NYC Road Trip, Day 1

After E bailed on this week's trip to SF, I had to make other plans. I'll be going to California for three weeks starting on August 31st, but until then, I've decided to do my travelling within the five scenic boroughs of New York City. To that end, I rented a Chevy Malibu, and hit the road. Day one destinations:

1. The park under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge2. Coney Island Aquarium
3. Nathan's (for a hotdog)
4. Gateway Sports Center (driving golf balls)
5. The Rockaways
6. Park Slope (relaxing with RG)
7. Dinner in Greenpoint with E (Polish food)
8. Prospect Heights
9. Searching for a parking space in Soho

Or, view the day's travels on a map (about 400k)

Comments

[990000]

boardwalk shot is hot

[Aaron]

You should make a smiley face on the map of nyc with your travels.

[Mase]

Some Queens suggestions (forgive me if you've been to any of these):

1) Socrates sculpture garden on the East river

2) Obviously, MoMA and P.S. 1.

3) Find the Lemon Ice King of Corona
(108th St. and 52 Avenue)

4) Mt. Olivet Cemetary

5) Alley Pond Environmental Center

6) Queens Museum and Hall of Science (fun to watch the kids go nuts)

7) Flushing Meadow/Corona Park (insert Homer dream here)

In the Bronx: City Island (nearby, if you have any police contacts, is the shooting range for the NYPD)

Riker's Island is part of the Bronx -- not sure if they do tours, but is a hell of a visit.

[Dahl]

Not that I've ever been to the aquarium, but I'm partial to it since my dad, who's an architect, worked on the renovation of the aquarium back in the mid 90's

[e.]

1) Fort Tilden beach (topless!)

2) Marine Park salt-water nature reserve

3) One of the first churches in Brooklyn--Dutch Reformed, corner of Church Av. & Ocean Pkwy

4) Up by the Whitestone bridge is a gated community of mansions --accessible by bike. Totally breathtaking.

[smary]

obscure-ish north bronx stuff:
there's a bird sanctuary in pelham bay park that, despite its proximity to a landfill, i remember as being lovely. that park is one of the most underrated green spaces in the city- it's enormous. there's also stables nearby. with pretty horses.

there are cryptic cement 'teepees' in the always-closed 'museum' at middletown road and bruckner boulevard. hard to explain, but kinda compelling.

and i second the city island suggestion.
it is a northeast bronx must, it just seems so improbable and un-bronx-y (to the uninitiated).
sneak onto the morris yacht club property at the tip of the island and get a smokin' view of the bay and the long island sound.

[Bec]

The carousel in Prospect Park. It's directly beside the zoo. Ride it. A couple of years ago, my friends and I stumbled on it and took a ride. I felt like I was 7 years old again (I'm 27). Absolute bliss.

There aren't a lot of things that can transport you back to the time when you felt absolutely safe, loved, and free. This is one of them.

[garth]

Check out the Queens Museum of Art, or rather, check out the giant scale model of New York City that lives inside of the Queens Museum of Art. The rest of the museum is eh, but seeing the entire city at a 1 inch to 100 feet scale (with over 800,000 seperate buildings) is pretty amazing. The Panorama, as it's known, is also a really interesting way to see how quickly and drastically the skyline has changed in the nine short years since the it was last renovated. Plus, who doesn't love left over shit from the world's fair?

[doug]

the hunter's point freightyard in queens, (you know that view from the 7 train). i went totally unnoticed for 45 minutes last winter with my friend who is into the hobo train hopping stories. he had to get photo references so we went...trainspotting.

i went with my daredevil friend who barrelled down FDR in his old ford taurus at night...i have a lot of psychodelic trail shots of city lights.

asbury park, nj...its a veritable ghosttown when i was there last summer.

just some suggestions.