#2 Shirley Chisholm State Park
Completed in 2019, this former landfill offers some of the best views of New York City in the Gateway National Recreation Area. The park is named after the Brooklyn-born Shirley Chisholm who became the first black woman to occupy a seat in Congress. The Pennsylvania and Fountain Avenue landfills on which the state park sits were at some point receiving around 8,000 tons of trash each day.
Since the late 1960s and early 1970s, the city’s Departments of Sanitation and Environmental Protection cooperated on the site’s renovation to prepare for future construction. In the process, the entire 407-acre plot was covered with soil, in which thousands of trees and shrubs were to be planted to cultivate a new ecosystem in South Brooklyn.
If you’re interested in taking a trip out to Shirley Chisholm State Park, biking the trails is a great option. The hills in the park rise to about 130 feet above sea level. There is plenty of picnic space, canoe/kayak portage sites, and a variety of wildlife.
