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Recommended Walks in NYC

Walk through NYC neighborhoods, arranged by borough. These posts range in date from 2007 to 2020, so some of the older walks and descriptions will be outdated. At the same time, it’s often instructive to follow in the footsteps of the older posts and reflect how many areas of New York have changed over the years. These walks can serve as windows on a rapidly changing city and provide a snapshot of the ephemeral nature of cherished places. That’s why they are included in this list.

Recommended Walks, Listed by Neighborhood

Manhattan

Lower Manhattan, below Chambers Street

View of One World Trade Center from Battery Park

• Battery Park: A Walk on the Battery Park Esplanade, and a Ride on the Staten Island Ferry 2012
• Battery Park to the Courthouses: A Spring Walk in Lower Manhattan from the Battery to the Courthouses 2018
• Broadway/Nassau (Lower Manhattan): A Walk from City Hall to the Seaport 2011
• Civic Center: After Jury Dury-Points of Interest Near the Courthouses and Foley Square 2010
• Financial District: Downtown Beauty: Louise Nevelson and Jean Dubuffet 2011
• Financial District: Breakfast at Standard and Poor's 2011
• Financial District: Follow Your Money - The New York Financial Crisis 2009
• Financial District: The Newcomer on Spruce Street: Frank Gehry's Contribution to the New York Skyline 2010
• Financial District: Walking an Uncertain Wall Street: Stops, Sleepovers, and Anxieties in the Financial District 2010
• Governors Island: A Beginner's Guide 2010
• Lower Manhattan: The Changing Skyline and the Challenges of Community 2011
• Statue of Liberty/World Trade Center: The Guided Tour 2010
• World Trade Center: A Walk to St. Paul's Chapel and the World Trade Center 2011
• From the Atrium to the Oculus: 5 Places to Look Up in Lower Manhattan 2016

Downtown Manhattan, below 14th Street

Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village

• Charlton-King-Vandam Historic District 2009
• Chinatown/SoHo: A Walk for Tea - From SoHo to Chinatown 2011
• East River Park Promenade (Lower East Side) 2011
• East Village: Lessons From E. 10th Street 2012
• Greenwich Village: Postcards From a Walk on St. Marks Place and W. 8th Street 2010
• East Village: The Many Lives of Second Avenue 2010
• Fifth Avenue: A Walk on Lower Fifth Avenue: Illusory Scenes in Black and White 2011
• Greenwich Village: 25 Radical Things to do in Greenwich Village 2010
• Greenwich Village: The Tenth Street Studio Building and a Walk to the Hudson River (West Village) 2009
• Greenwich Village: Free Verse, Love, and Greenwich Village 2010
• Greenwich Village: W. 10th St. from Fifth Avenue to Waverly Place 2008
• Greenwich Village: A Walk On Hudson Street 2010
• Greenwich Village: A Walk to a Mews and Alley Unplowed 2011
• Little Italy: The Feast of San Gennaro 2011
• Lower East Side: Economy Eye Candy: An Eclectic Walk on the Lower East Side 2011
• NoHo: Buildings to Know in NoHo: An Illustrated Self-Guided Tour and Map 2011
• NoLita: At Petrosino Square 2010
• SoHo: Just Looking: How to Visit SoHo Without Really Shopping 2011
• South Village: The Italian South Village 2010
• South Village: A Twilight Walk on Thompson and Sullivan Streets 2011
• Tribeca: Crime Edition: The Scene at 153 Franklin Street, and the Final Scene of the Major Case Squad 2011

Chelsea, Flatiron District, Gramercy, NoMad, and other areas between 14th Street and 34th Street

View from the High Line in Chelsea

• Chelsea: 25 Things to Do in Chelsea 2012, updated 2017
• Chelsea/The High Line: Walking the Rails Above Death Avenue 2009
• Chelsea: The High Line and Chelsea Market - A Good Pairing for a Walk 2012, updated 2017
• Chelsea Piers: Waiting for the Carpathia at Pier 54 2012
• Flatiron: 10 Short Walks in the Flatiron District 2015
• Gramercy Park: A Guide 2009
• Hudson Yards: Vessel and the Shed: A Walk in Hudson Yards at Sunset 2017
• Kips Bay/Murray Hill: A Walk to Bellevue and Beyond 2011
• Ladies' Mile: Shopping Ladies' Mile in the Second Gilded Age: A Self-Guided Walk and Map 2011
• NoMad (North of Madison Sq. Park): Breakfast at the Breslin, Then A Walk 2010
• Stuyvesant Square and Vicinity (East Village north to E. 21st. & Gramercy) 2012, updated 2017
• Union Square, Steampunked 2011
• Union Square to Madison Square: A Spring Walk from Union Square to Madison Square 2018



Midtown Manhattan, between 34th Street and 59th Street

Paley Park in Midtown

• Garment District: Fall Fashion 2009 Edition 2009
• Hell's Kitchen: Scenes from a Walk in Hell's Kitchen (Vachel Lindsay; history) 2010
• Hell's Kitchen: The View from Hell's Kitchen (Flea Market; Port Authority; skyscrapers 2011
• Herald Square to Fifth Avenue: Holiday Windows 2015
• Hudson Yards: 7 Walks from the 7 Train, 34 Street-Hudson Yards Subway Station 2015
• Midtown/Grand Central Terminal: 10 Short Walks from Grand Central Terminal 2011, updated 2017
• Midtown/Fifth Avenue: Near Fifth Avenue's Holiday Frenzy, a Repertoire of Worthy Escapes 2012
• Midtown/Fifth Avenue: Classic New York 2008
• Midtown/Fifth Avenue: A Self-Guided Walk to New York's Department Stores 2010
• Midtown/Midtown East: The Thin Man Walk 2009
• Midtown/Turtle Bay: 25 Great Things to Do in Midtown East 2017
• Midtown/New York Public Library: Recommended Stops Along Library Way 2010
• Murray Hill: Chester A. Arthur's Neighborhood, and A Hint of Vindaloo Masala 2009
• Theater District: The Legacy of the Golden Age 2009
• Turtle Bay/Kips Bay: Walking for Peace in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza 2009
• Roosevelt Island: Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park 2012

Central Park

Central Park in summer

• A Walk in the Ramble 2010
• A Walk Around the Central Park Reservoir 2016
• In Central Park, a Leisurely Walk from the Pond to the Reservoir 2013
• Central Park South: A Walk in the Shade for a Day in July 2012
• Central Park West: The Theater of Architecture 2011
• Central Park West: Making Peace with the Early Dark 2015
• Pokémon Goes to the Hallett Nature Sanctuary in Central Park 2016
• The Wilderness and the Garden: A Walk Through Northern Central Park 2015
• Forest Bathing in Central Park 2017
• A Sunny Walk in Central Park: From the Met to Columbus Circle 2017
• A Walk in Central Park from Cedar Hill to W. 69th Street and Central Park West 2016

Upper East Side, above 59th Street

A street on the Upper East Side

• Upper East Side/Yorkville: East 90s: A Walk with The Marx Brothers 2009
• Upper East Side: A Guide to the Second Avenue Subway 2017
• Upper East Side: 25 Things to Do Near the Metropolitan Museum of Art 2013
• Upper East Side: Stroll Through the East 60s 2009
• Upper East Side: French Lessons from the Lower 60s 2011

Upper West Side, above 59th Street

The Ansonia building in the Upper West Side

• Columbus Circle: 10 Short Walks in Columbus Circle 2015
• Columbus Circle: A Roundabout Walk in Columbus Circle 2010
• Upper West Side to Midtown West: Guide to Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Route 2011
• From the Waterfront to Joan of Arc: Locating the Past in Riverside Park 2017
• Art and Politics in Riverside Park 2010
• A Walk from Lincoln Center to Zabar's 2009
• 25 Things to Do Near the American Museum of Natural History 2017
• David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center 2010

Upper Manhattan, above 96th Street 

A stroll in Fort Tryon Park in Upper Manhattan

• Harlem: James Weldon Johnson's New York and Four Stops in Central Harlem 2009
• Harlem: Alexander Hamilton's home, The Grange 2014
• Inwood: Dyckman  2020
• Washington Heights: The Most Beautiful Bridge in the World 2020
• Washington Heights: A Walk in the Heights - From Fort Tryon Park to Fort Washington Park 2020

Brooklyn

View from Williamsburg in Brooklyn

• Brighton Beach (Brooklyn) A Walk for Late Summer (includes Manhattan Beach) 2012
• Downtown Brooklyn: In Downtown Brooklyn, the Once and Future Fulton Street Mall 2011
• Williamsburg and DUMBO: An Afternoon Visit to South Williamsburg and DUMBO 2016
• Flatbush: At Erasmus Hall, A Story in Stained Glass Window 2012
• Williamsburg: Saturday Market Explorations at the Waterfront in Williamsburg 2011
• Brooklyn Botanic Garden: When the Cherry Blossoms Fall 2009
• Brooklyn Heights: The Advantages of a New Perspective: A Literary Walk in Brooklyn Heights 2010
• Brooklyn Heights: A Walk in Willowtown to the Future Brooklyn Bridge Park 2010
• Brooklyn Heights: A Spring Walk to the Brooklyn Heights Promenade and Brooklyn Bridge Park 2018
• Fort Greene: A Three Mile Walk Through Fort Greene and Clinton Hill 2009
• Coney Island: Episodes from a Natural and Social History of Coney Island 2012
• Coney Island: Back to the Boardwalk: Opening Day on Coney Island 2013
• Coney Island: Walking on Sand and Boardwalk: Exercises for Coney Island 2012
• DUMBO: A Steampunk Walk Down Under the Manhattan Bridge 2011
• Fort Greene & Park Slope (Brooklyn): A Walk Among the Brownstones of Brooklyn 2010
• Prospect Park (Brooklyn) A Walk in the Prospect Park Zoo 2013
• Prospect Park: Walking Into Autumn 2012

Bronx

A window on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx

• Woodlawn Cemetery: Remembering Alva Vanderbilt Belmont 2012
• Belmont/Arthur Avenue: A Culinary Stroll on Arthur Avenue 2016
• City Island (Bronx): A Visit to the City Island Nautical Museum 2012
• City Island: A Walk on City Island Avenue 2016
• The New York Botanical Garden's Holiday Train Show 2015
• A Rustic Escape in the Bronx: Van Cortlandt Park 2016
• At Wave Hill, the Grace of Trees 2016 

Staten Island


Snug Harbor in Staten Island
• Staten Island: Riding the Staten Island Ferry and Then Some (Empire Outlet, National Lighthouse Museum) February 2020
• Staten Island: In Staten Island's Snug Harbor, a Secret Garden 2012
• Staten Island (Rosebank) : The Marvels of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Grotto 2012
• Staten Island (Rossville): The Living Memory of Rossville AME Zion Church 2012
• News and Views from the Staten Island Ferry 2012

Queens

Gantry Plaza State Park in Long Island City, Queens


• Astoria: Then and Now: The Marx Brothers at Paramount Pictures and Notes on Contemporary Attractions 2009
• Long Island City: The Noguchi Museum 2011, updated 2016
• Rockaway Beach: On Rockaway Beach and Boardwalk, the Basics for a Quick Beach Escape 2016
• The New Waterfront: Gantry Plaza State Park, Long Island City 2013 

Beyond the City


Bear Mountain in the Hudson Highlands

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