25

Queens Greenways to Fort Totten

This greenway route leads through woodlands, wetlands, marshlands, fields, tidal flats, and more to bring you to some of Queens’ remotest parks. You’ll bike through several park complexes, along Little Neck Bay, stop off at a marina, and arrive at the secluded Civil War–era bastion of Fort Totten, which now serves as public park. Here, tranquil roads amble past weatherworn buildings and a waterfront gazebo affords calming views of Long Island Sound. Your return journey leads underneath the towering Throgs Neck Bridge and back to Flushing Meadows Corona Park via residential roads.

Start: Flushing Meadows Corona Park, at the Unisphere

Length: 20.9-mile loop

Approximate riding time: 3 hours

Best bike: Road, hybrid, or mountain bike

Terrain and trail surface: The trail is paved throughout. The terrain has subtly rolling hills, mainly in Cunningham Park.

Traffic and hazards: The first portion of the ride travels along park greenways and on-road bike lanes that connect the greenway segments. Traffic is light to nonexistent along these stretches. The second portion of the journey, after leaving the greenway at the Throgs Neck Bridge, leads along residential streets without bike lanes and mostly light traffic. The final 0.5-mile stretch into Flushing at Main Street has moderate to heavy traffic. The road is a narrow commercial strip, where cars, buses, and bikers vie for space (but at a slow pace). Stay alert for parked car doors opening into the street.

Things to see: Kissena Corridor Park, Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, Cunningham Park, Alley Pond Park, Oakland Lake, Bayside Marina, Fort Totten, Throgs Neck Bridge, Flushing Meadows Corona Park

Maps: New York City Bike Map, Fort Totten Map from NYC Parks: www.nycgovparks.org/parks/forttotten, Flushing Meadows Corona Park Map from NYC Parks: www.nycgovparks.org/parks/fmcp

Getting there: By public transportation: Take the 7 subway to the Mets-Willets Point station. There’s direct access to Flushing Meadows Corona Park via a ramp heading south. Follow the signs south to the Unisphere and Queens Museum of Art at the park’s center. By car: Take the Long Island Expressway E/I-495 E to exit 21 at 108th Street. Turn left onto 108th Street. Turn right onto 52nd Avenue. Park ahead at 111th Street at the park entrance. To get to the starting point from the lot, bike into the park and follow the signs to the Unisphere and Queens Museum of Art at the park’s center. GPS coordinates: N40 44.803’ / W73 50.661’

THE RIDE

The first part of this journey is a designated greenway route, meaning that small, green roadside markers line the way and help keep you en route. From the Unisphere, you’ll bike eastward through Flushing Meadows Corona Park before ducking under the Van Wyck Expressway to follow a greenway connector-stretch toward Kissena Corridor Park. Use the pedestrian crosswalk to your right to cross College Point Boulevard and continue eastward along Booth Memorial Avenue. This soon brings you to Kissena Corridor Park, which you’ll enter at 150th Street, where you turn left into the park. You’ll pass baseball diamonds on your left, grasslands on your right, and stay right where the path forks at the grand weeping willow to hug the southern border of Kissena Lake. A short stretch of on-road biking on Underhill Avenue then quickly returns you to the park up ahead.

At the end of Kissena Corridor Park, you’ll again follow a greenway connector-stretch, using the pedestrian crosswalk to your left to cross Utopia Parkway and continue eastward on the other side. You’ll pass several baseball diamonds on your right before veering right and traversing the Long Island Expressway. This soon brings you to the western edge of Cunningham Park, where you’ll go south along the former Vanderbilt Motor Parkway. Constructed more than a century ago for cars, it’s now reserved for bikes and pedestrians only. Follow the greenway through the park’s woodlands, across a clearing with baseball diamonds, under an expressway overpass, and back into the woods. After traversing three bridges (to cross roads), slow down to make a near U-turn off the greenway and onto Springfield Boulevard.

Oakland Lake, a spring-fed glacial kettle pond located in Alley Pond Park. The lake, once known as Mill Pond, became known as Oakland Lake, named for a nineteenth-century estate here called “The Oaks” after the many oak trees in the area.

Bike Shops

Cigi Bicycle Shop: 42-20 111th St.; (718) 271-1473

Near Flushing Meadows Corona Park, this shop has a thorough selection of brand-name children’s and adult bikes for sale. They have flexible layaway options.

Peak Bicycle Pro Shop: 42-42 235th St.; (718) 225-5119

The manager, Kenny, gave me some useful input on biking options in this neck of Queens and into neighboring Long Island. If you’re looking for more biking options in this area, this shop is worth the uphill trek to get there.

A short stretch of on-road biking then brings you to Alley Pond Park, Queens’ second-largest park with 635.5 acres of freshwater wetlands, saltwater marshlands, tidal flats, meadows, forests, and more. Follow the main greenway through the park’s sloping woodlands. Then exit to your right at the bottom of the hill onto Cloverdale Boulevard. You’ll continue to skirt the western edge of Alley Pond Park as you head north along on-road bike lanes. As you reach the end of the park, you’ll soon spot Oakland Lake on your left, a tranquil lake surrounded by oaks. Stop off for a short break if you wish and then continue en route.

From the lake, the route goes uphill a short stretch before crossing Northern Boulevard at the top of the hill. Swivel right and use the boulevard’s north sidewalk to traverse the Cross Island Parkway. This brings you to the Joe Michaels Mile greenway, named after an early Queens health activist who, after suffering his first heart attack at age 27, went on to run one marathon per year throughout much of his life. He also founded the Cardiac Runners, an organization dedicated to helping others run away from heart disease. Follow the greenway northward alongside languid marshlands on your right and the Cross Island Parkway on your left toward Little Neck. Up ahead, stop off at the Bayside Marina and pier on your right (dismount and walk your bike onto the pier) to check out the fishermen’s catch of the day and catch glimpses of the Throgs Neck Bridge in the distance. Then return to the greenway, to continue cycling northward. This soon brings you to Fort Totten, a bastion-turned-park where time seems to stand still. Visit Fort Totten (see sidebar for more information) and then proceed toward the Throgs Neck Bridge.

After traveling underneath the bridge, the greenway ends at Utopia Parkway. This last stretch of journey thus leads along roads with motorists, so stay alert. You’ll sweep south along Utopia Parkway’s on-road bike lane before accessing smaller, residential roads at 26th Avenue. Your journey then continues along pleasant, tree-lined streets. Bowne Park up ahead is another little-known Queens gem of a park. You’ll skirt its edge to then catch 32nd Avenue back toward Flushing. The closer you get to Flushing, the busier the streets get, so stay alert. Sanford Avenue and Main Street lead you through downtown Flushing, where space is tight. Bike cautiously here and stay alert. After passing the Queens Botanical Garden, you’ll skirt the edge of Kissena Corridor Park once more to return to Flushing Meadows Corona Park and your starting point at the Unisphere.

Vanderbilt Motor Parkway

The Vanderbilt Motor Parkway (also known as the Long Island Motor Parkway) was laid out by road race aficionado William K. Vanderbilt Jr. in 1908. Having participated in European Grand Prix races and caused a 1906 car crash which killed a spectator, Vanderbilt envisioned a landscaped long-distance motorway that would traverse cross-roads via bridges and overpasses, whilst keeping race spectators out of harm’s way. In addition to serving races, the motorway would allow for scenic drives on race-free days. Today, the parkway is open to bikes (and pedestrians) only and lined with woodlands on either side.

MILES AND DIRECTIONS

0.0Bike eastward along the Fountain of the Fairs promenade (officially called Dwight Eisenhower Promenade), a series of elongated pools of water.

0.3At the circular Industry Pond, turn right to hug its southern perimeter. One third of the way around the pond, turn right onto the Path of Discovery to duck underneath the Van Wyck Expressway, following the greenway route. Continue east, with the playground on your right.

0.7Turn right along the sidewalk at the end of the park. Use the pedestrian crosswalk to cross to the east side of College Point Boulevard. Go east on Booth Memorial Avenue on the other side.

1.0Turn left onto 137th Street, followed by a right onto 56th Avenue.

1.4Turn right onto 142nd Street, followed by a left onto Booth Memorial Avenue.

1.8Turn left onto 150th Street and enter Kissena Corridor Park up ahead.

2.9Cross 164th Street and hug the park’s edge on your right along Underhill Avenue.

3.2Veer right and back into the park.

3.5At the end of the park, turn left along the sidewalk and use the pedestrian crosswalk to cross Utopia Parkway. Continue eastward along Underhill Avenue on the other side, with the ball fields on your right.

4.5Follow the greenway as it makes a sharp right turn and then veers left.

5.4Stay right of the baseball diamond and turn right under the overpass.

5.6Turn right along the greenway into the wooded corridor. Follow the greenway as it snakes left and onto the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway rail trail.

6.8Make a U-turn down the access path to Springfield Boulevard. Turn right to follow Springfield Boulevard northward.

7.0 Turn right onto 76th Avenue.

7.4Enter Alley Pond Park straight ahead and follow the greenway as it snakes left and then veers right.

7.7Turn right along the path and out of the park to go north on Cloverdale Boulevard.

7.8Turn right onto 69th Avenue, followed by a left onto 230th Street.

8.1Turn right onto 67th Avenue, followed by a right onto 233rd Street.

8.6Cross East Hampton Boulevard and veer left to follow its bike lane northward.

9.2Turn left onto 50th Avenue, followed by a quick right onto Horatio Parkway.

9.5 Turn right onto Cloverdale Boulevard. Oakland Lake is just ahead on your left. Stop off if you wish. Then go uphill on Cloverdale Boulevard/233rd Street, continuing northward.

9.6Cross Northern Boulevard and swivel right to mount the sidewalk along the north edge of the boulevard. Cross the Cross Island Parkway along the sidewalk.

9.8Turn left onto Joe Michaels Mile.

11.2The Bayside Marina is on your right. Stop off if you wish. Then continue northward.

12.4Turn right into Fort Totten.

12.5Veer right after the gate, onto Totten Avenue. Pass the Bayside Historical Society on your right.

13.0Turn left onto Sergeant Beers Avenue. Veer left as the avenue becomes Shore Drive.

13.4The gazebo is on your left. Stop off for a break. To continue, return to Shore Drive, continuing north.

13.6Enter the battery straight ahead. To continue, turn right from the battery entrance (onto Ordinance Road), past the visitor’s center.

13.7Turn left onto Sylvester Lane, followed by a right onto Abbott Road.

13.9Veer left onto Bayside Street and exit Fort Totten.

14.2Turn right onto the greenway, heading toward the Throgs Neck Bridge.

14.9Exit the greenway onto Utopia Parkway. Follow Utopia as it veers left and across the expressway.

16.0Turn right onto 26th Avenue.

16.8Turn left onto 157th Street, followed by a right when you hit Bowne Park.

17.0Turn left onto 155th Street, followed by a right onto 32nd Avenue.

18.0Turn left onto Parsons Boulevard.

18.7Turn right onto Sanford Avenue.

19.2Turn left onto Main Street.

19.7Turn right onto Peck Avenue. Peck becomes Elder Avenue.

20.0Turn right onto Booth Memorial Boulevard and then cross College Point Boulevard, using the pedestrian crosswalk. On the other side, turn right along the sidewalk a short stretch before turning left to reenter Flushing Meadows Corona Park. Pass underneath the Van Wyck Expressway.

20.4Bike around the northern edge of Industry Pond to return to the Unisphere via the Fountain of the Fairs promenade (officially called Herbert Hoover Promenade).

20.9Arrive at your starting point.

RIDE INFORMATION

Local Events/Attractions

Alley Pond Park: www.nycgovparks.org/parks/alleypondpark

Cunningham Park: www.nycgovparks.org/parks/cunninghampark

Fort Totten: This Civil War–era bastion has a rich military history and is now a peaceful park with weatherworn relics of the past. www.nycgovparks.org/parks/forttotten

Restrooms

Mile 0.7/20.3: There are restrooms in Lawrence Playground (on your right, outbound; on your left, inbound).

Mile 9.4: There are restrooms in Horatio Playground on your right.

Mile 13.6: There are restrooms opposite the Fort Totten Visitor Center.

Fort Totten

Plans for the Civil War–era fortification at Fort Totten were laid out by Robert E. Lee in 1857, but the bastion wasn’t completed until five years later. Together with Fort Schuyler, which sits on the opposite side of the East River, Totten’s initial role was to help defend New York from eastern attacks. The fort’s defensive role was short-lived, however, and it soon came to serve as hospital care facility for the wounded. Since then, the fortification has served an array of purposes, ranging from headquarters for the Eastern Artillery District to Army Reserve post.

Today, most of the compound is owned by the New York City Parks Department and has been developed into a recreational spot with swimming pool, paths for biking, a waterfront walkway, and more. Parts of the area continue to be used by the Army and Coast Guard, and the New York Fire Department uses some of the facilities, too, but neither of their presences detracts from the restful vibe of the spot.

To explore Fort Totten, enter the fort’s gates and follow Totten Avenue counterclockwise along the outer perimeter of the former fortification, now a car-free public park space. This brings you past a castlelike building that houses the Bayside Historical Society. Continue onward until you reach Sergeant Beers Avenue at the end of the road. Veer left and follow it onto Shore Drive, which brings you northward again and to an open meadow with wood gazebo and picnic tables. This bayside spot is an ideal place for a mid-ride break. Check out the building along the lawn’s northwestern edge, on Weaver Road, that now houses administrative offices for the parks department. To complete your rounds of the grounds, continue north on Shore Drive, heading toward the Throgs Neck Bridge, and visit the Fort Totten Battery at the road’s end. After exiting the battery, turn right up the hill, past the visitor’s center (where you might stop in). Turn left onto Sylvester Lane at the end of the road, followed by a first right onto Abbott Road. Veer left when it hits Bayside Street, and follow this road back to the entrance gate.