Inwood is a wonderful place to be if you know what community is and live it.
Most today don't but they'll get there.


There was a time when everyone knew their neighbors and cared for their neighbors but today because of the new influx of people that has changed to a degree.

How many remember when the Irish were new to Inwood? Bars started opening on nearly every corner and the inhabitants thought it was the end of the world. When the Projects opened in 1952 that started the end of the Irish reign but they hung on till the 80's. Now it's something new.

As far as crime in the 34th goes let's not forget that until recently the 34th was the largest house in New York City and covered 155 to 220th streets river to river. Now it covers 182nd to 220th and crime in that area isn't as great as it has been made out to be in these posts.

On the political map of New York Inwood runs from 200th to 220th but you don't want to tell that to anyone who was brought up in Inwood in the 40's and 50's nor do you want to tell those who live below Dyckman to Hillside Avenue that they don't live in Inwood. Inwood is a great community and will remain so.

Inwood is a very dangerous neighborhood, as a white woman I was racially verbally harrassed almost everyday by hispanic people, recieved alot of dirty looks.

Very racist hispanics there.

A drum circle in Inwood?!? What did my neighborhood do to deserve this?

As an former Inwoodian this is a bit scary, but I'm sure the park will go back to normal in no time. In fact, has anyone heard about this crazy-hippie thing, the World Unity Festival going on in Inwood Hill Park this weekend? I don't really understand the motivation for picking Inwood, or Manhattan for that matter ...

You are both right, when I said "high crime" I should have clarified that I was talking about all crimes and not simply murders. I do agree I was not clear, but I do not think, nor was I trying to be, "sensationalistic". In the spirit of not contibuting to a discussion of Inwood that only has to do with crime, I will say that the Cloisters is one of the most beautiful spots in New York City. Peace back at'ya.

I think it would be most accurate, NY'er, to say that 34th Precinct has a comparatively higher crime rate than, say, the Upper West Side, but it is not a "high crime" area. A murder anywhere in the city is, unfortunately, not anomalous (there were 597 last year, only 9 of with occurred in the 34th Precinct) and your choice of words seems unnecessarily sensationalistic.

It wasn't a personal attack. I remember that around the time of the convention, you posted something to the effect that the rights of half a million potential protesters to assemble peaceably in the park should be curtailed not because they didn't have a permit but because you had an equal right to a pleasant jog and their political message would be interfering with your afternoon use of Central Park. It really irked me at the time and I apologize if I carried my annoyance at that comment [and the associated assumptions I made about the lifestyle and attitudes of someone who would say such a thing] over into this post. I really wasn't trying to be mean!

Anyway, I still maintain that Inwood is basically a safe neighborhood and that crime today is only a shadow of what it once was. The murder rate for the 34th precinct [Inwood and Hamilton Heights] has dropped by 82% since 1993. That's a statistic that's hard to argue with. As a frequent visitor I wonder if you've ever felt threatened or endangered [and if so, why you would keep coming back so often!]. If you haven't felt in peril yourself and haven't witnessed any crime, then your comments about Inwood being a 'high crime neighborhood' contradict your own experience as well as the numbers. Just because there is a higher crime rate here than in the Upper West Side doesn't make it a dangerous place -- it's not an absolute thing!

I agree with Erin that it's sad that the only time anybody ever hears about Inwood is when there is some crime to sensationalize with a live shot on the news. I was simply trying to balance the overwhelmingly bad press by pointing out that by-and-large, it's a safe neighborhood with a lot more to offer than people think! Peace!

I was not putting down anyone's neighborhood. I was simply stating facts. I know Inwood very well, I have friends who live there and I spend at least 2 days a week up there. It indeed has some very beautiful features, but it also has a high crime rate. My point was simply that it is naive to state that this sad event was some anomoly. Cities have higher crime, and Inwood is a high crime area - it's a fact, and to paint the picture you paint is inaccurate, That's all. There is no reason to make this a personal attack on me.

Check you stats, you are living in an area that has a higher murder rate than say, the upper west side. There is a reason it is more affordable.

It's also important to point out, for those who are unfamiliar with the area, that while Sarah Fox was found deep in a heavily wooded area on the north end of the park, Romero was found basically on the street, on the southern edge of the park. Dyckman Street is a major thoroughfare in Inwood; while the intersection where Romero was found is at the more isolated end of the street (think far west 57th Street), it's a block away from a busy playground in one direction, soccer fields in another, and the entrance to the West Side Highway in another. And Inwood Hill Park is *big*. In terms of ambiance and relative distance, comparing the location of the Sarah Fox murder to this one is like comparing the Ramble to the traffic circle above the 79th Street Boat Basin.

Put another way, it's like suggesting that a murder in Union Square Park and one on Houston Street might be related, just because they both happened downtown.

Thanks for pointing that out, lana. I thankfully didn't encounter the crime scene, but I live across the street from Inwood Hill Park and already I'm getting calls from my worried parents.

Inwood is generally a safe neighborhood. Both of these deaths are tragic, but it's kind of infuriating that the news is spreading fear, lumping the two murders together when it seems pretty clear they aren't related.

It's sad also that the only attention Inwood ever gets is when someone dies.

This murder is clearly not connected to the Sarah Fox case, and it's really irritating that people even suggest it. I live in Inwood, and actually came upon the crime scene yesterday morning while moving my car, which was parked about 100 feet from where the woman was shot. [The cops were there investigating already, but yes, there was a horrific amount of blood.] It's sad and scary -- and left me shaken for the whole day -- but Inwood isn't the only neighborhood in New York City where there's violent crime, and it's not good or even responsible to perpetuate fear of the area just because two women of totally different backgrounds and ages got murdered in totally different ways at different times of the day, 4 or 5 months apart.