New York City is home to over 1,700 parks, playgrounds, and recreational facilities. Among those are some pretty interesting and fun places to chill out for a while. Some parks are completely concrete while others are full of lush grass, huge trees, and mountainous rocks to play on. Whatever you like to do there's a place to do it in one of New York City's parks so here is a list of a few of my favorites.
1. Central Park
An 843-acre park in the middle of Midtown Manhattan. Home to a skating rink, a castle, and a reservoir this park is the most visited park in all of the United States. The real estate that surrounds this park is some of the most expensive in the country and the views are absolutely breathtaking.
2. Bryant Park
This is a tiny park located right behind the New York Public Library but man does it have a lot going on. Bryant Park features many events and has some great places to grab a bite to eat. The lawn in Bryant Park is always clean, always green, and is a great place to lay down a towel and have a picnic. Bryant Park also has great views of the Bank of America Tower and Times Square.
3. Washington Square Park
Washington Square Park is located right next to NYU and is by far the most entertaining park in New York City. You will never walk through Washington Square Park and not hear some playing music, holding a protest, or doing back flips over a line of people. This park holds some of the most intense chess matches you will ever see and if you ever wanted a park where you could wander around aimlessly and make a few friends this is the place for you to go. This park also has a dog park, a crazy looking children climbing area, and great views of the New World Trade Center and Empire State Building.
4. Battery Park
Battery Park is one of the most beautiful places in all of Manhattan. This park has great views of all of the downtown area and Jersey City. This is the park you take a date to, this is the park you sit down and eat lunch at, this is the park you run at, this is the park you just end up staring aimlessly at other people for hours because let's face it people watching is fun. Also, you can get a free view of the Statue of Liberty from the most southern tip of the park... Or just take the ferry across to Staten Island.
5. Van Cortlandt Park
The third largest park in New York City (yes it's bigger than Central Park) is a beautiful and fun place to hangout. Van Cortland Park makes you feel less like you're in a city and more like you're in the middle of a nature reserve. Home to many sports fields (including a golf course) and endless amounts of trails this park is the main hub for Manhattan College's athletics to place to lose yourself for a couple hours with a few friends.
