Westside Greenway Path Trip Reports
June 2002, KenR
Sharon and I rode from Battery Park to under the GWB following the Esplanade and the Greenway.
We started from the Staten Island Ferry. We saw several signs for No Bicycling around the southeast end of Battery Park. Then we continued onto the Esplanade around the west side of the World Financial Center. It was in great condition -- seemed like the same as ever.
We continued north, and it seemed like there were two off-road paved paths. The one we were on was wider and closer to the river, so we stayed on it. Then somewhere along the way moved over onto the Hudson River Greenway path.
Lots of other cyclists out there early Sunday afternoon. And pedestrians too -- sometimes we had to slow down to a walking pace, and often we had to be careful to wait for good places to pass. But the overall experience of riding next to the water was pleasant, and we still felt like we making a reasonable pace overall.
The path was in good condition, and we kept going on that until the usual detour somewhere in the 80's. The detour up the hill was marked, but the return back down was not.
Next the "Cherry Walk" section was pleasant -- and we took the usual detour in the 130's onto the streets -- out to 12th Ave, and later back to rejoin the path -- but now it's all marked as a bicycle route, and the section at the north end of the parking lot is better organized.
Still a short section of rough pavement / dirt up there, and a right turn that isn't marked, but otherwise very pleasant to ride up north with fewer people. Stopped at the Little Red Lighthouse and read the story for the first time.
Then it was nice to see that the path is paved all the way up the climb to the sidewalk, but we still had to carry our tandem up the stairs to the walking-bridge over the parkway. Then we had to go out on the streets and up a steep hill to finish this route.
April 2002
Jim Zisfein on NYC.bicycles newsgroup:
This month's report is a misnomer, because very little has changed on the Hudson River Greenway (HRG). It's still underutilized in many areas, so come on down. In lieu of an update, I'll post some directions.
Access to the HRG at the north end is via 181st St. Take 181st going west, down towards the river, until you T-intersect on Riverside Drive. Make a right, go 1/2 block, then take the footbridge to your left over the highway (warning: a few steps) and continue southbound. The pavement is unrideable here, but it improves within a hundred feet or so. Hop on your bike, follow the curve to your right and down a steep hill. You will go under the GWB, with the famous lighthouse on your right, and you're on your way through the Riverside Park section of the HRG.
The path condition from the GWB to 145th St. is fair to good, except for 2 blocks of pavement in poor (but still rideable) condition around 150th St. At 145th Street you have reached the sewage treatment plant. The gate on your left is closed overnight and seems to get opened between 8 and 9 am. A bike lane is painted on the plant service road for the next 8 blocks, then you go through another gate. Take 12th Avenue under the viaduct, make a right on 132nd St., go into the Fairway parking lot and make a left, and you're back on the HRG.
From here to 100th St. the HRG is called Cherry Walk. It can be a bit noisy with the highway on your left, but the river views are beautiful. At about 92nd St. you make a left and go under the highway and up a short steep grade. Then you keep going south. In about 10 blocks you exit right, go back under the highway, and you're by the river again, with a lot of boats. From here to 70th St. HRG is **not** underutilized; it's jammed with oblivious pedestrians and skaters, bikers are in the minority. Take it slow. There's a big pier at 70th St, head out on it and take a rest.
Coming off the pier, make a sharp right and continue on a winding section of the HRG through "Riverside Park South". A construction worker told me that this part is temporary, but I hope they keep it like it is. At 59th St., you pass an extraordinary, triangular arch framing the entrance to a very ordinary Sanitation Dept. pier. You are now in "Hudson River Park", which continues all the way to Battery Park City. You pass some concrete barriers. Unfortunately, you have to cross the street at 55th St. and travel on the shoulder lane or sidewalk. Recross 12th Ave. at 46th St. at the Intrepid. The blocked section of HRG (55th to 46th) has been since 9/11 and I hope it's temporary.
From 46th St. it's clear down to N. Moore St., about 5 blocks north of Chambers St. There the HRG is again closed, but you can usually ride on adjacent West St. going south to Chambers, and enter Battery Park City. The lovely path along the river in BPC is called the Esplanade, and it has been fully reopened from Chambers street (don't miss the sculpture garden!) down to the pagoda-like Museum of Jewish Heritage. Midway along the Esplanade, you can stop and gawk at nearby "Ground Zero".
For most of the Hudson River Greenway (HRG), you have a view of the mighty Hudson. Enjoy it! For too long, we NYers have ignored this treasure. Have a nice ride.
Ed Ravin on NYC.bicycles newsgroup:
Allow me to make one addition to Jim's excellent post - if you don't mind trashed or absent pavement (i.e. have a hybrid or mountain bike), you can get on the Greenway one mile further north. From Broadway and Dyckman (200th) Street, go West on Riverside Drive, then at the intersection of Riverside Drive and Staff Street, hop onto the sidewalk, ride down under the highway overpass, then get off the bike and turn right, up the gently sloping curved steps, that lead up to the overpass. At the top is a path (it starts out paved, but quickly deterioriate) that will take you alongside the northbound Henry Hudson Parkway down to the above-mentioned 181st Street footbridge intersection with the Hudson River Greenway. This path is well worth the trip - it includes a scenic lookout (formerly known as "Inspiration Point") that has an expansive view of the Hudson.
October 2001
Good news! The parks of Battery Park City are now open. You can bike (or walk, or skate) from the North Meadow and sculpture garden, down the Esplanade to the WFC marina and Museum of Jewish Heritage, and into Historic Battery Park. The portions of the Winter Garden and World Financial Center that I could see looked intact, except for some facade damage on the WFC above the WG, and what looks like some missing glass and minor structural damage on the east end of the WG itself. I would look for some of the shops and restaurants to reopen soon (like maybe my beloved Starbucks; I was looking forward to a Frappuccino).
Entry to BPC is via Chambers St. The HRG is closed south of Pier 25 (about 3 blocks north of Chambers). You can get off the HRG and ride south on the traffic lanes of West St. to Chambers, or (depending on the mood of the police) you might get detoured a block east, then go south to Chambers, and west into BPC.
Jim Zisfein on NYC.bicycles, October 15 :
More of the Hudson River Greenway is now accessible to bikes than at any time since 9/11, but there are still barriers.
From the GWB lighthouse to 57th St., the HRG is open during the day. The section through the sewage treatment plant is closed at night; I'm not sure of the hours. The elevator to Riverbank Park was not operating yesterday 10/14.
From 57th St. to the Intrepid area (approx 47th St.), things are chopped up. Several heavy concrete barriers partially block the HRG at about 57th St., but you can go around them. The entire section through the Passenger Ship Terminal is blocked. Portions of 12th Av. are marked with cones, but I was told not to ride there; those lanes are for emergency vehicles only. Basically you have to ride on the opposite sidewalk, and cross 12th Av. twice. Does anyone know why they are doing this?
From 47th St. to just north of Pier 25, 1/4 mile north of Chambers St., it's clear sailing. There were a lot of cars parked on the HRG near the Javits center last week; they're gone now. From Pier 25 south to Chambers, the HRG is blocked off and there's lots of heavy equipment, but you can take West St. instead which is closed to auto traffic.
I was able to ride into Battery Park City on Saturday 10/13 without being asked for ID. I entered at Chambers St., rode on the Esplanade as far south as the NY Mercantile Exchange in the WFC. This area looks undamaged, as does the nearby Embassy Suites Hotel. A barrier just south of the Merc prevented me from checking out the Winter Garden or going into the southern part of Battery Park City.
Ed Ravin on NYC.bicycles:
[ in reponse to:
From the GWB lighthouse to 57th St., the HRG is open during the day. The section through the sewage treatment plant is closed at night; I'm not sure of the hours. The elevator to Riverbank Park was not operating yesterday 10/14.]
Since 9/11, the gate to that elevator has been chained up. You can
probably get around it by going through the parking lot under the plant that's used by the state park employees, assuming the security guard there lets you through.
[ in reponse to:
The entire section through the Passenger Ship Terminal is blocked. Portions of 12th Av. are marked with cones, but I was told not to ride there; those lanes are for emergency vehicles only. Basically you have to ride on the opposite sidewalk, and cross 12th Av. twice. Does anyone know why they are doing this?]
You don't have to ride on the sidewalk - you can use the right lane of West Street like any other vehicle. When I ride going downtown, I take the next lane alongside the cones, and drive in the middle of the lane - for 10 blocks, the adjoining traffic can handle it. It's no worse than on 6th Ave. When I go uptown, I take the West St service road on the opposite side.
Jim Zisfein on NYC.bicycles:
[in response to:
You don't have to ride on the sidewalk - you can use the right lane of West Street like any other vehicle. When I ride going downtown, I take the next lane alongside the cones, and drive in the middle of the lane - for 10 blocks, the adjoining traffic can handle it. It's no worse than on 6th Ave. When I go uptown, I take the West St service road on the opposite side.]
I tried that - but the traffic coming off the West Side Highway still thinks it's on an expressway, and I admit to getting a bit unnerved with big trucks barreling along behind me at 50 mph, coming within arm's length, blasting horns as they change lanes. I find 6th Avenue less intimidating; at least nobody is going that fast.
June 2001
Ken Roberts reports:
I brought my rollerskis into New York City on a sunny afternoon. I ended up skiing the whole length of Manhattan island, down its West side right next to Hudson river, and then I skied across the Brooklyn bridge.
I saw lots of trees and grass, skied long flat stretches looking out across the Hudson river, interesting paths around buildings. And lots of people . . . walking, lying, sitting, inline skating, running, bicycling. Sometimes those people made unexpected moves, and then I was glad that I was on special rollerskis that have an active brake, the Jenex Nordix.
I started by taking the IRT number 1 subway up to 215th Street near the northern tip of Manhattan island. The train was pretty empty, so carrying my rollerskis and poles was no problem. Then I put my skis on, standing on the sidewalk on Broadway.
I started off north to see if I could make a quick visit to the Bronx. And crossing the Broadway bridge over the Harlem River turned out to be easy. I turned around, crossed back, and started my journey south down the length of Manhattan. The sidewalks on Broadway and Nagle St were in good condition, and I immediately developed a whole new appreciation for those little
handicapped access ramps cut through the curb at most of the street crossings. I was skiing classic diagonal stride ("kick and glide"), and using my poles a little for balance. (I've modified my Jenex Nordix Classic rollerskis for skating, but I had done an hour and a half of skating the day before, so I wasn't doing any more today.)
Broadway climbed gradually, and I turned West on 181st St and climbed some more on the sidewalk to Fort Washington Ave -- the highest elevation of this tour. Now 181st St continued down a steep hill toward the Hudson river. I set the adjustable resistance on my rollerskis to the max, and with a little snowplow and a little active braking, I was able to get down it on skis. Took a footbridge across the Henry Hudson parkway, but then the ramp on the other side was closed, so I had to sidestep down the stairway. Some rough sidewalk, two or three more steep (but shorter) downhills, past some workers re-paving the path.
Now I was underneath the great George Washington Bridge and alongside the Hudson River, with almost no one in sight and lots of trees and grass. So I started south on the flat path, and switched to double-poling. After a couple of miles, the path ended at a building, but there was a sign to the left that said "Temporary Access" near an opening in a fence. So I turned onto a street with no cars and kept going. This also ended, and again I found an alternate on the street to the left, then under the elevated highway, through a parking lot, and I was at the beginning of the next section of the path. But then a section on dirt, and I was glad for my big-diameter wheels. After that it was pavement all the way. I ended up double-poling for about an hour -- much longer than any previous DP session (and I've got the blisters to prove it).
Around SoHo I switched back to classic diagonal stride. And then happened what some might think could happen in New York City: A dark van stopped on the parallel street alongside and ahead of me. A man got out and stepped into my path. Of course I stopped. Then the man spoke to me: "It's great to see somebody else using the same kind of rollerskis as mine". So we
chatted about our Jenex Nordix Classics, and exchanged E-mail addresses.
The lanes on the path in this southern section seemed like they'd be bit narrow for skating with rollerskis -- it worked well that I was on a classic stride day. Next turned into the interesting esplanade through the World Financial Center plazas and gardens, and finally I reached the Staten Island Ferry terminal, at the southern tip of Manhattan.
Except that I couldn't resist exploring a little further. I continued East on some sidewalks, until I thought I was blocked by construction. I asked a guy if there was any more, and he said Yes, but I better be careful with fast-moving cars getting past the blockage. (This was typical of the helpful directions and friendly comments I received from all the New Yorkers I encountered that afternoon). So I waited for an opening and had some special motivation for some fast kick-double-pole work. Then I was on a
nicely paved sidewalk that now was going back north up the East side of Manhattan.
When I saw a sign for the Brooklyn bridge, I turned off. I asked directions several times to get to the walkway for the bridge. Soon I was skiing up the slope of the center of the Brooklyn Bridge, first on concrete, then on the old wood planks . . . bump-bump-bump. And I was looking out high over the East River. I rolled down into the borough of Brooklyn, still in the center between the two traffic directions. Then I found a way off to the side and asked for some directions to the subway.
In the afternoon shade next to a fountain, I took my rollerskis off for the first time that day. Walked down the stairway into Borough Hall station, and headed home on the number 2.