The Best Parks & Gardens in New York City
New York City has an unusually large number of green spaces, and some that are on the cutting edge when it comes to landscape design. Here are just a few of our favorites.
- Central Park: This park inspired others across the United States and abroad. As one of the world’s great urban refuges, it remains a center of calm and tranquility on this clamorous island.
- Prospect Park: The other masterwork by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux (designers of Central Park): Seeing it is a delightful exercise in compare-and-contrast.
- High Line: Located in the Meatpacking District of Manhattan, this quirky, handsome park (opened in 2009) was once an elevated structure for freight trains. It’s immensely popular and a good object lesson in how New York City is constantly reinventing itself.
- Little Island: Set atop tulip-shaped piers, this floating island has superb views of lower Manhattan, an amphitheater that hosts genuinely intriguing performances in summer, and several different gardens for lounging. One of the city’s newest must sees .
- Domino Park: Set on the grounds of what was once the largest sugar refinery on the planet, the park artfully incorporates many of the industrial artifacts that were left behind. It also offers sweeping views of Manhattan, lots of activities for young and old, and a really great collection of eateries and drinkeries for those who want to linger.