Outdoor sights in New York City
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The High Line
For years now, the big buzz in Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen has been all about the coming of the High Line, the first section of which finally and officially opened to the public in the summer of 2009. Now you can stroll, sit and picnic 30ft above the city below on what was, since the 1960s, an abandoned stretch of elevated railroad track. The perks thus far are numerous, and include stunning vistas of the Hudson River, public art installations, fat lounge chairs for soaking up some sun, willowy stretches of native-inspired landscaping (including a mini-forest of trees), a cupcake vendor and a thoroughly unique perspective on the neighborhood streets below – especially at…
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Governors Island
Off-limits to the public for 200 years, former military outpost Governors island is now one of New York's most popular seasonal playgrounds. Each summer, free ferries make the seven-minute trip from Lower Manhattan to the 172-acre oasis. Among the island's draws is Picnic Point, an 8-acre patch of green with picnic tables and hammocks; Figment (www.figmentproject.org), a one-weekend-only interactive art festival in June; and Water Taxi Beach, a spit of sand that hosts events from dance parties to live concerts. Then there's the smooth, 2.2-mile bicycle path around the perimeter of the entire island, which you can pedal with rental bikes from Bike & Roll for $15 per two…
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Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden
Staten Island's buses – which accept the MTA MetroCard and leave from outside the ferry terminal – are your best bet for reaching the island's more distant attractions. Top of the list is Snug Harbor Cultural Center & Botanical Garden, a beautiful complex of themed gardens, historic buildings, art spaces and museums 2 miles west of the ferry terminal. Highlights include an ancient-style Chinese Scholar's Garden, a Tuscan Garden modeled on the Villa Gamberaia in Florence, and the Newhouse Center for Contemporary Art, which showcases changing exhibitions of modern art. From Henderson St on the southern edge of the Snug Harbor complex, the Staten Island Mall-bound S44 bus…
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Flushing Meadows Corona Park
The area’s biggest attraction is this 1225-acre park, built for the 1939 World’s Fair and dominated by Queens’ most famous landmark, the stainless steel Unisphere – it's the world’s biggest globe, at 120ft high and weighing 380 tons. Facing it is the former New York City Building, now home to the highly underrated Queens Museum of Art.
Just south are three weather-worn, Cold War–era New York State Pavilion Towers, part of the New York State Pavilion for the 1964 World’s Fair. If entering the park from the subway walkway, look for the 1964 World’s Fair mosaics by Salvador Dalí and Andy Warhol (just down from the pedestrian bridge from the subway). Also nearby is…
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Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Extending from near JFK, airport at the start of the Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge, the salty, marshy Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge is one of the most important migratory bird and wetland habitats along the eastern seaboard. In spring and fall, more than 325 bird species stop in to rest and snack, snapping up all sorts of briny sea creatures like clams, turtles, shrimp and oysters. Each season brings different visitors: spring features warblers and songbirds, and American woodcocks in late March. In mid-August shorebirds start to move south, landing here from Canada, fueling up for the trip to Mexico. Fall is when migrating hawks and raptors get mobile, along with…
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Pier 45
Still known to many as the Christopher Street Pier, this is an 850ft-long finger of concrete, spiffily renovated with a grass lawn, flowerbeds, a comfort station, an outdoor cafe, tented shade shelters and a stop for the New York Water Taxi as part of the ongoing Hudson River Park project. And it’s a magnet for downtowners of all stripes, from local families with toddlers in daylight to mobs of young gay kids who flock here at night from all over the city (and beyond) because of the pier’s long-established history as a gay cruising hangout. That’s been the source of ongoing conflict in the neighborhood, where moneyed West Village residents say that the clutches of youths…
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Inwood Hill Park
This gorgeous 197-acre park contains the last natural forest and salt marsh in Manhattan. It’s a cool escape in summer and a great place to explore anytime, as you’ll find hilly paths for hiking and mellow, grassy patches and benches for quiet contemplation. It’s so peaceful and un-urban here, in fact, that the treetops serve as frequent nesting sites for bald eagles.
You’ll find helpful rangers and a slew of educational programs, many geared toward children, at the Inwood Hill Nature Center. Let your sporty side rip on basketball courts, horseback-riding trails, and soccer and football fields; you can also join locals who barbecue at designated grills on…
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Morningside Park
This 13-block finger of green has playgrounds, shaded pathways, an arboretum and several sculpture memorials. (The Seligman Fountain, featuring a bear and a faun, is delightfully weird.) In the area behind the Cathedral Church of St John the Divine, you’ll find a pond and waterfall. A farmers market is held here on Saturdays from June through December.
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Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir
Don’t miss your chance to run or walk around this 1.58-mile track, which draws a slew of joggers in the warmer months. The 106-acre body of water no longer distributes drinking water to residents, but serves as a gorgeous reflecting pool for the surrounding skyline and flowering trees. Take a turn around the reservoir’s perimeter and you may very well spot the elderly, white-haired Albert Arroyo, the friendly and self-appointed ‘Mayor of Central Park, ’ who used to run laps here and now makes his slow way around and around with the aid of a cane. The most beautiful time to be here is at sunset, when you can watch the sky turn from a brilliant shade of pink and orange to…
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New York Botanical Garden
Spread across 50 acres of virgin forest (just north of the Bronx Zoo), the New York Botanical Garden (opened in 1891) is home to several beautiful gardens and the restored Enid A Haupt Conservatory, a grand, Victorian iron-and-glass edifice that is a New York landmark. You can also stroll through an outdoor rose garden just next to the conservatory, and a rock garden with a multi-tiered waterfall. It’s possible to take the subway via the B or D line to Bedford Park Blvd, then take bus Bx26 east, but it’s easier to take the Metro-North’s Harlem Line from Grand Central Terminal to the Botanical Garden stop (one way off-peak/peak $5.25/7).
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Greenbelt
In the heart of Staten Island, the 2800-acre Greenbelt – and its 32 miles of trails for hiking – crosses five ecosystems, including swamps and freshwater wetlands. One hike reaches the Atlantic seaboard’s highest points south of Maine (take that, Jersey!). Check the website for the many access points. One good place is at High Rock Park, a hardwood forest spot cut by six trails. Take bus S62 from the ferry terminal to Victory Blvd and Manner Rd (about 15 or 20 minutes), then transfer to the S54.
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Wave Hill
Built by a lawyer in 1843 as a country estate, the 28-acre, riverside Wave Hill served the needs of the wealthy and connected until it became a city park in 1960. Other guests have included Theodore Roosevelt and Mark Twain. There are soaring views of the Hudson and a cafe in the stone mansion that serves as the park’s centerpiece. From the Riverdale Metro-North station it’s a 15-minute walk uphill, or catch the free van service from the station, provided by Wave Hill.
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Jacob Riis Park
Much of the Rockaway Beach area is part of the 26,000-acre Gateway National Recreation Area (www.nps.gov/gate), which encompasses several parks. One, toward the southern tip of the Rockaways, is Jacob Riis Park, named for an advocate and photographer of immigrants in the late 19th century; it’s also home to Fort Tilden, a decommissioned coastal artillery installation from WWI. The boardwalk, beach and picnic areas are popular in summer.
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Great Lawn
Located between 79th and 86th Sts, this massive emerald carpet at the center of the park was created in 1931 by filling in a former reservoir. It hosts outdoor concerts – this is whereSimon & Garfunkel played their famous 1981 concert., and also where you can catch the New York Philharmonic Orchestra each summer – and there are eight softball fields, basketball courts and a canopy of London plane trees. Not far from the actual lawn are several other big sites: the Delacorte Theater, which is home to the annual Shakespeare in the Park festival, and its lush Shakespeare Garden; the panoramic Belvedere Castle(the leafy Ramble(the epicenter of both birding and gay-male…
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Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park
On the water, set snugly between the bridges and backed by Civil War–era warehouses, the 9-acre Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park has a cozy lawn on the East River. At research time, the park was closed for retooling, including the addition of a glass pavilion designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Jean Nouvel to house a 1920s-era carousel. The park is scheduled to reopen in spring 2011.
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Prospect Park
The creators of the 585-acre Prospect Park – Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux – considered this an improvement over their other New York project, Central Park. Created in 1866, Prospect Park has many of the same features. It’s gorgeous, with a long meadow running along the western half, filled with soccer, football, cricket and baseball players (and barbecuers), and much of the rest dotted with hilly forests and a lovely boathouse on the east side; many more visitors come to bike, skate or just lounge around. There are also free concerts at the Prospect Park Bandshell (near the 9th St and Prospect Park West entrance). For information on activities, stop by the…
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Leif Ericson Park
Most Scandinavian Americans live up in northern Bay Ridge, where you can see the Norwegian Constitution Parade at Leif Ericson Park on the first Sunday after May 17, the anniversary of Norway’s first constitution. Grab some herring salad (or miniature Norwegian trolls) at Nordic Delicacies (6909 Third Ave at Bay Ridge Ave).
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Washington Market Community Park
This 3-acre park – once the site of the world’s largest food market back in 1858 – is now beloved by local families with kids, mainly because of its popular playground (but also for its brand-new bathrooms!). It’s a great escape for anyone needing a little green space; there are also a gazebo and tennis and basketball courts.
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Gantry Plaza State Park
This design-savvy riverside park has cinematic views of Midtown (as seen in the 2005 film The Interpreter, with Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman), complete with four piers and public sunlounges for panoramic chilling. The restored, archlike gantries – in service until 1967 – are testament to the area's past as a loading dock for rail car floats and barges.
Dating back to 1936, the giant Pepsi-Cola sign at the park's northern end once topped a nearby Pepsi bottling plant, which has been since demolished.
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Riverside Park
A classic beauty designed by Central Park creators Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, this waterside spot, running north on the Upper West Side and banked by the Hudson River from 59th to 158th Sts, is lusciously leafy. Plenty of bike paths and playgrounds make it a family favorite.
From late March through October (weather permitting), a rowdy waterside restaurant, the West 79th Street Boat Basin Café serves a light menu at the level of 79th St.
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William F Moore Park
At William F Moore Park, the clink-clank of bocce balls sounds in summer while passersby eat lemon ices.
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Glass Garden
A botanical garden, complete with koi and turtle ponds, plus the educational PlayGarden and truly fun sandpit.
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Ramble
In Central Park, between 72nd and 79th Sts, the leafy Ramble is a wooded thicket that’s popular with bird-watchers.
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Shakespeare Garden
In Central Park, the Shakespeare Garden has lush plantings and excellent skyline views.
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Hudson River Park Playground
This riverside play area features sprinklers, a boat-theme area and a bouncy surface to play on.
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