The city did a great job with the extension and renovation of the East River Waterfront Esplanade…read moreheading south of 75th street. Wonderful pathway to get in a training run, take a stroll, or relax by the water. Now only of they can complete the overpass on the FDR to have it open and connect to the upper portion north of 75th street as that remains closed and disconnects the overall esplanade. It's overdue by 4 years now due to never ending construction by the Hospital of Special Services which is overseeing this section and has botched this whole renovation project. They claim it will reopen partially in March 2026 but I'll believe it when I see it.

East River Park is really beautiful to walk from East 96th Street along the Esplanade north up to…read more125th Street in East Harlem. It can be found along the waterfront of Manhattan's Upper East Side. You have great views of Manhattan and some of my favorite bridges. There's a track, a tennis complex, baseball and softball fields, other fields and courts dedicated to soccer, football, and basketball. You can take the pedestrian footbridge to Wards Island. My favorite time of the year to walk is in the Fall. There's not much shade if any so it's hot in Summer. I sure hope we don't have another Endless Summer!!

What a beautiful area. Every single city needs something like this. So many things to do in this…read moreone spot. It's got sand volleyball courts, multiple soccer fields, public bathrooms with multiple stalls (that are surprisingly very clean!), grills open to use until a certain time, an ice cream shack, picnic tables with umbrellas, bike lanes, space for joggers to pass by, and insane views of Manhattan. I was visiting and my friend hosted a BBQ with a few of her friends and it was the highlight of my visit. It felt old school. No stress. About 15 of us could sit and hang and have a cookout. Incredible vibes. The perfect night.

Want to play soccer with a million dollar view of lower Manhattan? You've ABSOLUTLY come to the…read moreright place. Pier 5's highlight at Brooklyn Bridge Park is the huge soccer field where you can do your best impression of Messi or Ronaldo or Beckham or whomever you idolize in the global juggernaut of soccer. And you can come here to just practice your skills off to the side or partake in a serious game of futbol. As they say in Ted Lasso "Futbol is life!" Besides the massive soccer field and priceless view, there are multiple cement tables and benches with umbrellas great for impromptu meals or large group gatherings, which I was here for recently. It's first-come, first-serve, but we arrived at around 11:15AM on a cloudy summer Saturday morning and we were able to snag 5 of these tables quite easily with no competition in sight. Potentially inclement weather might have played a part in the lack of competition, but the area did fill up around lunch time despite the risk of rain throughout the day. Bottom line, it's super chill here and close to Pier 6, which has a small kids' water park and beach volleyball courts. Oh, and, most importantly, bathrooms are located at Pier 6 as well.

Love that it's completely enclosed with one way in and one way out. Also love that there is a…read morerestroom. Large play area with swings and a playset. My daughter loves this park and asks to go daily. There is also a soft installed floor just in case there is a tumble. Not super busy when we have gone in the morning and plenty of seating for the parents.

This park is amazing. peaceful reminded me about old time Washington sq park…read more Neighborhood friendly, there's a place to eat and pool open till 9/10/'23 It's quite safe here. Highly recommended. please stop by. :) there's a bathroom for men /women.

It's a vibe. I love hanging out here whenever the weather cooperates and simply taking in the…read moreenergy of Bushwick. This park really feels like the heart of the neighborhood. There's always something to see--from the regulars who gather here, to the occasional concert or community event, to an indie rock band playing an impromptu set, or local skateboarders showing off their latest tricks. It's also a great spot to spread out a blanket and enjoy a picnic under the shade of the trees. I've made so many great memories here over the years, but one that always stands out is getting my second COVID shot here. It may not sound sentimental, but at the time it felt like a hopeful turning point--a reminder that brighter days were ahead.

Great park! Love how active everyone is. There are workout stations and place only soccer. I miss…read morewalking around and enjoying the fresh air.

A beautiful small park featuring a kids' playground, a summer pool, basketball and handball courts,…read moreplus outdoors exercise machines. Just be careful where you walk, though. It's gotten pretty popular with some privileged and entitled neighbors who let their dogs run around, leaving messes everywhere.

Brilliant large park in the East Village that revolves around the recreation center and the huge…read morepool. Surrounded by a nice tall wrought iron fence. The park initially opened on June 1 1900 and has been expanded and restored a number of times. The park includes basketball courts, handball courts (in use today and these guys are good!), squash courts, spraygrounds and fitness equipment. Bathrooms and changing rooms for the pool and supposedly wifi hot spots. As for the strange name, that was New York's 16th governor Hamilton Fish (1808-1893) who served in 1849-1850 and later went on to be a US Senator (1851-1857) and Secretary of State under President Ulysses Grant (1869-1877). [Review 15692 overall - 284 in New York - 1196 of 2021.]

Toll Family Playground is located at Central Park West and West 85th Street. Toll Family Playground…read moreis an entrancing fantasy spot for pre-schoolers to jump, run, and play. It has cute Playhouses, climbers, swings, tunnels, slides, and open space for free play. It's one of my favorites as the play houses are fun for the small children. No restrooms or water features at this playground. Just like almost all the NYC Playgrounds it's well maintained. I visit with friends. I make sure to visit early for my reviews as I don't like a lot of children in my photos. Besides this day I was out early. The playgrounds fill up around 9am. If you have children and are in the neighborhood go visit. This is a really cute atmosphere for children!

This is starting to become our favorite playground in the area. It's summer right now, and the days…read moreare hot, so our son absolutely loves to play in the fountain. This fountain is fun as you can turn on two separate rings of water. The produce a wonderful dance of H2O molecules when turned on at the same time. This is endless entertainment for the little ones. This playground is pretty large, too. It has some fun play structures - for climbing, a slide, a seesaw, and some other balancing structures. There are also some sets of swings and a sand pit. The trees provide much needed shade when the sun is blaring down during the afternoon. We really do enjoy this spot and will continue to visit. It's normally pretty clean, although can get cluttered a bit from old water balloons.

When I first heard that an indoor turf facility was opening in Williamsburg, I contacted the owner…read moreabout starting a women's league which turned out to be a terrible experience (more on that below), but first, a few notes on the facility: The field is tiny. 5 v 5 games are super tight and the ball is constantly ricocheting off players. The walls are padded which helps prevent injury, but then the ball doesn't actually bounce off the walls, instead it often ends up dying near them. The turf is enclosed with a net which makes me feel like I'm in a cage. My knees always hurt after playing there--makes me wonder, what's underneath the turf? Pickup games run $15/hour which is a lot more than other pickup games in the city. Meetup.com has dozens of cheaper options if you're looking. My experience playing in a league here was truly awful. As I mentioned, I contacted the co-owner about starting a women's league. He said he had plans to start one and asked me to help spread the word. I contacted all of the women's leagues I've played in in NYC. Registration opened in December and my squad quickly paid our dues ($180/player--around $40-30 more than the usual league fees). The start time was pushed back several times because they had trouble securing teams. One of the staff told me that the league was going to be canceled but then a few hours later we were told we could have an exhibition match in two days if we wanted to, which was very confusing. At that point, a lot of us had already made plans--especially since we were told the league was most likely being canceled. A few days later, we were told that 2 more teams had registered, and I found out via the coach and players on these teams that they were given reduced rates. Some of the players allegedly did not have to pay at all. I asked the co-owner about this and he promised me in an email that "all players will pay the same fee at the end of the day." At this point, they should have refunded our league fees and set up an all-women's pickup to drum up interest in the league, but this didn't happen. The night of our first match, the co-owner asked the team if we would be OK moving games up to 7PM (games were supposed to start at 7:30). We told him that we wouldn't be able to make an earlier start time so he agreed to stick to 7:30. A few days later, they posted the rest of the schedule and it turns out some of our games would start at 7 which would mean some of our players might miss close to half of the games. I wrote the co-owner an email asking if he could adjust the schedule and when one of his staff replied, a very rude email written by the co-owner was included in the exchange: Can you calm this person down tonight, once and for all!? Also: please don't be apologetic to her at all! I read through your emails to her and she is the sort of person who seizes upon hemming and hawing and apologies. Be firm. Not impolite. But firm. At this point, I asked for a refund because I no longer felt welcome playing in a facility owned by a person with such a poor opinion of me. While I'm willing to give a new business some leeway while they sort out how to communicate with customers, The Pitch's policies re: dealing with customer's issues are very unprofessional. The co-owner later followed up with an email in which he refused to apologize for what he said--he only apologized that I had to see his email. He also said that I had misunderstood his terminology because he was using "the British way of saying to sort something or someone out." (Note: this person is not British and anyone who has spent time with the British knows that apologizing is a very British thing to do.) The Pitch has refused to give me a refund and thus I am out $180. When I entered a team into the league, I brought with me 7 paying players, and the other teams that registered came from one of the leagues I reached out to. In the end, my efforts meant very little to The Pitch. Despite the fact that they do not think I am entitled to a refund, I have been told that they also will not let my team bring in a sub without the sub paying a pricey registration fee and $10/match. Long story short, don't waste your time and money at The Pitch. NYC has tons of parks and green space where you can play soccer for free or for a very affordable price.

I moved to Brooklyn two months ago and there has not been a week where I haven't played a pickup…read moregame there at least once. The indoor turf field is extremely well taken care of and Matt and Greg are absolutely fantastic. I've also made a ton of new friends while at the Pitch and we are forming a 4v4 summer team there. The Pitch has honestly been one of my favorite places since I moved to NY and I really look forward to playing there every time I go. P.S. Don't listen to the review before mine because it is full of complaints with no merit. The field is not tiny (especially for an indoor turf field), the ball does bounce off the wall (maybe you just have a weak leg), every turf field has beads under it (former college football player, it's a fact), and, yes, the field is caged so that the ball doesn't fly off the field (if you are playing indoors anywhere, you are technically caged, but then again that's besides the point because the whole post was full of misstatements). Sounds like a salty person who makes generalizations about everything, including all British people being apologetic, and doesn't look at the facts. I wouldn't have taken the time to write my review or defend The Pitch against the other review if the place wasn't worth it. I have truly enjoyed playing here and recommend it for anyone, including women. The ownership is great and refunded me when a pickup game got cancelled. Really happy I found The Pitch and it has made my move to Brooklyn awesome.

Same as Van Vorhees Park it is located just south of the end of Brooklyn bridge park. Walk 3 mins…read moresouth along Columbia street and you're here. Since it's now overshadowed by its more famous NYC park to the north Van Voorhees is now way less crowded and more enjoyable. Plenty of space for toddlers and school kids to play with 2 sets of swings and playground slides and climbing equipment. Basketball, handball, and tennis courts as well. It is an old school NYC Playground that most New Yorkers and Brooklynites grew up with.