Photo courtesy Brooklyn Greenway Initiative
The Brooklyn Greenway Ride is a 26-mile bike excursion along the Brooklyn waterfront. During a normal year, it takes place on one day — very much like the New York City Marathon or the 5-Boro Bike Tour. But this summer, the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative is hosting Greenway Adventures, a series of find-your-own adventures you can do by foot or by bike all over the five boroughs. The experiences are curated by the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative and its partners, like REI, Riverside Park Conservancy, Hunters Point Parks, the Jamaica Bay-Rockaway Parks Conservancy, Harbor Ring, Hutchinson River Greenway and more.
1. Newtown Barge Park
The views from Newtown Barge Park, on the northern tip of Greenpoint, are unparalleled. The Midtown Manhattan skyline is in full view, but so is gorgeous Hunters Point South Park just across Newtown Creek. This park, built atop a former industrial site once lined with barges, was completed in summer 2019 so it’s relatively unknown. Come here to get a nice breeze and stunning views, away from the crowds of nearby Transmitter Park, no longer as “under the radar” as we reported in 2016.
2. Domino Park
Built on the site of the former Domino Sugar Refinery, Domino Park is a tribute to the diversity and resiliency of generations of Domino workers, their families and their neighborhood. The 5-acre public park in Williamsburg, Brooklyn offers expansive views of the surrounding area and across the river to Manhattan. Some well-placed remnants from the factory dot the park as a reminder of its industrial past. There’s also a taco stand from Danny Meyer, courts for sand volleyball and bocce and water features to cool off. New social distancing circles were all the rage in the early months of the pandemic.
3. Naval Cemetery Landscape
Photo by Greg Topscher, Naval Cemetery Landscape staff
Just off Williamsburg Street West at the corner edge of Brooklyn Navy Yard is a gateway into a beautiful native plant and pollinator habitat teaming with life to honor the dead buried there from the Civil War to the Revolutionary War period. The Naval Cemetery Landscape which is a small pocket memorial meadow nestled between the BQE and Wallabout Bay is a hidden gem. Drop by to take a self-guided tour of the blooms, buzzings and birds along the boardwalk and stepping stones that make up this uniquely serene space.
4. Brooklyn Bridge Park
Photos courtesy Brooklyn Greenway Initiative
The Brooklyn Greenway runs through Brooklyn Bridge Park, an appealing coastal attraction which comprises a series of piers filled with recreational facilities, gardens, playgrounds, and grassy areas for hanging out. Each pier has something to offer but the newly opened Pier 2 Uplands has a fantastic new water play feature made for adults and kids alike. You’ll find kid-friendly play areas at both ends (and some in between); the ones at Pier 6 include swings, slides, a giant sandbox and another water feature. There are also two NYC Ferry landings in the park. Check out the latest art exhibition, Reverberations, featuring giant bells that play music.
5. Erie Basin Park
Erie Basin Park surrounds the Ikea store in Red Hook, offering more than just a ferry landing. With grassy lawns, bike paths, seating, public art, and relics that were retained from the former New York Shipyard, Erie Basin Park provides public access to a waterfront that was historically closed off to the community. Ikea’s involvement in the park’s creation is an example of how public/private partnerships can transform abandoned waterfront properties.Nearby, look for an abandoned trolley just behind the former Fairway supermarket.
6. Bush Terminal Piers Park
A quiet natural space in the industrial section of Sunset Park, Bush Terminal Piers Park has spectacular views of the area’s tidal pools and the Bay Ridge Channel. It is also quickly gaining popularity among bird enthusiasts. Bird sightings range from geese and herons to bald eagles. This site, once a port complex, was cleaned up and opened as a public park in 2014.
7. Brooklyn Army Terminal
Initially built as a military supply base during World War I, the Brooklyn Army Terminal is a feat of design by Cass Gilbert, the architect of the Woolworth Building. A multi-decade renovation and reactivation of the terminal by NYCEDC has transformed it into a light manufacturing and office complex that is home to food startups, biotech companies, artist studios, and more. The grounds have been undergoing a savvy redesign by WXY Architecture with more welcoming outdoor space. This summer, Rooftop Films launched a drive-in movie on the terminal’s pier.
8. Plumb Beach
Sitting behind dunes along the Belt Parkway in Sheepshead Bay, Plumb Beach (or Plum Beach) offers a sandy beach, tons of wildlife viewing, and serves as a popular site for kite flying and windsurfing. Plumb Beach is perhaps most famous for the many horseshoe crabs that use it during mating season. It’s part of the Gateway National Recreation Area and was originally a separate island until the nearby creek was filled in with the creation of the Belt Parkway.
9. Floyd Bennett Field
Floyd Bennett Field, New York City’s first municipal airport, is considered a historical treasure. Its well-maintained surviving structures represent some of the best examples of early commercial aviation architecture, and it was also the busiest naval air station in the nation during World War II. Today the grounds are available for tours, and are also used as a site for restoring vintage aircraft.
10. Shirley Chisholm State Park
Photo by Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
Have you been to East New York’s new park? This is a perfect location #OnTheBKGreenway to escape Brooklyn’s density. It was named to honor the inspirational Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman to serve in Congress and first woman to seek the Democratic presidential nomination. Gravel paths for hiking and cycling snake through the park’s golden-hued grasses and high hills, and the views make you feel far outside the city. From Shirley Chisholm State Park’s 150-foot vantage above Brooklyn you can see all of Jamaica Bay, the towers of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge, and the expanse of Manhattan’s skyline.
The Brooklyn Greenway Ride continues through the end of September. You can do it all in one swoop, or break it up in sections. Register for the Brooklyn Greenway Ride here!
