Outdoor Recreation

Kayaking / Rowing

Manhattan is an island, not just geographically, but according to some observers, psychologically as well. Whether one considers a Manhattan-centric view of the world as a virtue, it presents a world of opportunities, among them exploring that island seated atop its surrounding waters in a boat that you yourself propel. On the Hudson River, the Manhattan Kayak Company at Pier 84, near 44th Street, offers rentals in the shadow of the Intrepid Museum. Advanced paddlers can even take the 18-mile Spuyten Devil Trip that traverses the northern tip of Manhattan. Because kayakers are a passionate, proselytizing lot, the Downtown Boathouse offers free programs at Pier 26 in Tribeca. If one would rather stroke with others than paddle alone, the Village Community Boathouse at Pier 40 has free rowing. Up in Inwood, Row NYC offers a variety of programs from its Peter Jay Sharp Dock on the Harlem River, just below Swindler’s Cove. Take A train to Dyckman Street and you’re almost there.

Bicycle Clubs / Group Bike Rides

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” This opening line from Charles Dickens “A Tale of Two Cities” might well apply to state of bicycle riding in the Big Apple. While designated “bike lanes” now abound in Manhattan, their frequent use by fast moving motorized vehicles (e-bikes mopeds, scooters) and slow-moving Amazon delivery trucks have left the believers in pedal power increasingly beleaguered. One solution to this: bicycle clubs, for nobody understands the frustrations of a bicyclist like another bicyclist, nor has more ways of reclaiming the joys of pedaling. For the competition minded, the Century Road Club Association (www.crca.net) organizes regular races and training rides in Central Park; it’s also the group reigning women’s Olympic road race champion Kirsten Faulkner came from. For those wanting to challenge themselves more in distance and exploration, the New York Cycling Club (nycc.org) is renowned. Finally, though the NYC Department of Transportation often maddens pedal bicyclists, it has aerned their gratitude too, especially when riding Manhattan Summer Streets (dates TBA, likely late July and August), from the Brooklyn Bridge to Inwood.

Track Running / Running Clubs

There’s good news, bad news and great news for Manhattan runners who love the discipline and safety of track running. The bad news first: the East River Track, which was razed as part the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project will remain closed at least until 2027—a year longer than originally announced. As for Red Hook Track in Brooklyn—a popular destination for Manhattanites—it’s entering its fifth full year of closure with so many reopening dates come and gone, the NYC Parks Department has ceased answering questions about it. The good news is that Riverbank State Park track is open and well worth the trip—take the subway to 145th Street. Even further uptown, Columbia University offers weekday morning open track hours at its Baker Athletics Complex in Inwood. Also uptown, the Dyckman Run Club offers track programs at Macomb’s Dam Park, next to Yankee Stadium, in the Bronx. The great news concerns what’s happening this summer at Carl Ichan Stadium on Randall’s Island—which is officially part of Manhattan. From July 23-26, the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be held here for the first time since 1991. If not World Cup huge, this is no small thing for track loving New Yorkers, as the event is most often held in Eugene, Oregon or Des Moines, Iowa, i.e. nowhere near the tracks of Gotham.

Birding

Whether the local avian population knows it or not, what was once the New York City Audubon Society is today the New York City Bird Alliance: same people and same mission, mostly, which is to admire and protect our fine feathered friends and encourage others to do the same. For those who are not presently birders, summer is an opportune time to dabble or dive (like a dabbling or diving duck!) into this rewarding hobby. For starters, the Bird Alliance it has a handy online guide to Manhattan birding. Among Central Park’s summer avian highlights are Great Crested Flycatcher, Warbling Vireo, Nesting Red-tailed Hawk and the Baltimore Oriole. Though it’d be nice to think the last was a special airmail delivery to recall Baltimore—and the Star Spangled Banner of that flew over Fort McHenry—in the year of the U.S. Semiquincentennial the truth is the orange bellied (among the males) birdies were here all along. Bop up Riverside Park and you might also see Fledged Peregrine Falcons and nesting land birds such as Gray Catbird, Carolina Wren, Common Grackle and Chimney Swifts.

Handball

Much as everyone loves the NYC Parks Department, for budgetary and other reasons, they can be the locus of park lovers’ frustrations. Rarely is this the “parkies” fault pe se: closed restrooms, facilities in disrepair, projects years behind “schedule”— the list goes on, and should be enumerated. This isn’t to shame them but rather to show those who control the purse strings what great things Parks can achieve at its properly funded—and publicly accountable— best. That said, there’s one place the agency never lets us down: the handball court. Indeed, what the Great Wall of China and Hadrian’s Wall between England and Scotland are to world architecture, the concrete walls of the handball court—around 2,300 of them—are to New Yorkers. One might also compare them to the ancient megaliths of various world cultures, such is their sacred stature to anyone who’s ever played with the “big blue” ball. (Which some might recognize as a racquetball—it’s the same sphere.) Not only is handball the most egalitarian and inclusive of ball games, it’s also an official Public School Athletic League (PSAL) sport, which helps keep the game alive across cultures and generations. That handball courts are also used for paddleball, tennis, baseball, cricket and soccer is further testament to their utilitarian greatness.