Daily outdoors time is a must for Andrea Arroyo, and her days often begin at Fort Washington Park. “My long walks here are a central part of my daily routine,” she says. The Upper Manhattan park offers spectacular views due to its high elevation compared to the rest of Manhattan. Those views, Arroyo notes, include “the vast sky over the George Washington Bridge and the Palisades,” the steep basalt cliffs on the Jersey side of the Hudson River that date back to the Triassic Period. “I always end my walks with a long meditation, sitting on one of the magnificent rocks right on the sandy riverbank, listening to the waves — and, yes, to the traffic. I love NYC!” Visitors to the park who want to expend more physical energy can take advantage of Fort Washington’s baseball fields or basketball and tennis courts. The park also has a playground for creatives who have children in tow. 

Don’t forget to bring your reusable water bottle when you’re heading outside for a date with nature. Most New York City parks have one or more water fountains where you can refill as needed. 

Arroyo is fortunate to have a number of parks stippling her neighborhood, and that means that a quick recharge is never far away. Roger Morris Park, she says, “is quiet, and perfect for an impromptu picnic when I want to get out of the studio and connect with nature.” She points out that Roger Morris is a rich palimpsest of so many important chapters of New York City history, which can still be glimpsed here. “The site was the home of the Lenape,” New York City’s original, indigenous residents,” she explains, and it still hosts New York City’s oldest house, the colonial era Morris-Jumel Mansion, which is now a museum. Later on, it was a hub of the Harlem Renaissance. Today, she notes, the neighborhoods surrounding Roger Morris Park are where a “vibrant immigrant community, of which I am a part” build on this history and make new homes. Arroyo is so inspired by this park that in 2016, she collaborated with the Morris-Jumel Museum to create a site-specific outdoor public art exhibit there. 

If you’re going to have a picnic like Arroyo, don’t forget to bring a container for your compostable food scraps. The list of drop-off sites is growing all the time and it’s easy to find a site near you by using this map.

History, art, and the chance to be outside are the draws of Fort Tryon Park, which is also home to the Cloisters, the Met’s museum dedicated to all things medieval. “I love this area year-round, but it’s most impressive in the fall, when autumn colors contrast with the crisp blue sky,” says Arroyo. More than 500 species of trees and plants line the trails threading through the park, enjoyed by walkers and runners alike. NYC Parks hosts twice-weekly, year-round fitness classes in the park. The classes, which are free, are led by certified instructors.  

Many performing artists aspire to be on the stage at Lincoln Center, one of the world’s premier cultural venues. But for Hamilton, it’s not only the interior of the performing arts complex that’s alluring — the outside holds a special charm too. 

“As a kid who loved dance and movies, I grew up on Fame, and so coming to Lincoln Center was a place that, for me, held this significant art heartbeat in NYC. It represents the pinnacle of what you can accomplish in the arts. I remember coming down from college at SUNY Purchase and playing out that Fame scene around the fountain outside.” 

Not everyone can afford a ticket to attend a performance of the New York City Ballet, whose home is at Lincoln Center, or of the opera or theater works staged there, but, says Hamilton, the plaza is “this great democratic space, this space that people cross going from one place to another or where they can just gather and enjoy the open air and one another’s comings and goings. I really do love that space.” And while it’s possible to enjoy the plaza year-round, peak season, of course, is summer, when Lincoln Center’s Out of Doors Festival, which features music, dance, and spoken word performances is in the plaza. (Don’t forget your dancing shoes.)

It may be the city’s largest Chinatown, but Brooklyn’s Sunset Park’s Chinatown isn’t as well-known to those who don’t live there, compared to Flushing in Queens or Chinatown in Manhattan. A brisk walk through the Sunset Park Chinatown is a favorite outdoor activity for Hamilton when he wants to clear his mind and stimulate the senses. “Wandering through the bustling, thriving neighborhood and its markets feels very singular,” he says, noting that it’s so bustling that winding through the crowd can feel like an aerobic sport. “I just love the markets: the vegetables, all the seafood and the meats that they’re selling. Even if I would never cook them, I’m interested in knowing what they are. My senses start tingling whenever I get there.”

You don’t have to wait for the NYC plastic bag ban to be implemented in Spring 2020 to eliminate plastic bag waste. If your outdoor adventures, like Paul’s, include market shopping, don’t forget to bring reusable cloth bags along with you.

Photographer Clay Williams spends lots of time outdoors for work, but it’s also where he heads when he needs to recharge. Sunset Park, “my neighborhood park, has gorgeous views of the harbor and Manhattan, but the biggest draw for me is the people watching,” he says. And, it seems, all of those people are active. “There’s ballroom dancing and exercise groups of 40-50 people, and beyond the soccer fields and basketball courts kids play badminton and volleyball. It’s my favorite space in the city.”

The park has an outdoor pool that’s open in the summer months and a sand volleyball court, as well as an indoor recreation center. During warm months, stick around after the physical activity for the open-air movies, which are screened on the lawn. 

Believe it or not, New York City is also a forager’s paradise. So while the NYC Parks Department doesn’t encourage foraging, you can still learn more about wild edibles by going on an excursion with a master forager, like Wildman Steve Brill. Or, look for the current schedule and location of Swale, a barge-based urban farm created by artist Mary Mattingly. 

Just a short train ride away from Diversity Plaza is Flushing Meadows Corona Park, which is popular year-round because of its many opportunities to get active outside. You can bring your own bike or rent a bicycle built for two (or four!) and ride the park’s trails, or rent a pedal boat and test your leg muscles as you navigate around Meadow Lake. If you have your own watercraft, you can put in at the park’s kayak launch point at the World’s Fair Marina. Flushing Meadows Corona Park also has baseball, basketball, football, soccer, and tennis facilities, and, of course, is home to the U.S. Open, the premiere tennis event held each September. 

Now 10 years old, the Welling Court Mural Project is one of western Queens’s only remaining strongholds of street art, and Williams recommends you bring your own camera and head out to shoot the murals that comprise this project. While the bulk of the street art pieces are on Welling Court itself, a crescent-shaped street just a block or so from the East River, you can explore the several surrounding blocks using the mural project’s map. 

Don’t forget waterways when you’re planning your NYC outdoor adventures. Public transportation also includes the NYC Ferry; the Astoria stop will leave you steps away from Welling Court Mural Project. 

Just make a day of it in Western Queens. From Welling Court Mural Project, you can walk or bike less than a mile to this outdoor sculpture museum, which has been combining art, the outdoors, and sustainability practices since it opened in 1986 — and all for free. Walk around the grounds or use the park’s kayak put-in point or join a yoga, tai chi, or meditation class. From early May until late October, the park is host to a series called “Roots Saturdays,” when farmers sell locally grown produce and chefs offer planting and cooking demos. And as for the art, it’s world-class, presenting work from both emerging and well-established artists (a recent exhibit features a billboard by Dread Scott).