Issue #9
May 2002
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Commentary Memorial Day is the traditional start of the summer vacation season. Friday getaways to mountains or shore, lengthier trips to summer cottages or foreign lands, all are evidence of our need to recreate ourselves, to change the scene, to kick back and relax.
For those having the misfortune to live elsewhere, New York makes an exciting destination. For those living in New York, the need to leave it is in some measure a relic of the past, before air conditioning, when getting out of the sweltering city to cool mountain or seaside breezes was necessary to health and sanity. Now, New York is a summer festival, to be enjoyed by the resident as well as the tourist.
Central Park has been restored to a well-manicured state, with pleasant walks, tree-shaded benches and smooth green lawns. Riverside Park, from the George Washington Bridge to the Battery, is now a nicely-landscaped bike and pedestrian path with stunning river views and cool breezes. Riverside State Park sits atop a water treatment plant on the Hudson and provides recreation for the surrounding neighborhood, although the older, waterlevel park just to its north is as crowded with picnicers as ever.
Brooklyn has Prospect Park, Coney Island and Sheepshead Bay. Queens has Rockaway, Flushing Meadows Park and many others. The Bronx has Orchard Beach, City Island, Bronx Park and Van Courtland Park. Staten Island has beaches and a chain of interior parks. Within the city we can enjoy rivers, ocean, forests and plains. We contain multitudes, peacefully enjoying the recreational facilities, baseball stadiums, public swimming pools, skating rinks, summer theater, zoos, botanical gardens and picnic grounds. All of this is available without driving.
Escape to the Hamptons, the Berkshires or Cape Cod if you must; the rest of us will stay and enjoy the uncrowded delights of the world's best city.
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