East Coast Greenway Weekend Trip Planner: New York Itinerary One: Explore Lower Manhattan’s Waterfront on Two Wheels Length: 8.5 miles, round trip. Estimated time to cycle: 3 to 4 hours, including Wall Street area detour. Level of difficulty: Easy. Entire route is flat and paved. Lunch: Frequent picnic possibilities available along this route. Eat in or take out from establishments in the World Financial Center (www.worldfinancialcenter.com/dining). Robert Wagner Jr. Park, Battery Park, and South Street Seaport have more formal dining options. Cautions: The southern portion of this trail can be very heavily used by walkers, joggers, inline skaters, and fellow cyclists, especially on weekends. As on all trails, it is advisable not to travel alone. Bring a cell phone. Percentage of route on trail: 100%. The East Coast Greenway Alliance is posting signs along the route in New York. Currently, NYC signage like the one at left marks the route. Trip Summary: This 8.5-mile one-way shoreline journey, almost entirely on trail along lower Manhattan’s Hudson and East Rivers and New York Harbor, is full of exciting things to see— recent additions of waterfront park land, conversions of former shipping or warehouse structures to new uses, and reminders that New York is one of the world’s greatest shipping ports. You’ll pass ferry terminals and a heliport, pedal under three of the city’s great suspension bridges, and see the South Street Seaport, a reminder of the early clipper ship era. At the southern tip of Manhattan are Battery Park and the towers of the Financial District, and there are inviting spots along the route for a picnic lunch. Especially in Battery Park City on the lower west side, you will find some terrific playgrounds for the kids to enjoy. You can end the trip at 25th Street on the East Side where you can take a ramped bridge into the Gramercy Park area of Manhattan and catch a subway. Or, you can return along the same route and take a trip on the Staten Island Ferry, if time allows, before arriving back at to your starting point. Part I: Approximately 4.5 miles, 2 hours, including a half an hour for lunch

Start at Bike and Roll, located on 43rd Street and the Hudson River Greenway, west of the West Side Highway. There are bike rentals available and a restaurant and deli, picnic tables, and restrooms. Head south with the river on your right. Stay on the bike path to

Bike Shops along the route Bike and Roll (starting point) 557 12th Ave at 43rd Street 212-260-0400 www.bikeandroll.com

Liberty Bicycles 832 Ninth Ave between 55th & 56th Streets 212-757-2418 www.libertybikesny.com

Subways Start: Subway lines A, C, E at 42nd and 8th Avenue Return: Subway line 1 at South Ferry Subway lines 4 and 5 at Bowling Green Subway lines N and W at Whitehall Street, South Ferry

steer clear of the chaos in front of the Circle Line Cruise terminal. Until you reach Chambers Street, you’ll be cycling through Hudson River Park, a new waterfront park being completed incrementally in a vast change in land use along the New York waterfront. Obey the special bike traffic lights along the path, as auto and pedestrian traffic frequently crisscross the path. There is regular and frequent access to the city grid along the entire West Side, but only cross where there is a traffic light giving pedestrians sufficient time to cross. Cycling south, you’ll pass a NY Waterway ferry terminal at 39th street with a little waterfront park beside it. To the east across the landscaped boulevard is the glassy Javits Convention Center, designed by noted architect I. M. Pei. At the south end Bike rentals are available at Bike and Roll, the starting of the Convention Center, take note of the rusty remains of the point for the trip. defunct High Line (www.thehighline.org), the elevated railway completed in 1934 as a freight spur to service warehouses along the lower Hudson River corridor. A decade-long citizenled movement has resulted in the preservation of this line and conversion to public park use. The first section should soon be open. Cast your eyes east for a great view of the Empire State Building.

West Village apartments with a view to the Greenway.

Splitting off the bike path at 29th Street is an inviting pedestrian walkway removed from traffic and overlooking the Hudson, furnished with a garden, tables, chairs, and benches. A few blocks south is Pier 66 (www.pier66nyc.org), a long pier jutting into the river that has been converted to recreational use with boat slips, benches, a water wheel, and telescopes for viewing river traffic or the changing Jersey shore. Take in the busy river scene with kayakers and sailboats mixing with commercial vessels and take time to gaze back at the Manhattan skyline. Next to Pier 66 is the dock of the historic lightship, the Frying Pan, a former restaurant and party venue, currently closed, pending securing of permits. Known locally as Pirates Cove, this area hosts other tour and dinner boats including the Adirondack I, an 80-foot schooner that runs a 6-month season from this Chelsea Piers location starting in early May and ending in late October (www.sail-nyc.com).

Some of the city’s most prestigious art galleries are located in the 20’s from 9th to 12th Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood. Most of the big warehouses on the east side of the Highway have been converted to artist studios, living lofts, offices, and galleries. Continuing south, you’ll arrive at Chelsea Piers (23rd Street), a sprawling sports and entertainment facility, hosting everything from a golf range and bowling lanes to rock climbing, ice skating, and yoga. There are public restrooms, ATM machines, and places to eat. For more information: www.chelseapiers.com. Across the highway, note the controversial undulating new glass IAC Headquarters Building, designed by Frank Gehry. Along the waterfront you’ll pass several remnants of the former shipping era, the old, crusty Marine & Aviation city building and fascinating Pier 57 with its huge rusty arches.

Sunbathing on TriBeCa beach.

Pedaling on to 14th Street, you’ll pass the former Meatpacking District across the road. This area has been transformed into one of the trendiest neighborhoods in the city with expensive condominiums, fancy boutiques, hip hotels, clubs, and high-end restaurants occupying former meatpacking warehouses. Some meatpacking plants remain in operation, cheek to jowl with some of America’s best-known celebrities. At Horatio Street, just past the Department of Sanitation building (dressed up with banks of fragrant rose bushes), the bike path and walking path make a greater separation. This portion of the trail along the western periphery of legendary bohemian West Village is sandwiched between the Highway’s green buffer and another green buffer dividing the bikepath from the pedestrian walkway along the Hudson. Chic glass condominium towers, designed by Richard Meier, shoot into the sky east of the West Side Highway at Perry Street. At 11th Street, there is often a mobile food cart right on the bikepath, open 9-7 on weekends.

Walkies and talkies.

If you prefer to dismount and walk your bike along the water, you’ll discover a terrific park with playgrounds, ice cream carts, restrooms, and a water fountain. There is a recreational pier at Perry Street and restrooms at West 10th Street. The bike and pedestrian paths converge near Pier 40 at Houston Street, a huge old structure that houses city agency offices, indoor/outdoor playing fields, car garages, docked party rental boats, and water activities. Continue south past the TriBeCa neighborhood and you’ll see a huge swath of park to your right and, to the left, are beautifully restored residential lofts that were once old warehouses. At Harrison Street, you’ll find the Art Shack in an area for neighborhood kids full of picnic tables and ping-pong tables. Food is also available here. For more information: www.manhattanyouth.org. Piers on the West Side.

Just before reaching a white pedestrian footbridge that crosses the road from the waterfront side at Chambers Street, take a 90 degree right turn west, departing from the bikepath, onto an asphalt-tiled pathway that hugs the waterfront and passes the elite public Stuyvesant High School—a high-rise structure. Here you are entering Battery Park City. This substantial landfill addition to Manhattan island was established in the 1960’s when material dug from the World Trade Center site was dumped here to extend the city into the Hudson. If you stay on the waterfront pathway (bikes are allowed, but must maintain a slow speed),you will enjoy one of the most peaceful areas along the Westside, stretching south to Battery Park. You’ll be right next to the Hudson with no cars in sight, pedaling by great green lawns, handball and basketball courts, playgrounds filled with children, restrooms, water fountains, and you might hear the distant sound of music coming from one of the party boats on the Hudson.

Battery Park in flower.

Bicycle-accessible ferries to New Jersey depart from a white tentlike terminal at Vesey Street, providing a link to New Jersey for the East Coast Greenway (and for thousands of commuters). Across the street you’ll see an unusual stone structure with a sod roof: the Irish Hunger Memorial, designed by artist Brian Tolle.

Continue south to the North Cove Marina where the path opens up to the World Financial Center’s plaza. There are numerous restaurants with indoor/outdoor seating, shops, and restrooms. Corporate offices are clustered around the Winter Garden, a spectacular enclosed, palm-tree-filled public space where free public concerts are often held at lunchtime for the downtown office crowd. Stop and lock your bicycle and enter the Winter Garden where you can climb the polished marble steps for a sobering view out over the ill-fated Ground Zero site, formerly the location of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. The site is now home to a transportation center for city subways and PATH trains from New Jersey, and new office towers. As you continue south, enjoy the huge yachts docked in the North Cove Marina next to a sailing school. For more information: www.sailmanhattan.com.

World Financial Center -- park your bicycle for a closer look and a possible concert.

Continuing along the waterfront path, huge apartment towers rise to the left and public art is scattered within the public open spaces. A second cove farther south offers a more natural setting with willow and pine trees. Gazing south across the harbor, you’ll see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, an inspiring view in the evening with the sun setting to the west. Cycling south, on the left is the Museum of Jewish Heritage surrounded by beautiful gardens (www.mjhnyc.org). Farther south, around the bend, and veering east, you will see people sprawled out on the lawn of Robert Wagner Jr. Park with great views of the harbor. The path winds past the former fireboat house on Pier A, an impressive structure dating from the early twentieth century that may someday be turned into a restaurant or other public-use facility. Lunch or snacking options include unpacking your lunch and eating it on the lawn or dining at one of the nearby restaurants in the parks. View from Battery Park.

You’ll venture into a bit of chaos when you cross West Street into historic Battery Park. This area is always swarming with tourists waiting in line to catch boats to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. There are many street vendors and mobile food carts wooing out-of-towners. The best way to experience Battery Park is to dismount and walk your bike, so as to soak up the crowds of tourists from all corners of the world enjoying the playgrounds, benches and gardens, and gazing at monuments scattered around the Park. Note the massive World War II Memorial, the more modest Korean War Memorial, and the brass sphere that once stood on the World Trade Center plaza, now a memorial to 9/11. Castle Clinton, a circular stone structure, was built to keep out an anticipated British invasion of 1812. It was used later as an immigrant reception area before Ellis Island came into use and then to house the New York Aquarium (now in Coney Island). Today it offers outdoor concerts under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service. When you are ready to leave the park and begin the second portion of the ride, go to the most northeastern corner of Battery Park within view of the Staten Island ferry terminal. If you want to end your tour here, nearby subways stops are: subway line 1 at South Ferry, subway lines 4 and 5 at Bowling Green or the N and W subway lines at Whitehall Street South Ferry.

Part II: Approximately 4 miles, 1 1⁄2 hours. To leave Battery Park and start the journey northward along the East River, walk your bicycle to the northeastern corner of the Park. It can be a little confusing here since the Hudson River Path and the East River Esplanade don’t yet connect. In addition to pedestrian chaos, there is ongoing construction and minimal signage identifying the streets.

Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton on State Street, Lower Manhattan

When you leave the park, take a right on Whitehall Street. If you have small kids, it’s a good idea to walk your bikes on the sidewalk for the next five minutes, both for safety’s sake and because there are several interesting places to take a look at. The Whitehall Ferry Terminal, which you should be passing to your right, is where the (free!) Staten Island Ferry arrives and departs and is used by 60,000 Staten Island commuters every day.

Looking north across State Street to number 7, you’ll see an out-of-scale Federal-style brick and white columned building surrounded by gleaming high-rise office buildings. It is the Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (www.setonshrine. com), America’s first canonized saint and was her childhood home. Continue past the Whitehall Ferry Terminal, making your way through a maze of construction towards the old, green Battery Maritime Building where people catch the ferry to Governors Island. This former Coast Guard base has been given to New York City and is being transformed into a public park today. Once you’ve passed the Battery Maritime Building, it’s safe to remount your bike since you’ll now be on the East River Esplanade. The Esplanade hugs the East River and is a path system that was developed incrementally over many years (some parts still to be built) and, while not offering the generous width and green parkland that the Hudson River pathway system does, it provides for an interesting travel experience.

Cyclists of all ages explore the Greenway.

Pedal along the pathway with the water to your right and you’ll pass the Downtown Manhattan Heliport. Across the East River lie the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Brooklyn Heights and Red Hook, and, to the north, you’ll see the legendary Brooklyn Bridge. It can be easily accessed by walkers or cyclists from City Hall Park on the Manhattan side and is a great spot to return to at dusk to watch the city lights go on from its elevated walkway.

Looking out to se from the Financial District.

You may want to get off your bike and walk for a short inland detour at Maiden Lane into the Financial District to see some of New York City’s most important public sculptures and icons of the Financial District. Where Maiden Lane intersects William and Liberty Streets, only a few short blocks off the esplanade, you’ll be at Louise Nevelson Plaza where Nevelson’s largest display of outdoor pieces called Shadows and Flags was installed

in 1975. To the west is Chase Manhattan Bank Plaza at a higher level where you will see significant sculptures by Isamu Noguchi in the sunken garden and a tall tree-like sculpture by French-born Jean Dubuffet called Group of Four Trees. The stately Federal Reserve Building is just to the north of Chase Manhattan Plaza on famed Wall Street, and further west on Wall Street at Nassau is Federal Hall where George Washington was sworn in as first President. The New York Stock Exchange can be seen along Nassau Street to the south. Return via Wall Street to the East River Esplanade and continue north. You’ll soon spot the masts of old sailing vessels docked at the South Street Seaport, a popular tourist destination. The South Street Seaport Museum, home to Ambrose Light and other historic sailing vessels, is worth a visit when you have more time. For more information: www.southstreetseaportmuseum.org.

Bridge-o-rama on the East SIde. Indulge your Scent of a Woman driving fantasies.

The Pier 17 building is an urban mall developed in the 1980s that houses stores, restaurants, and public restrooms. Inland to the west are old colonial brick buildings that were saved when the Seaport was established and that house commercial establishments today. You might want to explore the cobblestone streets with shops, restaurants, cafes, and galleries. To the north side of South Street Seaport is the former home of the historic Fulton Fish Market. It was moved to The Bronx several years ago after having been in continual operation on Fulton Street since 1822. The street space is now a parking lot, and the old, brick buildings and warehouses, once full of life, are now empty and boarded up. The future of this space is yet to be determined.

Enjoy armchair fishing from the comfort of your bicycle seat.

The next portion of the journey is for bridge lovers, who are hopefully not claustrophobics as the path runs under the hum of the FDR Drive. It’s a gritty area with an industrial feel, but offers a wonderful view of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges as you bike along the path running under them. The area between the bridges is adjacent to Chinatown. North of the Manhattan Bridge, you’ll pass apartment buildings on the left and industrial parking lots and sanitation department facilities to the right. Use of the path can be quite low during the week.

Historic East River Park starts at Montgomery Street. This very large neighborhood park that dates back to the early 20th century is lush with mature trees and other greenery. Joseph Papp began his Public (Shakespeare) Theatre here, and an old band shell surrounded by looming trees may be a remnant of that era. The park is full of active recreational facilities including playgrounds, ball fields, soccer fields, basketball and tennis courts, and a new track facility that get quite heavy use by children and families on the weekends. Inland to the west is the Lower East Side and the East Village, once a vibrant Jewish community and famous for housing immigrants, particularly from Eastern Europe. Today this neighborhood consists of many ethnic groups including immigrants from China, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic along with a new influx of artists. Portions of East River Park near the water are sectioned off due to rehabilitation. Follow the path close to the Highway when biking under the Williamsburg Bridge. There are restrooms at Delancey Street, Houston Street, East 6th Street, and East 10th Street. There are a number of ramped footbridges that allow easy passage to the city

streets. At 10th street, the new walkway along the water is quite lovely, and local folks can be seen fishing or playing chess, relaxing on benches or with their children at the playgrounds. Use caution when passing the massive Con Ed plant at 14th Street where the path narrows. It becomes a brick pathway for a stretch, lined with benches and full of people fishing against a fantastic skyline view. In the 20s is one of the newest sections of the Esplanade, Stuyvesant Cove Park, designed as a more natural setting with natural plantings and a solar-powered Arts Building. For more information: www.solar1.org.

Two-bridge view to Brooklyn -- more cycling options....

North of Stuyvesant Cove Park is a marina where party boats dock, then the Waterside Plaza apartments, a grouping of tall, brown brick towers edging the East River, followed by the United Nations School, which draws children from around the world whose parents work at the UN or the various embassies.

If you want to end your tour here at 25th Street, take the ramped footbridge over the FDR Drive and continue to the #6 Subway stop located at 23rd Street and Park Ave. If you have children, walk bikes along the sidewalk to the subway, Note that there is a restroom at the Asser Levy Recreation Center on the east corner of 25th Street and the FDR. Alternately, you can make the return trip to West 43rd Street on the same route you just cycled. If you have time, one detour might be to take your bike on the Staten Island Ferry for a trip across New York Harbor and back. The ferry is free and runs frequently. Plan at least an extra hour for this trip. Text and photos: Nina Roberts for East Coast Greenway Alliance, 27 North Road, Wakefield RI 02879, www.greenway.org