At places in the northern end of Manhattan, streets turn into steps and acquiesce to hills. Here, in Inwood, a hill transforms into a stairway where West 215th Street connects Broadway to an elevated residential neighborhood on Park Terrace East. Although the hill was too steep for automobile traffic, the city built 215th Street in 1911 as a double flight of stairs for pedestrian travel. Benches on landings provide places for climbers to rest as they interrupt their ascent. Still ornamented with its original lampposts and railings, the stairway has become a significant feature of the neighborhood that some liken to the terraces of Paris or Rome. AR