Jorge G.
Yelp
One of the best parks in the city (Owl's Head) is found so far off the beaten-path; so obscured from the hustle-and-bustle; so relegated to anonymity in a mediocre backwater of a neighborhood....you get my drift.
Owl's Head nevertheless, has the most tree diversity in all of New York. Fact. The parks which spin off from this community anchor--along Shore Road--also share in this; and they are also thick with playgrounds; ballfields; water fountains; basketball courts as Owl's is. But make no mistake: everyone starts their weekend mornings at Owls Head first. Wintertime, too--mecca for sledding enthusiasts.
In Owl's Head there is real excitement --a sense of discovery--because the terrain itself is unlike any other in New York. It is like a glacial outcrop; it doesn't feel like something planned or built-up-with-a-backhoe, or 'controlled'. Its got variegation; unevenness. You stride up rather a mammoth, sloping, hummock of earth sheltered by a gargantuan canopy of towering sycamore trees; and they reach down their thick, leafy branches to welcome you. Extraordinarily cheerful and homey.
To give you an idea how "forest-like" this environment is; I can tell you that during a raging thunderstorm I have stood under these dense treetops and not gotten splashed by a single drop of rain. Its fabulous to come here during a storm.
Owl's Head is--well, of course its not a real woodland--but its one of the few areas I've ever seen in New York where that 'woodland feel' is even attempted. Its brooding; its serene; its spiritual; its spooky; its unruly. Its a park with something to say to you. The ground is rough, messy; and strewn with branches; its not a nice, neat, 'golf-course'. This is not a 'tree-museum'. You can wander around just in this grove and --unlike Central Park--truly feel as if you are away from the city.
Should you suddenly feel you've had enough of being "in the woods"--stroll over less than a hundred feet and emerge out onto the incredible, sunny, wide-open view and gaze with wide-eyed pleasure at the sparkling Hudson River; the city's bridges; the Statue of Liberty; and all the ships in the harbor. This park is a kind of a secret--it goes completely unrecognized for the superb--even spectacular--vistas it offers. There's no better way to experience a grand, sweeping view of Upper New York Bay; the Manhattan skyline; and the far-away smear of the Jersey coast. You can see all the way to the tower at Newark Airport. You can see out to that far distance where freedom--the world outside New York--truly lies, and almost imagine yourself there.
There are other great river viewsheds in NYC, yes (think for example of the boat basin on the UWS) but the problem is (as always) that your experience will be ruined by the presence of too many other jerkoff New Yorkers sharing the railing with you. Invading your space. Talking too loudly; being morons. Owl's Head HAS NO crowds to contend with. That makes the difference. You can come here and find yourself completely alone. Alone in your own thoughts and daydreams.
Yep. Thanks to its location in sleepy, hum-drum Bay Ridge; thanks to old Man Bliss who donated the park so long ago--there's 'elbow room' here; room to forget aggravation. It feels intimate, private; 'personal'. There's at least one place in New York to enjoy being a human again.