluff in what is now Inwood Hill Park in the nineteenth century. The site today includes a small paved area and park benches; no trace of the building remains. At least three freshwater springs arise in the park, one of which was used for drinking water by the workers who constructed the [[Henry Hudson Bridge]]. Some land in the north was formerly known as Cold Spring.

Historically, the area now encompassed by Inwood Hill Park has been largely unaffected by development.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Inwood Hill Park : NYC Parks |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/inwood-hill-park |access-date=October 11, 2022 |website=www.nycgovparks.org |archive-date=October 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012074528/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/inwood-hill-park |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Use as park ===
[[File:Bromley Manhattan Plate 181 publ. 1955–56.jpg|thumb|262x262px|Bromley park map about 1955]]

[[Andrew Haswell Green]], an early commissioner of the [[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|Department of Parks and Recreation]], first suggested that a park be created in Inwood in 1895 for the newly formed department.<ref name=":2" /> His idea did not gain traction quickly, but the archeological finds in the area by individuals such as [[Reginald Pelham Bolton]], the unique geology of the hill, historical associations (both true and merely rumored), the inherent beauty of the landscape, and the views to be seen from it finally brought the city around.<ref name=concrete3637>Eldredge & Horenstein, pp. 36–37</ref> Between 1915 and the early 1940s, it purchased parcels of land that make up the park as it is today.

The park was officially opened on May 8, 1926. Squatters who lived in the abandoned estates around the perimeter of the park were removed in the 1930s by [[Robert Moses]] and the [[Works Project Administration]] (WPA). Moses built the [[West Side Highway]], which cuts directly through the park, and cut many of the historic tulip trees which dated back to the Revolutionary War.<ref name=":4" /> The WPA also paved over some trails and illuminated them with lampposts, many of which are now in need of repair. Arson and dumping have damaged the park and its integrity, as have erosion-control measures which were not well conceived.<ref name=concrete3637 />

In 1992, the central, old-growth forest area was designated as Shorakapok Preserve.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Udensiva-Brenner |first=Masha |date=May 23, 2023 |title=Mystery of the Disappearing Teepee - The Delacorte Review |url=https://delacortereview.org/2023/05/23/mystery-of-the-disappearing-teepee/ |access-date=March 1, 2025 |website=The Delacorte Review |language=en-us |archive-date=January 17, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250117221307/https://delacortereview.org/2023/05/23/mystery-of-the-disappearing-teepee/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

On September 15, 1995, the Inwood Hill Nature Center was dedicated and opened to the public. It is located near the park entrance on 218th Street and Indian Road, and is on a peninsula that was formerly connected to the Bronx mainland before the digging of the [[Harlem River Ship Canal]]. The center is located on Manhattan's only salt-water marsh, and has been designated as an interactive exhibit with ongoing monitoring of the natural area. It is also the focal point to watch the eagles that have been placed in the park to be freed when they are able to adjust to the environment.<ref>Renner, James (September 2003) [http://www.washington-heights.us/history/archives/inwood_hill_park_96.html "Inwood Hill Park"] ''Washington Heights & Inwood Online'' {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100902033654/http://www.washington-heights.us/history/archives/inwood_hill_park_96.html |date=September 2, 2010 }}</ref>

=== Great Tulip Tree and Shorakapok Rock ===
[[File:Tulip Tree on the shore of Spuyten Duyvil Creek (1913).jpg|thumb|267px|right|Tulip tree under which legend says that Native Americans sold Manhattan to Peter Minuit in 1626]]

The park's Shorakapok Preserve was formerly the site of a "Great Tulip Tree", a ''[[Liriodendron tulipifera]]'' considered the largest tree on Manhattan, as well as one of the oldest, and was championed and restored by Parks Commissioner [[Charles B. Stover]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Society |first=American Scenic and Historic Preservation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k5JPAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA191 |title=Annual Report of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society to the Legislature of the State of New York |date=1913 |publisher=The Society. |language=en }}</ref> As part of care for the tree, a plaque was put up connecting it to Hudson's voyages, a few years after the [[Hudson–Fulton Celebration]], commemorating the 300th anniversary of Hudson's work and the 100th anniversary of Fulton's. The original plaque also connected the tree to Native American archaeological finds nearby, speculating that some of the Native Americans at Shorakapok could have interacted with Hudson. Hudson actually engaged in a battle from his ship with Native Americans at nearby Nipinichsen, just north of Spuyten Duyvil Creek, on October 2, 1609. The tree survived for centuries until it was felled by a storm in 1933.

[[File:Shorakkopoch Rock.jpg|thumb|267px|Shorakkopoch Rock]]

Until the 1950s the stump was still to be seen, surrounded by a large iron fence, but as it rotted it was finally removed and a boulder and plaque replaced it. Peter Minuit Post 1247 of the [[American Legion]] placed the boulder and the plaque in 1954, commemorating the 300th anniversary of New Amsterdam gaining municipal rights a year earlier. The plaque labels the boulder "Shorakkopoch" (a more recent Parks Department sign nearby calls it "Shorakapok Rock"), and claims that "according to legend" this is where Minuit negotiated the purchase of Manhattan Island from Native Americans.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Inwood Hill Park Monuments : NYC Parks |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/inwood-hill-park/monuments |access-date=August 10, 2022 |website=www.nycgovparks.org |archive-date=July 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710034556/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/inwood-hill-park/monuments |url-status=live }}</ref> The account does not appear in any historical records, and some historians place any such meeting location in Lower Manhattan.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Douglas |first=Peter A. |date=April 2009 |title=The Native Place of Manhattan: Where Did the Manhattan "Purchase" Take Place? |url=https://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/files/4913/5680/2107/Where_did_the_Manhattan_Purchase_Take_Place_.pdf |website=New Netherland Institute |access-date=July 1, 2021 |archive-date=August 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814191803/https://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/files/4913/5680/2107/Where_did_the_Manhattan_Purchase_Take_Place_.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The association of a "treaty tree" in different locations with land acquisition has been noted as a common myth that promotes a narrative of peaceful colonial settlement.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Monuments of Colonial New York: The Tulip Tree and 'Signal' |url=https://www.gothamcenter.org/blog/monuments-roundtable-tulip-tree-and-signals |access-date=July 1, 2021 |website=The Gotham Center for New York City History |date=October 12, 2020 |language=en-US |archive-date=July 9, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709182321/https://www.gothamcenter.org/blog/monuments-roundtable-tulip-tree-and-signals |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Geography==
[[File:Pothole Inwood Hill.jpg|thumb|right|The largest [[Giant's kettle|glacial pothole]] in New York City is located in Inwood Hill Park.]]

The park covers {{Convert|196|acre|ha}}.<ref name="NYC Parks">{{cite web |title=Inwood Hill Park |url=http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/inwoodhillpark |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |access-date=July 26, 2009 |archive-date=May 23, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523051558/http://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/inwoodhillpark |url-status=live }}</ref> The Henry Hudson Parkway and [[Amtrak]]'s [[West Side Line#Empire Connection|Empire Connection]] railroad line run through it, and at its northern end the Henry Hudson Bridge and the rail-only [[Spuyten Duyvil Bridge]] link Manhattan to the Bronx.

The park's western boundary is the Hudson River, and the southern boundary is [[Dyckman Street]]. From Dyckman to 204th Street the eastern boundary is Payson Avenue, from 204th to 214th Street it is Seaman Avenue, and from 215th Street to the park's end at 218th Street the eastern boundary is Indian Road.<ref name="NYC Parks"/> {{convert|10|mi}} footpaths criss-cross the park, allowing easy access to Dyckman Street, [[Fort Tryon Park]], [[Fort Washington Park (Manhattan)|Fort Washington Park]], and [[Riverside Park (Manhattan)|Riverside Park]] – part of the [[Manhattan Waterfront Greenway]]. Some of these trails are former roads leading to what were once summer estates that later were brought under the control of the city in the creation of the park.<ref name="Yarrow 1987">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/01/arts/exploring-inwood-hill-s-urban-wilderness.html |title=Exploring Inwood Hill's Urban Wilderness |last=Yarrow |first=Andrew L. |date=May 1, 1987 |work=The New York Times |access-date=September 28, 2019 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=August 8, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808135423/http://www.nytimes.com/1987/05/01/arts/exploring-inwood-hill-s-urban-wilderness.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Bolton Road, which was the main drive to the Bolton estate, is now the primary pedestrian pathway within the park; its entrance marked by a sign located on Payson Avenue.<ref name="NYC Parks"/>

Inwood Hill Park is geologically diverse, with marble, schist, and limestone all prevalent in the area. The park is next to the seismologically active [[Dyckman Street Fault]] which runs parallel along the southern border of the park. As recently as 1989, activity of this fault caused a [[Seismic magnitude scales|magnitude 2]] earthquake.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.tworivertimes.com/issues/110318/news5.php |title=Could It Happen Here? Earthquakes In The Tri-State Area |newspaper=Two River Times |date=November 30, 1989 |author=Fennell, Ryan |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719063143/http://www.tworivertimes.com/issues/110318/news5.php |archive-date=July 19, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Sykes, Lynn R. |display-authors=etal |url=http://www.earth.columbia.edu/sitefiles/file/pressreleases/1696.pdf |title=Observations and Tectonic Setting of Historic and Instrumentally Located Earthquakes in the Greater New York City–Philadelphia Area |work=Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Vol. 98, No. 4, pp. 1696–1719 |date=August 2008 |access-date=December 1, 2015 |archive-date=August 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827073347/https://www.earth.columbia.edu/sitefiles/file/pressreleases/1696.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Could an earthquake hit New York City? History says yes, but not like 9.0 magnitude Japan earthquake |author=Shahid, Alihay |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/earthquake-hit-new-york-city-history-yes-not-9-0-magnitude-japan-earthquake-article-1.124761 |newspaper=[[New York Daily News]] |date=March 17, 2011 |archive-date=September 27, 2019 |access-date=December 1, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927181057/https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/earthquake-hit-new-york-city-history-yes-not-9-0-magnitude-japan-earthquake-article-1.124761 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Fauna and flora==
One of the earliest known records of the flora of Inwood was recorded by [[W. W. Denslow]], then a resident of Inwood, around 1863.<ref name=":2" /> The [[Torrey Botanical Society]], newly formed in 1867, noted several orchid species growing on the west slopes of a ridge in Inwood, as well as around Spuyten Duyvil, including a small colony of ''[[Tipularia discolor]]'', that the group scrupulously cared for. Denslow also recorded two uncommon species of ''[[Habenaria]]'' in the salt marshes around Inwood.<ref name=":4">{{Cite thesis |last=Fitzgerald |first=Judith |title=The Ecology, Geology, and History of Inwood Hill Park in Northern Manhattan, New York County, New York. |date=2006 |access-date=January 9, 2024 |degree=PhD |publisher=[[City University of New York]] |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/305356481 |id={{ProQuest|305356481}} |archive-date=September 22, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240922022519/https://www.proquest.com/docview/305356481 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The forest of Inwood Hill Park is within a region once designated as an [[oak-chestnut forest]]. Due to the demise of the [[American chestnut]] due to [[chestnut blight]], the forest composition has altered drastically since 1917 and is now oak-hickory dominated.<ref name=":4" />

The area of the park along the Harlem River includes [[Muscota Marsh]], one of Manhattan's last remaining natural [[salt marsh]]es, the other being Smuggler's Cove, which attracts large numbers of [[waterbird]]s. These waterfowl can be studied further via educational programs held at the Nature Center at the north end of the property. [[Mallard]]s, [[Canada goose|Canada geese]] and [[ring-billed gull]]s are year-round residents, using both the water and the nearby lawns and ball fields. Many wading birds and waterfowl pass through on the spring and fall migrations, and [[heron]]s and [[cormorant]]s often spend the summer. The [[salt marsh]] is also home to many fish, [[Mollusca|mollusks]], and [[crustacean]]s which live among the [[cordgrass]] and [[bulrush]]es, which can tolerate both salt and fresh water.<ref name="Eldredge & Horenstein, pp.34-35">Eldredge & Horenstein, pp.34-35</ref>

The woods support a wide variety of birds, including common species such as [[blue jay]]s and [[Northern cardinal|cardinals]], as well as [[wild turkey]]s. [[bird of prey|Birds of prey]] that breed in the park include [[red-tailed hawk]]s and owls. A five-year project that began in summer 2002 attempted to reintroduce the [[bald eagle]] to Manhattan using [[Hack (falconry)|hacking]] boxes in the park and eaglets brought in from the Midwest. In the first summer, three of the four introduced eaglets fledged successfully; three or four fledged each year of the program.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_about/parks_divisions/urban_park_rangers/eaglecam/blog/index.html |title=City of New York/Parks and Recreation Eagles<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=November 28, 2007 |archive-date=April 12, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080412070926/http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_about/parks_divisions/urban_park_rangers/eaglecam/blog/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The nesting structure was removed in 2009.<ref name="Eldredge & Horenstein, pp.34-35"/>

Animals found in the park include Eastern and [[meadow vole]]s, red-bellied [[salamander]]s, [[southern flying squirrel]]s, [[opossum]]s, white-footed [[deer mice]], and [[cottontail rabbit]]s, as well as the expected [[eastern grey squirrel]]s and [[raccoon]]s. [[Foxes]] were also once residents, but the increasing number of [[coyote]]s spotted in [[Central Park]] and in the Bronx's [[Van Cortlandt Park]] may account for the foxes' apparent current absence.<ref name="Eldredge & Horenstein, pp.34-35"/>

Although the park does not support large wild mammals, the local wildlife does include raccoons and skunks as well as rodents typical to large urban areas. Residents and non-residents alike hunt for fish from the riverbank at the north end of the park.

The park has both native and invasive plant species. While the presence of plant life is obvious, the fauna may not be as revealing.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Sanderson |first=Eric W. |title=Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City |date=September 2022 |location=New York |publisher=Abrams |isbn=978-1-61312-573-1 |oclc=897840866 }}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last1=Fitzgerald |first1=Judith M. |last2=Loeb |first2=Robert E. |date=2008 |title=Historical Ecology of Inwood Hill Park, Manhattan, New York |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40207578 |journal=The Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society |volume=135 |issue=2 |pages=281–293 |doi=10.3159/07-RA-046.1 |jstor=40207578 |issn=1095-5674 |archive-date=October 27, 2022 |access-date=December 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221027165728/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40207578 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Native and non-native species===
Native species from nurseries were added to the park to provide greater vegetation, such as ''[[Abies balsamea]]'', ''[[Acer rubrum]]'', [[Acer saccharum|''A. saccharum'']], ''[[Aesculus]]'', and ''[[Betula lenta]]''. Non-native species were also introduced to the park, affecting the native species. Some of the non-native species present were ''[[Rubus phoenicolasius]]'' (once rare and now the most prevalent ''Rubus'' species in the park), [[paper mulberry]] (L) Vent., ''[[Morus alba]]'' L, and ''[[Paulownia tomentosa]]'' (Thund.) Steudel. In the 1930s, a total of 83 species were found, of which 32 were non-native species.<ref name=":2" />

Nearly all of the orchid species reported by Denslow in Manhattan and what is now the Bronx had disappeared by the turn of the 20th century. The only species of orchid still found in Inwood Hill Park is ''[[Epipactis helleborine]]'', an introduced and invasive species which is native to Europe.<ref name=":4" />

==Usage==
The park contains three [[playground]]s, baseball and soccer fields, and tennis and basketball courts.<ref name="Yarrow 1987"/> The Inwood Hill Nature Center at the north end of the park is both a location for educational programs and the local headquarters of the [[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation#Urban Park Rangers|Urban Park Rangers]]. Inwood Hill Park's ball-fields are heavily used by local and other city leagues during the baseball season. This usage places extreme pressure on the park, which, as a result, has required more active management in recent years.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

Inwood Hill Park also has facilities for barbecuing, a dogs run, and kayak and canoe launches.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Inwood Hill Park : NYC Parks |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/inwood-hill-park |access-date=October 13, 2022 |website=www.nycgovparks.org |archive-date=October 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012074528/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/inwood-hill-park |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Inwood Hill Park - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation |url=https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/55667.html |access-date=October 13, 2022 |website=www.dec.ny.gov }}</ref> The park highlights specific activities that contribute to the park usage such as the hiking trail and the Hudson River Bike Trail.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Inwood Hill Park |url=https://www.nyrr.org/openrun/parks/inwood-hill-park |access-date=October 13, 2022 |website=www.nyrr.org |language=en-US |archive-date=August 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240825071211/https://www.nyrr.org/openrun/parks/inwood-hill-park |url-status=live }}</ref>

The lack of green space in the eastern part of Inwood and [[the Bronx]] nearby creates an enormous demand for picnicking with barbecues and table/chair setups, activity that is either illegal or tightly controlled in most other city parks; however, Inwood Hill Park has managed this by permitting such setups on the manicured, maintained peninsula portion of the park.

[[New York Road Runners]] hosts a weekly 2.75-mile Open Run.<ref>{{cite web |title=Inwood Hill Park=NYRR |date=August 23, 2023 |last=Staff |first=NYRR |url=https://www.nyrr.org/openrun/parks/inwood-hill-park |access-date=August 23, 2023 }}</ref>

== Economic impact ==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:The Economic Benefits of Parks in New York City.jpeg|thumb|March 2022 report published by the Trust for Public Land,<ref name=":3" /> detailing the economic benefit of New York City's parks]] -->

Urban parks have a significant economic impact on surrounding communities.<ref name=":3">Clinton, J., Hwang, L., Egan, J., Hannon Sr, M., & Strickland, C. (2022). The Economic Benefits of Parks in New York City. Trust for Public Land. https://www.tpl.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/033022_Economic-Benefits-NYC_Final_v2.pdf {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221211153149/https://www.tpl.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/033022_Economic-Benefits-NYC_Final_v2.pdf |date=December 11, 2022 }}.</ref> The development and evolution of Inwood Hill Park's [[Floral morphology|flora]] and fauna are intrinsically linked to the financial stability of New York City City and its residents. Fiscal investments of the state have a significant impact on the health and species diversity of flora and fauna in New York city parks.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Scimecca |first=James |date=October 18, 2022 |title=Can New York Afford the "Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022"? |url=https://www.empirecenter.org/publications/can-new-york-afford-the-clean-water-clean-air-and-green-jobs-environmental-bond-act-of-2022/ |access-date=November 22, 2022 |website=Empire Center for Public Policy |language=en-US |archive-date=November 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122201001/https://www.empirecenter.org/publications/can-new-york-afford-the-clean-water-clean-air-and-green-jobs-environmental-bond-act-of-2022/ |url-status=live }}</ref> During the [[History of New York City (1946–1977)#Fiscal crisis of 1975|New York fiscal crisis]] in 1975, the New York state government decided it would be prudent to cut funding for the maintenance of New York parks and redistribute the money to other areas of public and private services.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Krinsky |first1=John |url=https://www.bibliovault.org/BV.landing.epl?ISBN=9780226435619 |title=Who Cleans the Park?: Public Work and Urban Governance in New York City |last2=Simonet |first2=Maud |date=2017 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-43558-9 |language=en |doi=10.7208/chicago/9780226435619.003.0004 }}</ref> Consequently, many public workers in New York City parks were laid off.<ref>Holtzman, Benjamin, 'Remaking Public Parks', The Long Crisis: New York City and the Path to Neoliberalism (New York, 2021; online edn, Oxford Academic, January 21, 2021), {{doi|10.1093/oso/9780190843700.003.0004}}, accessed December 11, 2022.</ref> The Protected Native Plants Program was created in 1989 to provide regulatory protection for native New York state plants and was subsequently updated in 2012 in accordance with new data provided by the New York Natural Heritage Program.<ref>{{Cite web |title=View Document - New York Codes, Rules and Regulations |url=https://govt.westlaw.com/nycrr/Document/I21efe775c22211ddb7c8fb397c5bd26b?viewType=FullText&originationContext=documenttoc&transitionType=CategoryPageItem&contextData=(sc.Default)&bhcp=1 |access-date=December 11, 2022 |website=govt.westlaw.com |archive-date=June 27, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230627081320/https://govt.westlaw.com/nycrr/Document/I21efe775c22211ddb7c8fb397c5bd26b?viewType=FullText&originationContext=documenttoc&transitionType=CategoryPageItem&contextData=(sc.Default)&bhcp=1 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=State Protected Plants - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation |url=https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7135.html |access-date=December 11, 2022 |website=www.dec.ny.gov |archive-date=December 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221202221658/https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7135.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In contrast to more visited parks such as [[Central Park]], which receive a substantial amount of funding from donations from the surrounding community, a majority of Inwood Hill Park's funding is provided by a combination of grants and property taxes, common methods of funding parks in low-income areas. Partnerships for Parks, a nonprofit organization, has partnered with the city of New York to maintain and manage parks and promote their use.

The Clean Water, Clean Air, and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act passed as a ballot initiative in the November 2022 New York state general election.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=November 9, 2022 |title=New York Voters Pass Historic 2022 Environmental Bond Act |url=https://www.edf.org/media/new-york-voters-pass-historic-2022-environmental-bond-act |access-date=November 22, 2022 |website=Environmental Defense Fund |language=en |archive-date=November 22, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122201002/https://www.edf.org/media/new-york-voters-pass-historic-2022-environmental-bond-act |url-status=live }}</ref> As part of this approved initiative, New York plans to set aside $4.2 billion in order to enhance, allocate and redevelop the natural landscape and environment of the state. Of these funds, $650 million will be allocated to parks, open spaces, and agricultural lands. This will involve the purchase of land for conservation, restoration/beautification of parks, and the expansion of the proportion of state-owned land. It is expected that the Bond Act will result in the creation of approximately 84,000 jobs.<ref name=":0" /> A six- to nine-month training program designed to provide employees with an understanding of the environment will be provided by the Parks Opportunities Program, and will include training on soil composition, tree types, and plant and animal species.

==In popular culture==
The park is a central location in the 2013 science fiction novel ''The Orion Plan'', due to its being a low-population area of a brightly lit city.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/the-bowling-ball-that-invaded-earth |title=The Bowling Ball That Invaded Earth |last1=Alpert, Steve |first1=Mark |last2=Mirsky |first2=Steve |date=May 5, 2016 |website=[[Scientific American]] |publisher=[[Springer Nature America, Inc.]] |access-date=December 31, 2022 |quote=it intentionally homes in on the brightest spot that it sees because it wants to take advantage of our electric power and it’s going to land right in a relatively deserted corner of New York City, right up in Inwood Hill Park, in the northern tip of Manhattan |archive-date=December 31, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231052644/https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/the-bowling-ball-that-invaded-earth/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

{{Panorama
 | image = File:Inwood Hill Park Panorama.jpg
 | caption = <div align=center>Panorama of the park in fall</div>
 | height = 180
}}

==References==
=== Notes ===
{{reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
* {{Cite concrete}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Inwood Hill Park}}
* [http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/park_info_pages/park_info.php?propID=M042 NYC Parks: Inwood Hill Park] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210211232751/http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/park_info_pages/park_info.php?propID=M042 |date=February 11, 2021 }}
* {{URL|1=https://www.nyrr.org/openrun/parks/inwood-hill-park|2=NYRR Open Run Inwood Hill Park}}

{{Protected areas of New York City}}

[[Category:1926 establishments in New York City]]
[[Category:Harlem River]]
[[Category:Individual trees in New York City]]
[[Category:Inwood, Manhattan]]
[[Category:Nature centers in New York City]]
[[Category:Parks in Manhattan]]
[[Category:Urban public parks]]
[[Category:Works Progress Administration in New York City]]