Astoria Park

Two weekends ago, after checking on the cherry trees at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden (they were finally blooming!) I wasn't ready to head inside for the day, so I wound up in Astoria Park in Queens. I had read some stupid Buzzfeed article about hidden gems in Queens (maybe it wasn't so stupid, especially considering the source...) that mentioned Astoria Park so I put it on my list of places to check out.

I'm a total sucker for a good bridge or skyline view, and a waterfront walk and Astoria Park has all three, plus an extra bridge just for good measure. At the south end of the park is the Triborough, aka Robert F Kennedy bridge, and at the north end is the Hell Gate train bridge. Both are nice to look at, but the arching pink Hell Gate is definitely my favorite of the two.

The Hell Gate opened in 1916 and is so named because it crosses the Hell Gate, a strait of the East River between Queens and Randall's Island. Consequently, Randall's Island also has great views of each bridge, which I first discovered when Jim and I went there for the world's saddest fall festival last October.  There is also a great view of the Manhattan Psychiatric Center on Randall's Island, which opened in 1863 and was once the largest psychiatric hospital in the world.

Astoria Park is quite large, with athletic fields, playgrounds, ample parking, large lawns and a nice waterfront walkway that spans the whole length. There is just something about sitting or walking underneath an enormous bridge that feels special to me. I'm fascinated with all of the different viewpoints I can get of a particular thing — bridge, skyline, building or otherwise — and it was neat to see places like Randall's Island or upper Manhattan from the "other side."

You can't really walk along the shoreline, which is probably a good thing because from what I could tell the "beach" was made up primarily of bits of broken glass (bottles mostly). I've actually never seen so much sea glass (river glass?) in one place before but the green, white and brown pieces sure were pretty, even if not entirely sandal-friendly.

I didn't have to read the Buzzfeed article to know that Queens is full of gems, hidden or otherwise. Every time I go there I have a great time and discover something new (to me) and totally awesome. I don't know if I'd like to live there sometime in the future, but I'm constantly thankful that all of its delights are just a short train ride away.