This pleasant park was built on the former site of the Brooklyn Eastern District Terminal and offers a satisfying riverside location with uninterrupted views of midtown Manhattan and the Lower East Side. Despite being within a few steps from newly developed apartments, the landscape is littered with unthreatening hints of its industrial past, with old railroad tracks and dilapidated piers only adding to the park’s casual charm.

A great place to catch some rays, expect to find local hipsters sunbathing or gazing contentedly at the chaos of the city center that seems so close but yet so far from this chilled plot. A nearby pier juts into the East River, providing a bucolic stage for all kinds of activities, from yoga to fishing, to the occasional riverfront concert.