Brooklyn-Queens Greenway Guide
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TABLE OF CONTENTS The Brooklyn-Queens Greenway Guide INTRODUCTION . .2 1 CONEY ISLAND . .3 2 OCEAN PARKWAY . .11 3 PROSPECT PARK . .16 4 EASTERN PARKWAY . .22 5 HIGHLAND PARK/RIDGEWOOD RESERVOIR . .29 6 FOREST PARK . .36 7 FLUSHING MEADOWS CORONA PARK . .42 8 KISSENA-CUNNINGHAM CORRIDOR . .54 9 ALLEY POND PARK TO FORT TOTTEN . .61 CONCLUSION . .70 GREENWAY SIGNAGE . .71 BIKE SHOPS . .73 2 The Brooklyn-Queens Greenway System ntroduction New York City Department of Parks & Recreation (Parks) works closely with The Brooklyn-Queens the Departments of Transportation Greenway (BQG) is a 40- and City Planning on the planning mile, continuous pedestrian and implementation of the City’s and cyclist route from Greenway Network. Parks has juris- Coney Island in Brooklyn to diction and maintains over 100 miles Fort Totten, on the Long of greenways for commuting and Island Sound, in Queens. recreational use, and continues to I plan, design, and construct additional The Brooklyn-Queens Greenway pro- greenway segments in each borough, vides an active and engaging way of utilizing City capital funds and a exploring these two lively and diverse number of federal transportation boroughs. The BQG presents the grants. cyclist or pedestrian with a wide range of amenities, cultural offerings, In 1987, the Neighborhood Open and urban experiences—linking 13 Space Coalition spearheaded the parks, two botanical gardens, the New concept of the Brooklyn-Queens York Aquarium, the Brooklyn Greenway, building on the work of Museum, the New York Hall of Frederick Law Olmsted, Calvert Vaux, Science, two environmental education and Robert Moses in their creations of centers, four lakes, and numerous the great parkways and parks of ethnic and historic neighborhoods. Brooklyn and Queens. Feasibility and The guidebook also provides informa- design studies were completed in 1988 tion about nearby public transporta- with the help of many City agencies tion, restrooms, places to eat, and bike and civic and community groups. shops. Recent City administrations have seen fit to further this vision of a chain of The Brooklyn-Queens Greenway is green from shore to shore, and today, part of the larger New York City the Brooklyn-Queens Greenway forms Greenway System, an interconnected a critical component of the City’s network of bicycle and pedestrian Greenway system. pathways linking parks and commu- nities throughout the five boroughs. This publication was made possible The Department of City Planning’s through funds from the Intermodal 1993, A Greenway Master Plan for New Surface Transportation Efficiency Act York City, which outlined 350 miles of (ISTEA) under the Transportation potential trails, noted that greenways Enhancement (TEP) Program, admin- are “…at once the parks for the 21st istered by the New York State century and a part of the transporta- Department of Transportation tion infrastructure, providing for (NYS DOT). pleasant, efficient, healthful, and envi- ronmentally sound travel by foot, bicycle or skates.” The Brooklyn-Queens Greenway System 3 Coney Island Length: 5.5 miles (loop) Estimated travel time: Biking—45 minutes; Walking—3 hours Attractions: Coney Island Beach and Boardwalk, Keyspan Park, Nathan’s Famous, Asser Levy/Seaside Park, Astroland 1 Amusement Park (slated to close at the end of 2007 or 2008 summer season), Abe Stark Skating Rink, Parachute Jump, Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park, The Cyclone Rollercoaster, Brighton Beach, The New York Aquarium, Coney Island Museum & Sideshow Character: Surf Avenue is a busy commercial street with no marked bike lane and plenty of distracted drivers. The boardwalk is a well-used, auto-free pedestrian route. Bikes are allowed on the boardwalk between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. Directions at a Glance Starting at the end of Ocean Parkway 0.0 Mile Travel towards the right, west, on Surf 1.9 Avenue. 1.95 Turn left on 37th Street. Turn left onto Riegelmann Boardwalk (Between 10:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., cyclists must dismount and walk Coney Island Alternate Bike Route their bikes on boardwalk. For 4.6 alternate bike route see below.) When the boardwalk is closed to cyclists, At the end of the boardwalk, turn follow this route. Instead of turning left onto around and backtrack. West 37th Street, turn right onto West 37th 5.4 Street and ride to Neptune Avenue. Turn right 5.5 Veer right onto Seabreeze Walk. onto Neptune Avenue and ride to Ocean End at Ocean Parkway at Parkway. Turn left onto Ocean Parkway to Seabreeze Avenue. pick up the next segment of the Greenway. CONEY ISLAND 4 The Brooklyn-Queens Greenway System CONEY ISLAND The Brooklyn/Queens Greenway System 5 Subways The D, F, N, and Q lines all stop at Coney Island. (For the latest transit information, visit the MTA website at www.mta.info or call 718-330-1234). Where to Eat Wonder Wheel: The ferris wheel with the roller Go past the Wonder Wheel for take- coaster on the inside. When the inside car swings away hotdogs, corn on the cob, fried out, many a stomach has been left behind. clams and other classic American fast in the area now known as Sea Gate. food. In Brighton Beach, you can pay This was a respectable establishment, a little bit more and get a sit-down but by the turn of the nineteenth cen- meal at several boardwalk cafés. tury, Coney Island had become New York's wild west, an area notorious for Public Restrooms its rowdy drinking and gambling halls, prize fights, and rampant There is a restroom near West 27th prostitution. Respectable society had Street and Surf Avenue. The board- moved east. The era's most wealthy walk has public restrooms at West 30th and celebrated flocked to Manhattan Street, Stillwell Avenue, West 8th Street, Beach, where majestic hotels lined the and Brighton 2nd Street. They are open beach. The prosperous middle class Memorial Day to Labor Day from 9 summered at Brighton Beach, where a.m. to 6 p.m. the architecture was impressive, but less grand. Area History West Brighton was the buffer zone Coney Island is no longer a true between the high and low-life. This island. When European settlers first was the destination for day-tripping, arrived, it was a narrow sliver of land, working class folks who came by separated from the rest of Long Island steamship, ferry, or trolley to sing in by a salty creek that was crossable at the beer halls, eat in the enormous low tide. Coney Island's name comes restaurants, shake a leg in the dance from the Dutch name “Konign halls, and try their luck in the penny Eisland” or Rabbit Island. The reasons arcade. This is the section of the beach for the name are lost in the murk of that became the Coney Island of time. It could be that the original popular imagination, especially with grasslands and scrub here supported a the advent of pioneering amusement hopping colony of long ears. parks: Steeplechase in 1897, Luna Park in 1903, and Dreamland in 1904. These Development began in 1829, upon were ambitious creations, completion of the Coney Island Hotel forerunners to today's Disneyland and CONEY ISLAND 6 The Brooklyn/Queens Greenway System Six Flags parks. For a dime, you were thousands making the trek to Long admitted to fanciful exotic villages, Island and New Jersey beaches crowded as any Lower East Side instead. Some would say that this was street, where every twist in the way a relief. The well-known photographer, brought another enticement to spend Weegee, published three famous some fun money on a ride, a show, a pictures−one each in 1940, 1945, and game, or a dance. 1952 showing thousands of beach- goers packed shoulder to shoulder. As the twentieth century wore on, Today, however, Surf Avenue and the these amusement parks lost much of Coney Island boardwalk remain a their novelty. They disappeared in lively scene, a favorite trip for many reverse order of their completion. New Yorkers. Significant changes Dreamland burnt to the ground in within Coney Island are anticipated 1911; it took a series of fires in the with the area’s planned redevelop- 1940s to close down Luna Park. ment, guided by a strategic plan that Steeplechase Park didn't close until was unveiled for the area in 2005. The 1964. But the three decades from 1920 plan focuses on creating new housing to 1950 were arguably Coney Island's and strengthening the area as a year- heyday. On a hot summer weekend round entertainment destination with afternoon, thousands of New Yorkers seaside attractions. would take the subway to partake of Coney Island at its most elemental: Trip Description sand, surf, and Nathan's hot dogs. The trip starts at the corner of Surf With the rise of the automobile, Coney Avenue and Ocean Parkway. Most Island's primacy waned, with people will be tempted to head Thrills: Coney Island art tends toward the brightly colored Macabre. CONEY ISLAND The Brooklyn/Queens Greenway System 7 Nathan’s: A table for four without the table straight to the Boardwalk, which has The world-famous Cyclone roller- many entrances beckoning from Surf coaster stands proud at West 10th Avenue. But Surf Avenue is also well Street. Don’t let the wood and the worth exploring in its own right, with antique looks fool you—the ride is as many star attractions and a lively much fun as any of the high-tech pedestrian scene. For bike riders, Surf theme park extravaganzas in the Avenue offers an opportunity to stay suburbs. mounted and rolling when the board- walk is closed to bike riding. The zone between West 12th and West 16th Streets is the haunt of the outra- Heading west on Surf Avenue, you’ll geous.