• West Harlem Piers Park

  Hudson River from St. Clair Pl. to 135th St.

  At the western end of 125th Street, an industrial zone shadowed by the twin viaducts of the subway and the West Side Highway opens onto the city’s prettiest new pocket park. Until 2009, the Hudson River bike lane petered out here, and cyclists had to navigate ten blocks of ruined cobblestones and truck traffic. Now the lane is unbroken and new piers provide kayakers a launch, fishermen a place to cast their lines, and strollers a prime view of the Hudson River regatta. Duck over to Fairway Market on Twelfth Avenue, where you can pick up the makings of a blowout picnic, then cross the street and spread out on a springy lawn.

From the 2011 Best of New York issue of New York Magazine