Finding Fall Foliage in New York City
New York City might not be the first place to come to mind when one thinks of the fiery reds, oranges, and yellows of autumn leaves. Still, fall foliage cuts its radiant path throughout the Big Apple, and color is alive and well around NYC.
Indeed the rustic tones of fall can be found right here in the five boroughs. In fact, each borough has its own refuge of autumnal leaves bursting into vibrant color before dropping from their posts.
Manhattan
One must look no further than the obvious expanses of Central Park for the best leaf peeping in Manhattan. Perhaps the most picturesque-particularly in the autumn months-area of the park is the North End.
Central Park north of 96th Street is considerably more rugged and naturally striking terrain than the turf further south, which offers more public and pastoral landscapes. Atop Great Hill a grassy meadow sits amidst the elms aglow in their fall colors. Take a casual stroll down the remote paths to the Ravine and you’ll swear you’ve been transported to the
Adirondacks. Rocky outcroppings hang above stunning waterfalls, and not a touch of the Manhattan skyline can be seen through the thick deciduous canopy of ash, oaks, hickories, and maples. Head further east to the Conservatory Garden and take in six-acres of formally-arranged and impressively clipped hedges. The hedges and plantings don’t take on the yellows and reds of fall, but the trees surrounding sure do. Check out the Central Park Conservancy’s website (www.centralparknyc.org) for maps and more info about this area which many consider to be Manhattan’s best kept natural secret.
Brooklyn
Over a century and a half since Walt Whitman wrote delicately about the splendor of autumn in Brooklyn, patches of his inspiration remain, and nowhere more prominently than in Prospect Park. Venture into the Ravine, tucked between the Long Meadow and the Nethermead, and you’ll find yourself tucked into a timeless gorge with bursting colors hanging from the trees of Brooklyn’s only true forest. The steep and narrow ravine features the borough’s most rugged terrain, and the babbling brook only helps complete the seeming transplantation of a remote Adirondack realm. Maps and guided tours are available through the Prospect Park Alliance (www.prospectpark.org).
Nearby, the Brooklyn Botanical Garden (www.bbg.org) offers its own display of fall’s formidable blooms. Amidst the Garden’s Plant Family Collection, a number of plants-black tupelos, pawpaws, and poison sumac, to name but a few-explode into fiery fall colors. From the BBG’s Overlook, a parorama of golden ginkgo trees glow around the single sorrel tree, a beacon of brilliant red atop Daffodil Hill.
Queens
There are plenty of places throughout Queens to find a touch of fall, and to glimpse a spot of foliage, but perhaps the most informative of them all is the Queens Zoo, within the vast expanses of Flushing Meadows Corona Park. (See the zoo’s website for exact location and other info: http://nyzoosandaquarium.com.) Following the zoo’s perimeter pathway brings one on a tour of various wild habitats, from not-so-distant Northeast forests to the considerably more exotic California coast-and dozens of regions between. While the focus is clearly on the animals, must attention has been paid to authenticity of the environments, thus trees large and small fill the landscape with various styles and tones of leaves in transformation. At the Zoo’s picnic area, live exhibitions of birds in migration and kid-friendly talks on the biology of trees in autumn are constant, while leaf rubbing and other leafy crafts are encouraged for the young (or young at heart!).
Bronx
There are few places in New York City as stunning any time of year as the New York Botanical Garden (www.nybg.org), located on the Bronx River Parkway or a mere 20 minute train ride on Metro North from Grand Central. This is only enhanced by the turning of the leaves across all 250 acres of the Garden’s land-a sea of orange, crimson, and gold across the canopies of maples, oaks, and dozens of other tree species. At the heart of NYBG is its 50-acre native forest, the largest remaining expanse of the very woodland that once covered the entirety of New York City. Get lost beneath the majestic trees-many over two centuries old-and feel what fall in the city was like before the expressways and skyscrapers carved and stamped the town. If the forest is the Garden’s heart, then the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory is it’s true radiant face. Inside the glass and steel structure’s courtyard, a foliage-seeker can find inspirationi in momiiigari, the traditional Japanese appreciation of fall’s effect on nature. Prized Japanese maples surround a reflecting pool-its waters shimmering forth the deep reds, burnt oranges, and gleaming golds from the leaves above.
Staten Island
It’s not hard to truly get lost in the immense spread of Staten Island’s Greenbelt. With 2500 acres of public and privately owned recreational land, distanced from major developments and cushioned by the nearby ocean, it’s no coincidence that the Greenbelt is recognized as the healthiest forest ecosystem inNew York City. These verdant woods are linked by 28 miles of hiking trails, plenty of which can be taken advantage of for true immersion into a lush, autumnal haven. A hike up to the top of Todt Hill is rewarded with stunning (and colorful) vistas from this, the highest point on the Atlantic coast south of
Maine.
