Evelyn Kanter - 100 Peaceful Places: New York City

Copyright 2010 by Evelyn Kanter

All rights reserved

Published by Menasha Ridge Press

Printed in the United States of America

Distributed by Publishers Group West

First edition, first printing

Cover design by Scott McGrew

Text design by Annie Long

Cartography by Steve Jones

Cover photograph by Evelyn Kanter: The Bow Bridge in Central Park, Upper Manhattan. See .

Unless otherwise noted, all photographs by Evelyn Kanter.

Back cover photographs by Wave Hill and Evelyn Kanter.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kanter, Evelyn.

Peaceful places New York City: 129 tranquil sites in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island/Evelyn Kanter. -- 1st ed.

p. cm.

ISBN-13: 978-0-89732-720-6

ISBN-10: 0-89732-720-9

1. New York (N.Y.)--Guidebooks. 2. Quietude. I. Title.

F128.18.K3455 2010

917.4710444--dc22

2009049602

Menasha Ridge Press

P.O. Box 43673

Birmingham, Alabama 35243

menasharidge.com

To Lara and Dashiell, who give me my own peaceful places, especially when the air is singing with their giggles.

N o project the size of this book can be researched and written without the help of friends, including the new ones you make along the way. When I told people about the themeabout quiet, tranquil, and spiritual places in a city known for its throbbing energyeverybody, without exception, offered encouragement and suggestions.

Special thanks go to John Daskalakis of the National Park Service for his knowledge about, and passion for, the wonderful nooks and crannies of the Gateway National Recreation Area and Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, and to his colleague Janice Melnick for her insights about Floyd Bennett Field.

I also want to recognize the equally passionate and knowledgeable birders of the National Audubon Society. If you have the chance, grab a pair of binoculars and hike with any of them.

For ideas up and down the island of Manhattan, I send bouquets to Ed Wetschler and Susann Tepperberglongtime friends, fellow members of the Society of American Travel Writers, and devoted residents of Greenwich Village. And to Major Gerard Fennell of the courthouse at 60 Centre Street, who does double duty as a courthouse policeman and as the historian for that landmark building.

For suggestions about their home borough of the Bronx, thanks go to two people: Bob Lape, known as the king of New York Citys restaurant reviewers and my former colleague at WABC-TV and WCBS Radio news, and his wife, Joanna Pruess, the lauded chef and cookbook author.

Fellow journalist Kate McLeod, a recent transplant from Manhattan to Brooklyn, helped me focus on the very best peaceful places in her new home borough.

My son, Gerry Kanter, shared with me many favorite spots in his adopted home borough of Queens. Ditto for Queens Robert Sinclair, who enjoys his boroughs parks when he isnt test-driving cars for AAA.

On Staten Island, Pat Wilks of the Staten Island Borough Presidents office offered good suggestions to add to my knowledge of her part of New York City.

In addition, General Motors and Ford Motor Company graciously loaned me current model vehicles with accurate dashboard navigation systems that allowed me to find still more hidden spots in comfort and luxury. That helped immensely for my research to locate the best places for you. However, with each entry, I include information about public transportation, which is how I typically travel around New York myself.

Another debt of appreciation goes to all the Urban Park Rangers, as well as those New York City Department of Parks & Recreation workers, local residents, and office workers I met along the way who generously shared information and directions, but not their names. You know who you are!

And last but not least, thanks go to Menasha Ridge Press publisher Bob Sehlinger, who developed the concept for this book. May it guide you to many, many peaceful places that you will treasure over and over again.

Evelyn Kanter

New York

February 2010

three paths to 129 peaceful places

P eaceful Places: New York City takes you to 129 tranquil sites in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. In fact, author Evelyn Kanter serves up 129 locales throughout the five boroughs, plus another four in . To make it easy for you to find an entry that suits your mood and desired neighborhood or type of place, we have organized the sites in three different ways:

first path ALPHANUMERICALLY

Each entry unfolds in the main text, in alphabetical order and is numbered in sequence. The number travels with that entry throughout the bookin the and text are not numbered.)

second path BY AREA

The Peaceful Places by Area guideand mapslocate sites according to these eight geographic breakouts: Northern Manhattan, Upper Manhattan, Midtown Manhattan, Lower Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island.

third path BY CATEGORY

The Peaceful Places by Category guide showcases the sites as listed below. In many cases it was difficult to categorize a place, as it might be a historic site in an outdoor habitat with a scenic vista that feels like a spiritual enclave that is an urban surprise where you can take an enchanting walk! But we tagged each of the 129 sites as seemed most fitting for the focus of the authors description:

Enchanting Walks	Outdoor Habitats	Reading Rooms	Spiritual Enclaves
Historic Sites	Parks & Gardens	Scenic Vistas	Urban Surprises
Museums & Galleries	Quiet Tables	Shops & Services

PEACEFULNESS RATINGS

At the top of the main text for each profile, boxed information notes the entrys type of place, as described above. This capsule information also includes the authors rating for the site on a scale of one to three stars, as follows:

	Heavenly anytime
	Almost always sublime
	Tranquil if visited as described in the entryduring times of day, week, season, etc.and possibly avoided at certain times

The Publisher

peaceful places by area

NORTHERN MANHATTAN
(110th Street to the northern tip of the island)

UPPER MANHATTAN
(59th Street to 110th Street)

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN
(23rd Street to 59th Street)