The Bowery Boys podcast is proud to be sponsored by founded by NYC, celebrating New York City's 400th anniversary in 2025 and the 250th anniversary of the United States in 2006.

Read about all the exciting events and world-class institutions commemorating the five borough's legacy of groundbreaking achievements

and find ways to celebrate the city that's always making history at founded by nyc.com

The Bowery Boys episode 461, the story of Inwood and Marble Hill. Hey, it's the Bowery Boys episode 461. The story of Inwood and Marble Hill.

Hey, it's the Bowery Boys. Hey.

Hi there, welcome to the Bowery Boys. This is Greg Young. And this is Kieran Ganon.

And we're starting today's show in a rather unusual fashion because we're starting it in a forest.

Like we are in a forest. Listen to this. We are like, we've got brush on the ground. There's trees, birds singing, and a gentle hum of traffic in the background. We are in Inwood Hill Park.

This is a 196-acre forest, mostly forest. It's the northernmost park in Manhattan, and it contains

the island's last natural forest,

and also its last salt marsh.

So let's really, like, dig into that.

What does that mean, the last forest?

On an island that used to be all, pretty much all forest.

This was the last part of Manhattan to really be developed and urbanized right so this forest

believe it or not just kind of was always here and there's old growth trees in fact the oldest

tree on the island of Manhattan is just inside of this forest its name is Socrates

Wait and you know Socrates because you have actually lived here in today's subject, the

neighborhood of Inwood. Yes, I spent about six or so years living in Inwood. I spent the

pandemic years living here as well. So I know this forest very, very well. I probably know most of the 10 miles of hiking trails.

That's all there was to do for a couple years there.

So, but this is a fitting place for us to begin our show on the history of Inwood,

...