BBR_NewYork-30

Start: Brooklyn College, on Bedford Avenue at Campus Avenue / Floyd Bennett Field Ryan Visitor Center, at mile 5.5 in the directions (short option)

Length: 16.4-mile loop (main route) 4.5-mile loop (short option, Floyd Bennett Field only)

Approximate riding time: 2.5 hours (main route) 1 hour (short option)

Best bike: Hybrid, road, or mountain bike

Terrain and trail surface: The trail is paved throughout except, potentially, for a short stretch of greenway at Plumb Beach. In 2009, Hurricane Ida destroyed this bit, and, upon last biking it in 2013, it still hadn’t been fixed. If this remains the case, dismount and push your bike through the sand here. The terrain is flat.

Traffic and hazards: The first stretch of the ride leads along on-road bike lanes on city streets with light to moderate traffic. Some city cycling comfort required. Along the Flatbush Avenue bikeway, stay alert for cracked and uneven pavement, as well as crossroads. Come to a complete stop to check for traffic before crossing. The short option is essentially car-free.

Things to see: Brooklyn College, Marine Park Salt Marsh, Floyd Bennett Field, Sheepshead Bay

Maps: New York City Bike Map, Floyd Bennett Field Bicycle Map, National Parks Service: www.nps.gov

Getting there: By public transportation: Take the 2 or 5 subway to the Flatbush Avenue/Brooklyn College stop. Go west 1 block on Hillel Place. Turn right onto Campus Road, followed by a left to stay on Campus Road. Turn left onto Bedford Avenue. The college entrance is on your left. By car: Take I-278 W/Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Exit onto Hamilton Avenue toward Battery Tunnel. Go 1.1 miles. Turn left onto 17th Street. Go 0.3 mile. Turn left onto NY 27 E. Follow NY 27 E onto Prospect Expressway and Ocean Parkway. Go 2.7 miles. Turn left onto Foster Avenue for 1.1 miles. Turn right onto Bedford Avenue. Brooklyn College is just down the block. Turn right onto Campus Avenue and look for parking.

To start at Floyd Bennett Field: Take I-278 W/Belt Parkway to exit 11S for Flatbush Avenue S toward the Rockaways. Follow Flatbush Avenue south to the 4th traffic light (last light before the bridge). Turn left to enter the park. GPS coordinates: N40 37.872’ / W73 57.142’ (Brooklyn College, main route); N40 35.286’ / W73 53.826’ (Floyd Bennett Field, short option)

THE RIDE

Brooklyn College is a picturesque starting point for this journey. With a neo-Georgian campus established in 1930, it was recently ranked the nation’s “Most Beautiful Campus” by the Princeton Review. From here, Bedford Avenue leads you south through the residential Midwood section of Brooklyn, where one-family homes sit on tree-lined roads. This soon brings you to Marine Park, with 530 acres of marshland, lawns, playing fields, and more. You’ll circumnavigate the park along a greenway, heading southeast alongside ball fields on your left. For sweeping views of the Marine Park Salt Marsh, enter the park’s nature center, sitting on the south side of Avenue U, and go to the back terrace. Your sightline reaches across the mellow marshlands all the way south to the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge and Rockaway Peninsula.

To continue en route, follow the narrow, paved trail along the edge of the salt marsh eastward. Hug the edge of the marshland, zigzagging right and left, until you reach Flatbush Avenue. Catch the Flatbush Avenue greenway along its west border, going southeastward alongside the Marine Park Golf Course on your right and Mill Basin, an arm of greater Jamaica Bay, on the left side of Flatbush Avenue. Stay alert for cracked pavement, protrusions, and crossroads as you head south. Come to a complete stop before crossing any of the crossroads. When the greenway switches to the east side of Flatbush Avenue, use the pedestrian signal to cross the road. Then continue southward, with the marina on the opposite side of the road. You’ll cycle along the west edge of Floyd Bennett Field, brushing up against cord grass and a series of playing fields. This soon brings you to the Ryan Visitor Center, sitting in the airfield’s restored 1930s-era airport terminal. Stop off, if you wish, to check out an interactive display that brings the country’s aviation history to life. Then continue southward to enter Floyd Bennett Field via Floyd Bennett Drive (also known as Aviation Road) at the ranger station.

Floyd Bennett Field now offers miles of sweeping runways to cycle along. This route leads through the northern portion of the airfield where you’ll pass Hangar B, an aircraft storage spot that now houses restored historic aircrafts. Stop off if you wish. Then, continuing along the runways, the route passes Jamaica Bay’s campsite, which gives access to the surrounding waters. At the north end of the runway, Mill Basin Inlet is the starting point of a network of walkable nature trails that afford up-close views of the bay’s ecology. From here, you’ll go south past a model airplane field and soon head toward the airfield’s western edge, next to the Aviator Sports Center and back to the Ryan Visitor Center. Exit the airfield through the parking area to return to the Flatbush greenway.

Heading north along Flatbush Avenue, you’ll retrace your route a short spurt and traverse to the west side of Flatbush at the pedestrian crossing once more. When the greenway forks just thereafter, hug the marshland on your left to bend westward. The route here is framed by the Belt Parkway on one side and languid grasslands on the other. Stay alert as you cross the bridge up ahead and the bikeway narrows. On your right you can catch views of Marine Park marshlands once more, while on your left, views reach across Dead Horse Bay to the Rockaways. Fishing and recreational boats often dot the bay. Descending the bridge then brings you to Plumb Beach, where a section of bikeway was destroyed in 2009 by Hurricane Ida. Walk your bike through the sand up ahead, continuing westward, until you reach the paved portion of the route once more. Just beyond, the Comfort Inn marks the end of the greenway. Emmons Avenue then leads you through Sheepshead Bay, where yachts are moored offshore and sidewalk cafes, cruise charters, and street vendors line the way, creating a strikingly Mediterranean vibe. Take a bay-side break and then return to Brooklyn College via Bedford Avenue.

MILES AND DIRECTIONS

0.0Bike south on Bedford Avenue’s on-road bike lane.

1.4Turn left onto Avenue P.

1.7Turn right onto Nostrand Avenue.

1.9Veer left onto Gerritsen Avenue.

2.3Turn left onto Avenue S and enter Marine Park straight ahead. Turn right onto the bikeway that circles the sports fields.

2.7Exit the bikeway into the parking lot to your right. Veer right to bike through parking lot towards Avenue U and the water.

2.8Cross Avenue U to get to the Salt Marsh Nature Center straight ahead.

2.9To visit the nature center, lock up your bike and explore. To continue en route, follow the narrow, paved trail along the edge of the salt marsh eastward toward Flatbush Avenue.

3.2After passing the handball courts and playground on your right descend onto Avenue U at East 38th Street to head northeast for 1 block along Avenue U.

3.3Turn right onto Ryder Street.

3.4Turn left onto Avenue V.

3.5 Turn right onto Hendrickson Street (no sign).

3.6Make a quick left, hugging the edge of the marshland.

3.7Turn right at Flatbush Avenue onto the greenway (on the sidewalk). Stay alert for uneven terrain and cracked pavement. Come to a complete stop before crossing any of the four access roads.

4.9Use the pedestrian crossing (press the button) to traverse to the east side of Flatbush Avenue. On the other side, turn right to catch the greenway, continuing south.

5.5(The short route begins here.) The Ryan Visitor Center is on your left. Lock your bike to explore, if you wish. Then continue southward.

6.0At the traffic light traverse Floyd Bennett Drive (Aviation Road) to turn left along the road toward the ranger station.

6.3After passing the ranger station, turn left toward the historic part of the field.

6.9Turn right toward Hangar B.

7.6Hangar B is in front of you to your right. Lock your bike to explore, if you wish. Then follow the runway northward, with the campsite on your right.

8.4At Mill Basin Inlet, turn left to go south toward the model airplane field.

8.6After passing the model airplane field on your left, veer right at the runway crossroads to go southwest.

9.3Follow the runway as it turns left toward the recreation complex and visitor center.

9.9Veer right to go through the visitor center parking area and exit Floyd Bennett Field onto the Flatbush Avenue greenway, going north.

10.5Use the pedestrian crosswalk to cross to the west side of Flatbush. Then turn right (continuing north) and veer quickly left when the path splits to leave Flatbush Avenue behind.

11.9At Plumb Beach, the bikeway was destroyed in 2009. If this remains the case, descend the bikeway into the parking lot and bike to its northwestern corner. Dismount your bike and push it through the sand, continuing westward about 0.1 mile, where the paved portion picks up again.

12.5Turn right at the end of the greenway and cross to the north side of Emmons Avenue. Turn left to bike west along Emmons Avenue.

13.1Turn right onto Bedford Avenue.

16.4Arrive at your starting point.

Floyd Bennett Field opened as New York City’s first municipal airport in 1931 and was named after Floyd Bennett, the pilot who in 1926 was the first person to fly over the North Pole. Within two years, the airport became the country’s second busiest. It boasted exceptionally long runways for the time and thus soon began attracting innovative aviators like Wiley Post and Howard Hughes who were out to break records for speed and distance. Wiley Post took off from and landed at Floyd Bennett Field for his record-breaking around-the-world flight in 1933. He circled the globe in just under eight days, thus breaking his own previous record. When he landed at Floyd Bennett Field, thousands of spectators cheered him on. A replica of Wiley’s aircraft is on view in Hangar B.