BBR_NewYork-39

Start: Albert E. Short Triangle, at the Court Square-23 Street subway station, at the intersection of 23rd Street and Jackson Avenue

Length: 9.9-mile loop

Approximate riding time: 1.5 hours

Best bike: Hybrid, road, or mountain bike

Terrain and trail surface: The route is paved throughout and the terrain is flat.

Traffic and hazards: The route leads almost exclusively along bike lanes on roads with light to moderate traffic. The intersection at the starting point of your journey, with Jackson Avenue, is the busiest part of the route, so stay especially alert here.

Things to see: MoMA PS1, Gantry Plaza State Park, Queensbridge Park, Noguchi Museum, Socrates Sculpture Park, Astoria Park

Map: New York City Bike Map

Getting there: By public transportation: Take the 7, E, M, or G subway to the Court Square-23 Street station. Short Triangle is at the Jackson Avenue/23rd Street exit. By car: Parking is limited. Check MoMA PS1’s website for suggested garages. Take the Queensboro Bridge to Queens to exit toward NY-25A W/Jackson Avenue onto Queens Plaza. Go 0.1 mile along Queens Plaza, staying right. Turn right onto Jackson Avenue. After 0.5 mile, 23rd Street and Albert E. Short Triangle will be on your right. GPS coordinates: N40 44.769’ / W73 56.725’

THE RIDE

The first noteworthy spot along this cultural waterside jaunt is MoMA PS1, which sits in a low-slung concrete building on 46th Avenue. It’s a great place to explore at the end of your tour after you’ve covered some ground. So to begin, cycle westward along 46th Avenue through a semi-industrial stretch of warehouses and taxi depots toward the skyline. Stay alert here as there’s no bike lane. Up ahead, you’ll then turn left onto Vernon Boulevard, where a bike lane leads past all-American diners and modish cafes in Long Island City. You’ll enter Gantry Plaza State Park’s waterfront area up ahead, with the Manhattan skyline, United Nations, and Empire State Building seemingly within arm’s reach. Explore the park and piers before catching the waterfront path northward, past playgrounds, stone chess tables, and a towering, iconic Pepsi-Cola sign. You’ll exit the park to return to Vernon Boulevard and continue northward toward the Queensboro Bridge. The ivy-covered brick building on your right, south of the bridge, is a nineteenth-century former steel foundry that now serves as classy event space. Then, north of the bridge, you’ll swing through Queensbridge Park, named for the nearby Queensboro Bridge, and return to the waterfront once more.

Proceeding en route, you’ll continue northward along Vernon Boulevard, where you’ll pass the Roosevelt Island Bridge before coming to Rainey Park at 34th Avenue. You can enter the park along the waterfront greenway if you wish or continue straight along Vernon Boulevard. On your right just ahead sits the Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum, which displays and interprets works by the Japanese-American artist Isamu Noguchi. The museum, designed by Noguchi himself, helped transform the neighborhood into the culture enclave it is today. Just ahead, another major Queens cultural spot sits on your left—the Socrates Sculpture Park. The sculptor Mark di Suvero led a group of like-minded artists and residents in 1986 to transform a neglected landfill into a public art space. The spot now serves both as open-air museum and community park, attracting New Yorkers and tourists alike. Waterfront art installations are shrouded among overgrown trees, and park benches dot the lawns. Created based on the principle that creativity is essential for human life, this is a great spot for a short break.

To proceed, you’ll continue along Vernon Boulevard and soon veer left onto another waterfront route just north of 30th Road. The bikeway here follows the contours of the land and juts out next to Goodwill Park and a public housing development. It’s a little-known greenway section. The waterside bikeway then veers to the right to deposit you on 1st Street, where you’ll continue northward. This soon brings you to a gate off 9th Street, which leads you down to the waterfront once more, here, next to a condo development with backdoor esplanade. Glancing across Pot Cove gives you views of Wards Island Park and the towering Queens-bound RFK Bridge (formerly Triboro Bridge). Then, exiting the gate on the other side, you’ll reach Astoria Park—another Queens mainstay with open lawns, playgrounds, and a host of cultural events throughout summer. Catch the greenway along the west edge of the park, leading you underneath the RFK Bridge and giving you river views along the way. To explore the park’s interior any further, dismount your bike at any point and walk it along any of the park pathways. (Biking prohibited on park pathways.) Sit back on one of the benches overlooking the water before heading back toward the more bustling part of Queens. Return to your starting point via on-road bike lanes from here and check out MoMA PS1 if you wish.

MILES AND DIRECTIONS

0.0Cross to the west side of 23rd Street and go south along 23rd Street. Veer immediately right onto Jackson Avenue, followed by a quick right onto 46th Avenue. You’ll pass MoMA PS1 on your left.

0.4Turn left onto Vernon Boulevard.

0.6Turn right onto 48th Avenue.

0.9Enter Gantry Plaza State Park straight ahead and explore the park space to your left and piers at your leisure. Then head north, continuing on the bikeway along the waterfront through the park.

1.2 When the waterfront park path ends, turn inland to go right on Center Boulevard, heading south.

1.5Turn left onto 47th Road, followed by a left onto Vernon Boulevard.

2.4After passing underneath the Queensboro Bridge, turn left to enter Queensbridge Park via the waterfront route.

2.7Exit the park, turning left onto Vernon Boulevard.

3.4Rainey Park is on your left. (Follow the greenway through the park if you wish.)

3.5The Noguchi Museum is on your right at 33rd Road. Enter if you wish. To proceed, continue north on Vernon Boulevard.

3.7At Broadway, the Socrates Sculpture Park is on your left. Explore if you wish. To proceed, continue northeast along Vernon Boulevard.

3.9At 30th Avenue, turn left to catch the waterfront route. The playground will be on your right.

4.2Follow the path as it veers right to deposit you on 1st Street.

4.3Exit the waterfront route, turning left onto 1st Street.

4.4Turn right onto 27th Avenue.

4.7Turn left onto 9th Street.

4.8Go through the gate to traverse the courtyard and continue along the waterfront.

5.0Exit through the gate onto Shore Boulevard. Continue north onto Shore Boulevard with Astoria Park on your right. (Alternately, catch the greenway along the west edge of Astoria Park, also going north.)

5.6Turn right onto Ditmars Boulevard, followed by a right onto 19th Street along the edge of the park.

6.2Turn left onto Hoyt Avenue North, followed by a right onto 21st Street.

6.4Turn right onto Astoria Park South, followed by a left onto 14th Street.

6.8Turn right onto 27th Avenue, followed by a left onto 8th Street. Veer right where 8th Street hits Main Avenue. Continue straight onto Vernon Boulevard, going south.

7.8Turn left onto 34th Avenue.

8.5Turn right onto 28th Street.

9.3Access the bikeway straight ahead at Queens Plaza. Then turn right, going west on the bikeway. At 27th Street, swivel left to use the traffic signal to cross to the south side of Queens Plaza. Continue south along 27th Street on the other side.

9.6Veer right onto Hunter Street. Continue to veer right as Hunter Street turns onto 44th Drive.

9.7Turn left onto 23rd Street.

9.9Arrive at your starting point.

RIDE INFORMATION

Local Events/Attractions

Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum: 9-01 33rd Rd.; (718) 204-7088; noguchi.org

MoMA PS1: 22–25 Jackson Ave.; (718) 784-2084; www.momaps1.org

Socrates Sculpture Park: 32-01 Vernon Blvd.; (718) 956-1819; www.socratessculpturepark.org

Restrooms

Mile 0.9: There are restrooms in Gantry Plaza State Park.

Mile 6.4: There are restrooms in the main park building in Astoria Park, to your right along Astoria Park South.