Matthew McDermott
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As great and expansive as Central Park is, let's face it, there's much much more to Manhattan's green spaces than Frederick Law Olmsted's massive garden—In case you didn't know, though parts of it look quite natural and wild, the entire thing is essentially one massive landscaping project. In fact, you're really not going to find much true natural space on Manhattan, but that doesn't mean there aren't some cool places where you can find some green solitude for a few hours. Here are some to get you started:
6th Street & Avenue B
Though it's right down the street from the more well known and often crowded Tompkins Square Park, the community garden at 6th Street and Avenue B does offer some solitude in amongst all the raised garden plots, a few water features, trellises and trees. There are only a few places to sit, and it's not open all the time, nor is it exactly large, but nonetheless it's a great place to spend some time.
Where: 6th and Ave. B is pretty self-explanitory.
How to Get There: F train to 2nd Avenue
Learn more: 6th & B Garden
The Creative Little Garden
Right around the corner from the 6th & B Garden is a bit of green so small that you could easily miss it... but that's the great thing about the Creative Little Garden. Located in between two ordinary East Village tenements (their website has cool photos of the building that used to occupy the space), there's one path and several benches in between some trees. That's it. But walk to the back and plunk yourself down at one of the tables and you'll feel miles away from 6th Street just 50 feet in front of you.
Where: 6th Street between Avenues A & B
How to Get There: F train to 2nd Avenue
Learn more: Creative Little Garden
General Theological Seminary
What? There's a park back there? That's the response I get, even sometimes from seasoned New Yorkers, when I tell them that the General Theological Seminary over on 9th Avenue has one of the best, most peaceful parks in the city. In fact even on their website there's no mention that any old person off the street can walk up to the front desk, sign in as a visitor and enjoy the lawns, gardens and trees on the seminary's grounds. While it's certainly a bit more staid than any of the community gardens in the city, if you want to spend some time in a space that feels more Hogwarts than Chelsea, start here.
Where: 9th Avenue between 20th and 21st Streets
How to Get There: C or E train to 23rd Street
Learn more: General Theological Seminary
Riverside Park
OK, it's not really a lesser known park—and for crying out loud a highway runs down its length—but a stroll through Riverside Park does offer a modicum of solitude and an approximation of woodlands. Heck, in the fall you can actually walk off the paths (gasp) and through leaves.
The park itself runs for quite a ways along the Hudson River, but one place to start if you want some urban rambling is to enter somewhere around 120th Street and walk south to 96th Street or so. As you head south you'll encounter more in the way of sports facilities and people, but the river is not far away and other than the drone of the highway, the city seems about as far away as it ever gets in Manhattan.
Where: Along the Hudson River from 158th Street to 72nd Street, many entrances
How to Get There: Any of the stops on the 1, 2 or 3 trains along the length of the park will get you within a few blocks walk of the park, but for the walk I suggested take the 1 to 116th/Columbia University
Learn more: NYC Dept of Parks & Recreation
Fort Tryon Park
You may have been to The Cloisters, but have you ventured out in the rest of Fort Tryon Park? Sure, if you're a lower Manhattanite like me it takes a good 45 minutes to an hour on the train to get there, but a wander through Fort Tryon Park offers spectacular views of the Hudson River, several steep wooded hills to wander around, as well as some great flowers in the spring. Not to mention some views of the aforementioned Cloisters which really make it seem like in Europe somewhere and not North America.
Where: Northern tip on Manhattan. The main entrance is at the junction of Cabrini Boulevard and Fort Washington Ave
How to Get There: A train to 190th Street
Learn more: Friends of Fort Tryon Park
Inwood Hill Park
Inwood Hill Park is the only place on Manhattan where you can really get a glimpse of the island as it was before the arrival of Europeans. It contains the city's only stands of natural forest, as well as the city's only remaining salt marsh. In fact in 2002 the city began a program to try and reintroduce bald eagles to the area. Right now, if you want to get a glimpse of raptors it's probably better to join in one of the red-tailed hawk nest or peregrine falcon watch programs held at the park.
Where: As far north as you can go in Manhattan. The park is bound by Dyckman Street, the Hudson River, and the Harlem River Ship Canal
How to Get There: A train to 207th Street or 1,9 train to 215th Street
Learn more: NYC Dept of Parks & Recreation
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How to Go Green: Outdoor Sports
Lesser Known City Parks: Portland
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