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 or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

boroughs A borough is an administrative division in various 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 In the Middle Ag ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, connecting

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...

in the south to Fort Totten in the north, on

Long Island Sound Long Island Sound is a 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 to the south. From west to east, the sound stretches from the Eas ...

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

Brooklyn Museum The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crown H ...

, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the New York Hall of Science and Citi Field. The Greenway is being developed under the joint auspices of the New York City Department of Transportation 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, and along Eastern Parkway 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 A forest park is a park whose main theme is its forest of trees. Forest parks are found both in the mountains and in the urban environment. Examples Chile * Forest Park, Santiago China *Gongqing Forest Park, Shanghai * Mufushan National Fores ...

Kissena Park Kissena Park is a park located in the neighborhood of Flushing in Queens, New York City. It is located along the subterranean Kissena Creek, which flows into the Flushing River. It is bordered on the west by Kissena Boulevard; on the north by ...

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

Cross Island Parkway The Cross Island Parkway is a parkway in New York City, part of the Belt System running along the perimeter of the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. The Cross Island Parkway runs from the Whitestone Expressway ( Interstate 678 or I-678) i ...

and is known as "Joe Michaels Mile." After crossing busy Northern Boulevard, 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 roadway on Long Island, New York, in the United States. It was the first roadway designed for automobile use only. The parkway ...

. 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

, and eventually goes around the south side of

Queens Botanical Garden Queens Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located at 43-50 Main Street in Flushing, Queens, New York City. The site features rose, bee, herb, wedding, and perennial gardens; an arboretum; an art gallery; and a LEED-certified Visitor & Adm ...

on streets, crossing the

Whitestone Expressway Whitestone may refer to: Places * Whitestone, Alaska, an unincorporated community * Whitestone, Devon, a village in the United Kingdom * Whitestone, Ontario, a township in Canada and a community within the township * Whitestone, Queens, a neig ...

on its own high overpass into

Flushing Meadows-Corona Park Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushin ...

. 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. The Greenway enters

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 (New York City), borough of Queens. Woodhaven Boulevard runs roughly north–south in the central p ...

, 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 Eastern Parkway. 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 Prospect Park, and the 5-mile (8 km) Ocean Parkway to the southern terminus at the Riegelmann Boardwalk in

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