21

Victorian Brooklyn

From the Brooklyn Museum, this route travels along a grand, tree-lined greenway on Eastern Parkway, designed in the nineteenth century as the nation’s first parkway. You’ll traverse three historic districts with elaborate Victorian homes, and pass two colonial houses, touching upon Brooklyn spots with one, two, or even three centuries of history, and giving you a feel of what parts of the borough were like in times gone by.

Start: The fountain in front of the Brooklyn Museum

Length: 12.4-mile loop

Approximate riding time: 2 hours

Best bike: Hybrid, road, or mountain bike

Terrain and trail surface: The trail is paved throughout. It goes slightly downhill along Eastern Parkway and Buffalo Avenue. At the end of the route it goes uphill 0.5 mile along Bedford Avenue.

Traffic and hazards: The Eastern Parkway Greenway is car-free but crosses several streets with moderate traffic. Heed the traffic signals. Some of the roads with on-road bike lanes have moderate traffic, notably Clarendon Road, Avenue I, and Bedford Avenue. Most of the roads without bike lanes run through residential neighborhoods with only light traffic, but a few connector stretches have heavy traffic—Church Avenue, most notably. City cycling comfort is required.

Things to see: Eastern Parkway, Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum, Historic Fiske Terrace and Midwood Park, Historic Ditmas Park, Historic Prospect Park South, Lefferts Historic House Museum

Map: New York City Bike Map

Getting there: By public transportation: Take the 2 or 3 subway to the Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum stop. The fountain is in front of the museum on the left. By car: Take the Brooklyn Bridge to the first left exit at Tillary Street. Turn right onto Flatbush Avenue and continue straight 1.5 miles to Grand Army Plaza. Follow the traffic circle two thirds around. Turn right after the Brooklyn Public Library onto Eastern Parkway. The museum parking lot is on your right at Washington Avenue. GPS coordinates: N40 40.296’ / W73 57.775’

THE RIDE

From the Brooklyn Museum, go east along Eastern Parkway’s greenway, which runs along the parkway’s southern flank. Conceived of by the landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in 1866, the parkway was part of their larger scheme to construct a parkway system connecting parks throughout the area, thus bringing the country to the city. Four rows of trees extend eastward along the 2-mile boulevard that served for “pleasure riding” in its early days. Today, the left side of the greenway is for cyclists and the right side is for walkers, but the border is vague, so stay alert and be prepared to stop for pedestrians.

Toward the end of the parkway, you’ll turn right onto Buffalo Avenue, hugging the edge of Lincoln Terrace Park to go downhill and southward toward central Brooklyn. A short stretch of on-road biking on Ditmas Boulevard soon brings you to New York City’s oldest standing structure, the Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum, built circa 1652. You can visit the homestead’s interior by guided tour only, but the homestead’s yard is accessible all day long. To reach the spot, use the pedestrian crosswalk to cross to the south side of Clarendon Road.

A home along Albemarle Road in historic Prospect Park South, known for its Victorian buildings.

To proceed en route, you’ll return to the north side of Clarendon Road to continue westward toward Brooklyn College. Stay especially alert on Albany Avenue, where there’s no bike lane. You’ll then hug the northwestern edge of Brooklyn College’s campus along Campus Road and cross one heavily trafficked intersection at Ocean Avenue. Stay alert.

On the other side, you’ll suddenly find yourself riding along the tranquil streets of Victorian Fiske Terrace and Midwood Park. In stark contrast to the hustle along Ocean Avenue, one-family homes here have expansive lawns, spacious verandas, and lofty turrets, giving the neighborhood a far-flung feel. Historic Ditmas Park, just north of Newkirk Avenue, brings you past similarly striking homes and tree-covered malls. North of Beverley Road you’ll then enter historic Prospect Park South, where Victorian homes continue to line the way.

Church Avenue up ahead then returns you to big-city hubbub, with cars, buses, and bikers vying for space. Stay alert here and watch for parked car doors. A calmer stretch of the journey begins just ahead at Bedford Avenue, where a bike lane takes you north. Then, for another venture into the past, you’ll turn left onto Empire Boulevard to reach the Lefferts Historic House in Prospect Park. Built by a Dutch family in the late eighteenth century when the neighborhood was still a farming village, this historic house museum sheds light on Brooklyn’s development from pre-Colonial times to today. To enter the house, dismount and lock your bike. The spots surrounding the house also make for pleasant rest spots before you return to Bedford Avenue and your starting point at Eastern Parkway.

MILES AND DIRECTIONS

0.0Cross Washington Avenue at the eastern edge of the Brooklyn Museum to access the greenway on Eastern Parkway’s southern flank.

2.0Turn right onto Buffalo Avenue’s on-road bike lane.

2.1Veer left onto Rockaway Parkway.

3.5Turn right onto Ditmas Boulevard.

4.2Veer right onto Clarendon Road. The Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum is on your left at East 59th Street. Cross to the south side of Clarendon Road to enter the compound and explore. To head onward, continue west on Clarendon Road.

5.1Turn left onto Albany Avenue.

6.1Turn right onto Avenue I.

6.9Turn right onto Bedford Avenue.

7.1Turn left onto Campus Road.

7.2Turn left onto East 23rd Street, followed by a quick right back onto Campus Road, hugging the edge of Brooklyn College.

7.4Turn right onto Avenue H.

7.5Turn right onto East 19th Street.

8.2Turn left onto Dorchester Road.

8.5Turn right onto Argyle Road.

9.1Turn right onto Albemarle Road, followed by a left onto East 16th Street.

9.3Turn right onto Church Avenue.

9.8Turn left onto Bedford Avenue.

10.8Turn left onto Empire Boulevard.

11.0Cross to the west side of Flatbush Avenue reach Prospect Park to your right. Walk your bike along the sidewalk to your right a few steps to enter the park there on your left.

11.1The Lefferts Historic House is on your right just beyond the park entrance. Lock up your bike and explore. To continue en route, return to Flatbush Avenue.

11.2Use the pedestrian crosswalk to reach the east side of Flatbush Avenue and catch Empire Boulevard eastward.

11.5Turn left onto Bedford Avenue.

12.0Turn left onto the Eastern Parkway Greenway.

12.4Arrive at your starting point.

RIDE INFORMATION

Local Events/Attractions

Brooklyn Museum: The museum’s permanent collections include everything from ancient Egyptian art to contemporary works. 200 Eastern Pkwy.; (718) 638-5000; www.brooklynmuseum.org

Lefferts Historic House Museum: An eighteenth-century homestead that sheds light on what Brooklyn was like as a farming village. (718) 789-2822; www.prospectpark.org/lefferts

Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum: Built circa 1652, this is the city’s oldest standing structure. Guided tours give insight into the lives of Brooklyn’s early farming communities. 5816 Clarendon Rd.; (718) 629-5400; www.wyckoffassociation.org