There are still a handful of places in our big, dense city where you might not remember that you’re in the city at all.
By Gwynne Hogan
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- The Roosevelt Island Daily News
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Sure, you love that infectious energy of living cheek to jowl with 8.3 million other New Yorkers. But there’s something special about finding a less-visited corner and seeing the city from a vantage point that few others do.
It’s not that these areas are pristine or unexplored; it’s New York City after all. But they do offer the visitor something a little rugged, and untamed. They’re a reminder that even in this dense tangle of concrete, nature endures in all its unpredictability. Here are some of our favorite wild corners and how to get there:
Pelham Bay Park, The Bronx
Orchard Beach and its bumping promenade is on the beaten track, but plenty of less-explored edges of Pelham Bay Park are worth the romp.
Hunter Island, for example, is a short walk away from the promenade, but feels miles away. You can access the Hunter Island trails off the north end of the Orchard Beach parking lot or off the boardwalk itself. Putter along a gentle two-mile loop, and you’ll find yourself immersed in quiet woodland that tacks along the shoreline, across tidal wetlands, and even out onto adjacent rocky islands perfect for a mid-hike plunge if you’re so inclined. Without a car, you get there either by taking the 6 train to the end of the line and transferring to the B29 bus to City Island, or by riding protected bike paths from the Pelham Bay Park subway stop.
Breezy Point, Queens
Breezy Point can feel prohibitively difficult to get to, with zero public transportation options, a permit-only parking lot and private security guards at the entryway to a gated community there. But if you go past the guards, down the public road and take the long trek to the windswept, expansive shoreline of the sprawling, federally protected beachland there, you’re in for a treat.
Expect long swaths of dunegrass and a white sandy beach stretching as far as the eye can see, with the Manhattan skyline on the horizon. You might glimpse a pod of dolphins or, if you’re really lucky, a humpback whale breaching. It’s also a haven for migratory birds, and piping plovers that dart all across the shoreline. The National Park beach is sanctioned for recreational fishing, some of whom drive up and down the beach in 4X4 trucks, another oddity for a New York City beach. In order to legally park a vehicle in the National Park lot, you’ll need a special permit which is available for purchase online only during the spring and fall for the upcoming sixth-month period. Otherwise, you risk a hefty parking ticket or getting towed.
Alternatively you could try a bike ride (it’s about 4 miles from Jacob Riis Park), or getting a car to drop you off. From the National Park parking lot, it’s about a 15-minute trek across a sandy road through dunegrasses to make it to the shore. Pack water and snacks as there is literally nothing out there.
Inwood Hill Park, Manhattan
The edges of the park facing buildings are manicured, but it’s easy to walk in and lose yourself in nearly 200 acres of Manhattan’s last native forest. Hike to the park’s highest peak, or explore its riverfront salt marshes or the small caves. The closest subway stop is Inwood-207th Street, the end of the line on the A train.
Coney Island Creek Park, Brooklyn
This crescent of soft white sand offers a laid-back beach experience that couldn’t be more different from Coney Island. Facing the banks of the Coney Island Creek, and out onto the Verrazano Bridge and the mouth of the New York harbor, this scruffy strip of beach is peaceful, with clear, still waters.
While people do swim here, and it’s tempting to jump in on a nice day, it’s not sanctioned and the waters have at times made people sick. (The creek is located adjacent to a massive sewage outflow that floods the area with raw stuff during rain storms.) Still, it’s a fun area to poke around with glimpses of an adjacent boat graveyard and a sunken yellow submarine off shore. It’s a short bike or bus ride on the B74 from the Coney Island Stillwell stop at the end of the line for the B, D, F, N and Q.
Jamaica Bay, Queens + Brooklyn
With 700 acres of salt marshes just off the shore of Brooklyn and Queens, Jamaica Bay is full of quiet, strange nooks and crannies. From the eerie shores strewn with antique trash at Dead Horse Bay to the abandoned structures along the waterfront of Floyd Bennett Field to the horseshoe crab haven of Sunset Cove Park, there’s tons to explore.
If you’re looking to see the area by boat, try the Marine Park Saltmarsh, where you can rent kayaks or canoes. Alternatively, Rockaway’s Community Boathouse runs open paddles for beginners and guided paddles for the more experienced. If you want to stay on land, try hiking around the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, a walk away from the Broad Channel stop on the A subway, or the shoreline of Floyd Bennett Field, which you can ride to on the Q35 bus. The 400 acres of Shirley Chisholm State Park, on the Brooklyn side of the bay, is also a great place to get away. It has miles of windswept walkways among tall grass and at least three piers where you can fish, sunbathe or watch swallows, terns and cormorants on the water.
Tell us about your favorite wild places and we may include them in further versions of this guide, or in our summer newsletter: ask@thecity.nyc
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