Prospect Park, Brooklyn
Designed by the same partnership (Olmsted and Vaux) as Central Park, on a different site with different constraints — and many landscape architects consider it the better design precisely because it wasn't fighting Manhattan's geology. The Long Meadow, at 90 acres, is the longest unobstructed meadow in any urban park in the US. The park contains a zoo, a carousel, an ice skating rink (seasonal), and Prospect Lake. Free to enter at all hours; the surrounding Park Slope and Windsor Terrace neighborhoods make it an easy combination visit.
The High Line
Technically a park — an elevated linear park built on a disused freight rail line running 1.45 miles through Chelsea and the Meatpacking District. Free entry at multiple points along the route; the best access is at the Gansevoort Street (southern) or 34th Street (northern) ends to walk the full length. Simultaneously a garden, an art venue, and a distinctive city perspective at second-floor height. See our best things to do guide for how it fits into a day.
Riverside Park, Manhattan
A four-mile strip of parkland along the Hudson River on the Upper West Side — less famous than Central Park, a similar Olmsted design, and in some ways more usable as a neighborhood park: a running path, a marina, dog runs, playgrounds, and genuine Hudson River views. Less visited by tourists, more used by residents, and genuinely pleasant.
Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens
Site of the 1939 and 1964 World's Fairs, and still home to the Unisphere (a 12-story stainless-steel globe from the 1964 fair), the Queens Museum, the USTA National Tennis Center (home of the US Open), and Citi Field. The park itself is vast and somewhat underutilized outside events — worth visiting specifically for the Unisphere and the Queens Museum, which has a remarkable scale model of New York City updated periodically to show current construction.
Fort Tryon Park and Inwood Hill Park, Manhattan
The two northernmost Manhattan parks, connected by a walk through the neighborhood. Fort Tryon's Heather Garden is the largest public garden in the NYC Parks system outside the botanical gardens; Inwood Hill Park's old-growth forest covers exposed Manhattan schist bedrock carved by glaciers. Both free; both almost entirely tourist-free despite being subway-accessible.
Brooklyn Bridge Park
A waterfront park running 1.3 miles along the East River on the Brooklyn side, with lawns, sports facilities, Jane's Carousel, and continuous skyline views of Lower Manhattan and the bridges. Built on piers over the former working harbor. Some sections are livelier than others — Pier 1 near the bridge is the most landscaped; Pier 6 at the south end has the best views back toward the Brooklyn Bridge itself.