The Brooklyn–Queens Greenway is a bicycling and pedestrian path connecting parks and roads in the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

and

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, connecting

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

in the south to Fort Totten in the north, on

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a sound (geography), marine sound and tidal estuary of the Atlantic Ocean. It lies predominantly between the U.S. state of Connecticut to the north and Long Island in New York (state), New York to the south. From west to east, ...

. The route connects major sites in the two boroughs, such as the

New York Aquarium The New York Aquarium is the oldest continually operating Public aquarium, aquarium in the United States, located on the Riegelmann Boardwalk in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City. It was founded at Castle Garden in Battery Park, Manhattan, i ...

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 500,000 objects. Located near the Prospect Heig ...

, the

Brooklyn Botanic Garden Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) is a botanical garden in the Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn in New York City. The botanical garden occupies in central Brooklyn, close to Mount Prospect Park, Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park, ...

, the

New York Hall of Science The New York Hall of Science, branded as NYSCI, is a science museum at 4701 111th Street, within Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, in the Corona, Queens, Corona neighborhood of Queens in New York City, New York. It occupies one of the few remain ...

, and

Citi Field Citi Field is a baseball park, baseball stadium located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, in the Boroughs of New York, borough of Queens, New York City, United States. Opened in 2009, Citi Field is the home of Major League Baseball's New York M ...

. The Greenway is being developed under the joint auspices of the

New York City Department of Transportation The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) is the agency of the government of New York City responsible for the management of much of New York City's transportation infrastructure. Ydanis Rodriguez is the Commissioner of the Departm ...

and the

New York City Department of Parks and Recreation The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...

. As of 2007, the majority of the route is in parks or otherwise segregated from motor traffic. The remainder is implemented as painted lanes or signed routes in streets. The 40-mile (64 km) route includes portions of existing bike routes in

Prospect Park Prospect Park may refer to: Businesses * Prospect Park (production company), entertainment production company *Prospect Park Productions NZ, theatre company based in Dunedin, New Zealand Places New Zealand * Prospect Park, New Zealand, a portion ...

, and along

Eastern Parkway Eastern Parkway is a major east–west boulevard in the borough (New York City), New York City borough of Brooklyn. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, it was built between 1870 and 1874 and has been credited as the world's fir ...

and Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, and in Alley Pond Park,

Cunningham Park Cunningham Park is a park in the New York City borough of Queens. The park lies between the Grand Central Parkway to the south and the Long Island Expressway, and is bifurcated by the Clearview Expressway. The park is operated by the New York Cit ...

, Forest Park, Kissena Park and Ridgewood Reservoir in Queens.Brooklyn-Queens Greenway guide

. Accessed September 8, 2007.

Queens

The northern terminus of the Brooklyn–Queens Greenway is in Little Bay Park, near the north end of Utopia Parkway in the shadow of the

Throgs Neck Bridge The Throgs Neck Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York City, carrying six lanes of Interstate 295 (New York), Interstate 295 (I-295) over the East River where it meets the Long Island Sound. The bridge connects the Throggs Neck section of t ...

. Passing the entrance to Fort Totten Park, the Greenway runs south, parallel to the

Cross Island Parkway The Cross Island Parkway is a controlled-access parkway in New York City and Nassau County, part of the Belt System of parkways running along the perimeter of the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. The Cross Island Parkway runs from the Whit ...

and is known as "Joe Michaels Mile." After crossing busy

Northern Boulevard New York State Route 25A (NY 25A) is a state highway on Long Island in New York (state), New York, United States. It serves as the main east–west route for most of the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore of Long Island, running ...

, the route becomes a well signed bike route along quiet residential streets, climbing to the former

Long Island Motor Parkway The Long Island Motor Parkway, also known as the Vanderbilt Parkway, Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, or Motor Parkway, was a limited-access parkway on Long Island, New York, United States. It was the first highway designed for automobile use only. Th ...

. The LIMP section of the Greenway is above-grade and most is closed to motor vehicle traffic. Using the LIMP, a branch of the Greenway goes eastward into Alley Pond Park to picnic tables, tennis courts and locker rooms. This eastern branch proceeds to the Alley Pond Adventure Course and the Winchester Boulevard bike lane. The westward or main line of the Greenway makes its way through

and Kissena Park, and eventually goes around the south side of Queens Botanical Garden on streets, crossing College Point Boulevard on its own high overpass into Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. Once in Flushing Meadows, the Greenway runs along the eastern shores of both Meadow and Willow Lakes, exiting the park onto Jewel Avenue. The route continues on quiet residential streets such as Hoover and Coolidge Avenues, and on more heavily trafficked ones such as Main Street, and crosses

Queens Boulevard Queens Boulevard is a major thoroughfare connecting Midtown Manhattan, via the Queensboro Bridge, to Jamaica in Queens, New York City, United States. It is long and forms part of New York State Route 25. Queens Boulevard runs northwest to ...

. The Greenway enters Forest Park at the Overlook and continues down Forest Park Drive passing the Urban Park Ranger station at

Woodhaven Boulevard Woodhaven Boulevard and Cross Bay Boulevard (formerly Jamaica Bay Boulevard) are two parts of a major boulevard in the New York City borough of Queens. Woodhaven Boulevard runs roughly north–south in the central portion of Queens. South o ...

, the George Seuffert, Sr. Bandshell, and the Forest Park Golf Course. Exiting the park, the Greenway continues along parts of Cooper Avenue and other local streets to Highland Park and the Ridgewood Reservoir.

Brooklyn

After exiting Highland Park, the Brooklyn leg of the Greenway uses various local streets in East New York to connect to

. From here to the end, there is little mixing with motor traffic for the 3-mile (5 km) Eastern Parkway bike route, 2 miles (3 km) through

, and the 5-mile (8 km) Ocean Parkway to the southern terminus at the

Riegelmann Boardwalk The Riegelmann Boardwalk (also known as the Coney Island Boardwalk) is a boardwalk on the southern shore of the Coney Island peninsula of Brooklyn in New York City, New York, United States. Opened in 1923, the boardwalk runs along the Atlantic ...

. The Brooklyn portion is less hilly than the Queens portion, except in Prospect Park where it crosses over the

terminal moraine A terminal moraine, also called an end moraine, is a type of moraine that forms at the terminal (edge) of a glacier, marking its maximum advance. At this point, debris that has accumulated by plucking and abrasion, has been pushed by the front e ...

that divides Long Island in half.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooklyn-Queens Greenway Cycling in New York City Bike paths in New York City Tourist attractions in Brooklyn Tourist attractions in Queens, New York greenways in New York City Hiking trails in New York City

Queens

Brooklyn

See also

References