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We've rounded up the best our community has to offer in events, destinations, arts and outdoors. Here you’ll find the spot where legend has it the Dutch purchased the island, an apartment that is host to a jazz concert every Sunday afternoon, and the Uptown Arts Stroll, the home-grown month-long performing and visual arts festival that takes over uptown every June.
Washington Heights and Inwood have much more to offer than what's listed here. We'll add to this page as the weeks roll on. Whether you are a local or visitor, find some time to see what's happening in Northern Manhattan.
EVENTS
 Uptown Arts Stroll
June 1-28, 2010
212-568-4396
www.nomaanyc.org, www.artstroll.com
The 7th annual arts festival in June spotlights local visual and performing artists with exhibits and events throughout Washington Heights and Inwood. Highlights include the opening reception at the office of the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance (June 5), the day of dance and music in Fort Tryon Park (June 13) and a day of open studios (June 28).
 Inwood Shakespeare Festival
Inwood Hill Park Peninsula, enter at Indian Rd.
Throughout July
212-567-5255
www.moosehallisf.org
The Moosehall Theatre Company takes up its annual residency in Inwood Hill Park for the 10th year, performing “The Merchant of Venice” 12 times in June and Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” 12 times in July.
 Hike the Heights 5/Giraffe Path
June 2010
www.thegiraffenyc.org
On June 5 for the fifth year several local organizations will lead children and families through eight Northern Manhattan parks, many of them linked by a path of paper-mache giraffes, culminating in a pot luck party in Highbridge Park.
 Scandinavian Music Festival
On the Billings Lawn near the Cloisters
212-927-1596
www.nyscandia.org
The New York Scandia Symphony stages its annual concerts in Fort Tryon Park on June 7, 14, and 21 at 2pm.
Dia Foundation
June 2010
Broadway and W. 155th Street
212-989-5566
www.diacenter.org
Dia Art Foundation collaborates with the Hispanic Society of America to present commissioned exhibits and stage the popular Tuesdays on the Terrace June 16, 30 and July 14. Photo: Stephen Grande Jr.
 Carnaval del Boulevard
July 2010
St. Nicholas Ave.
between Broadway and W. 181st St.
212-740-6806
www.jpdfoundation.org
For the 10th summer, on July 19 St. Nicholas Ave. will feature a parade of Dominican folkloric dancers and masked diablos cracking whips.
 Dyckman Basketball Tournament
June and July
Monsignor Kett Playground
at Nagle Ave. and W. 204th St.
www.dyckmanpark.com
Over 19 years this tournament has hosted some of the city’s hottest street ball, attracting locals as well as top college and pro talent, including the NBA’s Ron Artest, during June and July.
Medieval Festival
October 3, 2010
Fort Tryon Park, enter at Margaret Corbin Circle
212-795-1600
Info on www.whidc.org
A Medieval market town returns Oct. 4 with music, magic, minstrels, and a thrilling joust between four knights on horseback. Rain date Oct. 11.
 Uptown Treasures
October 2010
212-696-7995
www.uptowntreasures.org
Local cultural institutions stage open houses on Oct. 18, including the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Cloisters, Dyckman Farmhouse Museum, High Bridge Water Tower, the Hispanic Society of America, Morris-Jumel Mansion Museum and the National Track & Field Hall of Fame Museum.
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DESTINATIONS
 Little Red Lighthouse and George Washington Bridge
Lighthouse: Cross foot bridge at west end of W. 181st St. and follow path.
Bridge: Enter at W. 179th St. and Fort Washington Ave.
212-304-2365
Info on www.historichousetrust.org
The star of the children's book “The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge” is open on select weekends throughout the warm months and hosts a festival with celebrity readings in September. The GWB has a pedestrian and bike lane that provides commanding views of Manhattan, and New Jersey, along the nearly mile-long span.
 Morris-Jumel Mansion
Jumel Terrace at W. 160th St.
212-923-8008
www.morrisjumel.org
The Morris-Jumel Mansion, dating from 1765, served as General Washington’s headquarters and later as the home of Aaron Burr.
 Malcolm X & Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Education Center
3940 Broadway at W. 165th St.
212-568-1341
www.theshabazzcenter.net
The former Audubon Ballroom where Malcolm X was assassinated offers interpretive kiosks and a full slate of cultural programs.
 National Track and Field Hall of Fame
216 Fort Washington Ave. at W. 168th St.
212-923-1803
www.ny.milesplit.us/pages/Hall-of-Fame
An interactive museum showcases Olympic moments and world records at the Armory with one of the world’s fastest indoor tracks.
 Dyckman Farmhouse
4881 Broadway at W. 204th St.
212-304-9422
www.dyckmanfarmhouse.org
The Dutch Colonial style home was built in the 1780s and remains Manhattan’s oldest farmhouse, a passport to the city’s rural past.
 Museum of Art and Origins
430 W. 162nd St. and Jumel Terrace
212-740-2001
George Preston, a long-time City College professor, transformed his brownstone by filling it with African masks, figures, and implements (open by appointment).
United Palace Theater
4140 Broadway at W. 175th St.
212-568-6700 (Call for a tour.)
www.theunitedpalace.com/home.html
Opened in 1930 as a vaudeville house, it was restored by Christ United Church and now hosts the likes of Neil Young and Björk.
Trinity Cemetery
550 W. 155th St. at Broadway
212-283-6200
www.intercessionnyc.dioceseny.org
The final resting place of John James Audubon and Clement Clarke Moore, author of “A Visit from Saint Nicholas,” read here every year.
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ART
 The Cloisters
99 Margaret Corbin Drive in Ft. Tryon Park
212-923-3700
www.metmuseum.org/cloisters
The northern outpost of the Metropolitan Museum of Art houses its collection of medieval art in the architecturally stunning structure cobbled together from five French cloisters.
 The Hispanic Society of America
613 W. 155th St. at Broadway
212-926-2234
www.hispanicsociety.org
Art from early to modern Spain including, of course, its world famous collection of masters: El Greco, Velazquez, Goya and others.
 Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance
178 Bennett Ave. at W. 189th St.
212-568-4396
Info on www.nomaanyc.org
The two-year-old arts service organization recently expanded its office space to host year-round exhibits of local artists, Latinos, and its grantees.
 Parlor Jazz
555 Edgecombe Ave. #3f at W. 160th St.
212-781-6595
Every Sunday since 1993, Marjorie Eliot has hosted a jazz performance in her living room, keeping the jazz tradition alive by featuring veteran performers and up-and-coming musicians.
 Pied Piper Children’s Theatre
Holy Trinity Church, 20 Cumming St.
212-544-2976
www.piedpipertheatre.org
Since 2000 actors age 5 to 18 have staged performances from Shakespeare to Grease.
 Rio Penthouse Gallery
10 Ft. Washington Ave. at W. 159th St.
212-568-2030 (Call for appointments.)
www.broadwayhousing.org/galleries/
Located in Broadway Housing Communities’ buildings, the gallery showcases emerging artists, largely Latino and African-American.
Music at Our Saviour’s Atonement
178 Bennett Ave. at W. 189th St.
212-923-5757
Info on www.osa-nyc.org
MOSA offers an intimate venue for classical chamber music of the 20th- and 21st-centuries, some of which was written by locals.
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OUTDOORS
Highbridge Park, High Bridge & Water Tower
Amsterdam Ave. at W. 174th St. behind pool
212-927-2400
Info on www.nycgovparks.org
Highbridge Park sprawls along Manhattan's eastern side from W. 155th to Dyckman Streets, offering extensive trails and regularly scheduled tours of the Highbridge Water Tower, which once helped relay the island's drinking water downtown. It stands near the High Bridge, the city's oldest bridge, which the city and local groups are working to reopen to foot traffic.
Ft Tryon Park/Heather Garden
Enter park at Margaret Corbin Circle
Info on www.nycgovparks.org
Sixty-seven-acre Fort Tryon Park is home to the Heather Garden, which has year-round interest and panoramic views of the Hudson River, and the intimate Alpine Garden with its stone staircases leading down to Broadway.
Swindler Cove
Dyckman St. and Harlem River Drive on the Harlem River
212-333-2552
Info on www.nyrp.org
A five-acre waterfront park reclaimed from an illegal dump by New York Restoration Project includes native plantings, a freshwater pond, gracious pathways and a children’s garden.
 Peter Jay Sharp Boathouse
Dyckman St. and Harlem River Drive on the Harlem River
212.304.2870
Info on www.nyrp.org
New York Restoration Project and the New York Rowing Association use the floating structure to teach local children and adults how to row, reintroducing the Olympic sport to the Harlem River.
 Inwood Canoe Club
At the far west end of Dyckman Street, past the overpass, look for the foot path heading south
212-463-7740
www.inwoodcanoeclub.com
First founded in 1898, the club offers a free summer community kayaking program on Sundays from 10 a.m. to noon.
 Mountain Biking
Enter on Dyckman Street near Fort George Hill
311
Info on www.nycgovparks.org
The northernmost tip of Highbridge Park was recently remade into a network of mountain bike trails and dirt jumps ranging in difficulty from beginner to expert.
 Sherman Creek Street End Parks
On the Harlem River between W. 202nd
and W. 206th Streets
These parks reconnect Northern Manhattan to the Harlem River and offer amenities such as a small boat launch, barbeque grills, and picnic seating, fishing access and a small area for stage performances.
 Inwood Hill Park
212-304-2365
Northwest corner of Manhattan, between Dyckman and W. 218th Streets
Info on www.nycgovparks.org
Legend has it that Manhattan was purchased here, and today visitors can still experience the island in its natural state throughout the park’s largely native growth forests. A nature center offers exhibits and displays.
 Fort Washington Park
Cross footbridge at far west end
of W. 181st Street
Info on www.nycgovparks.org
A waterfront ribbon connecting Washington Heights to Harlem and points south offers spectacular biking, jogging and picnicking opportunities.
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