6 waterfront spots
The water's edge, no ranking — promenades, piers, and river paths around the city.
Brooklyn Bridge Park
Opened in 2010 on decommissioned Port Authority cargo piers, the 85-acre park was built to a Michael Van Valkenburgh master plan using reclaimed soil from World Trade Center construction and wasn't fully completed until 2021.
Cycling is restricted to the marked Greenway path — riders must dismount on the pier promenades and on Squibb Park Bridge — and weekends around Pier 1 and Jane's Carousel draw the heaviest crowds, so weekday or early-morning visits are calmer.
Hudson River Park
Established by the Hudson River Park Act of September 1998 after the Westway highway plan collapsed, the 4.5-mile park strings together rebuilt Manhattan West Side piers that once handled shipping, from 59th Street down to Battery Park.
The park's Greenway is the busiest bike path in the country, so pedestrians and cyclists frequently collide on summer weekends between Little Island and Battery Park — weekday mornings or evenings are far less congested.
East River Park
Opened July 27, 1939 under Robert Moses as a Depression-era WPA project atop a former industrial landfill, the 1.5-mile park still contains two Aymar Embury II-designed Art Deco field houses recognized for their historic architecture.
The park is mid-overhaul under the East Side Coastal Resiliency project, which closed its northern end while raising the land 8 to 10 feet against flooding, so check current access points like the Delancey Street and Corlears Hook bridges before visiting.
Gantry Plaza
Opened June 6, 1998 on former Long Island Rail Road float bridges from the 1920s, the Long Island City park preserved two towering steel transfer gantries that once hoisted rail cars onto East River barges until 1957.
Reach it via the 7 train to Vernon Blvd-Jackson Ave or the NYC Ferry's Hunters Point South stop, and the pier decking gives way to lawn areas dotted with movable Adirondack chairs facing the Manhattan skyline.
Brooklyn Heights Promenade
Opened October 7, 1950 as a compromise after residents fought Robert Moses's original plan to route the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway through the neighborhood, the promenade was built directly on top of the highway's triple cantilever.
The promenade sits above an aging BQE structure slated for reconstruction — sections are expected to stay open in phases during the work rather than closing outright, but expect intermittent construction disruption as the project firms up.
Domino Park
Opened in 2018 on the former Domino Sugar Refinery site, James Corner Field Operations' 5-acre design wove more than 30 salvaged relics into the park, including four 36-foot syrup tanks and 21 original Raw Sugar Warehouse columns along an elevated Artifact Walk.
The L train's Bedford Avenue stop and the NYC Ferry's Williamsburg landings both put you a short walk from the entrance, and the paved esplanade holds a dog run and beach volleyball courts that make it busiest on warm-weather afternoons.