Is Inwood Hill Park worth it?

Don't drive in Manhattan as a visitor: you pay the congestion toll below 60th St, traffic is slow, street parking is scarce and garages are expensive, while the subway reaches every major sight 24/7. A car only makes sense for outer-borough destinations like the Bronx Zoo or NY Botanical Garden, and even those are easy by subway or Metro-North.

• Congestion Relief Zone toll (congestion pricing). Driving onto any local street or avenue in Manhattan at or below 60th Street costs a once-per-day toll for cars: $9 with E-ZPass at peak (5 a.m.–9 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m.–9 p.m. weekends) and $2.25 overnight; drivers without E-ZPass are billed a higher Tolls by Mail rate. The FDR Drive and West Side Highway/Route 9A are excluded, but leaving them onto local streets triggers the toll. Up to $3 crossing credit at peak only if you entered via the Lincoln, Holland, Queens-Midtown or Hugh L. Carey tunnels with E-ZPass. The toll rises to $12 in 2028. Bridge/tunnel tolls into Manhattan are charged on top. mta.info
• Alternate side parking (street cleaning). Most residential streets carry signs (with a broom symbol) banning parking on one side for a 90-minute or longer window one or more days a week so sweepers can pass; the rule is suspended on holidays listed on the city's ASP calendar. Ignoring it means a ticket ($65 in Manhattan below 96th St, $45 elsewhere) and possibly a tow. Always read every sign on the pole; 'No Standing' and commercial-only meters are common in Midtown and Downtown. nyc.gov
• Garages and meters. Street meters in Midtown and Downtown are usually commercial-only or limited to 1–2 hours on weekdays, so visitors end up in private garages (Icon, SP+, LAZ, Impark, Edison and others) where posted drive-up rates are steep and Manhattan adds an 18.375% parking tax; pre-booking through apps such as SpotHero or ParkWhiz is usually far cheaper than the posted drive-up rate. nyc.gov