In 1998, the Hudson River Park Act officially created this park, reserving extensive portions of the waterfront exclusively for public recreation, and significantly limiting the types and locations of commercial activities. The Act also designated the river itself an estuarine sanctuary, and requires that every dollar made within the park goes right back into the park's construction, maintenance or operations. Officially, Hudson River Park begins at Battery Place with a bikeway and walkway that continues five miles along the entire length of the park to 59th Street. This is the beginning of the Hudson River Valley Greenway Trail, which will eventually run all the way to Troy, north of Albany. Most of the park is completed, and now a bike path encircles the entire outer perimeter of Manhattan. Some of New York City's most dramatic views can be had here, in particular shortly after dawn and just before sunset. We provide highlights below, but encourage you to vist the park's official website, which is exceptional. Currently, Pier 25 provides a small snack bar and a sand area for beach volleyball. A miniature golf course is open from May to October. The "Yankee," the last surviving original Ellis Island ferry, is docked here. Pier 26 is the home of the Downtown Boathouse, where members can store small craft like canoes and kayaks, and the public can borrow them or launch their own boats for free. The River Project, an ecological education and research center, is also located here. See also the Friends of Hudson River Park.

The Garibaldi-Meucci Museum is located in the heart of Rosebank in the historic home of the pioneer inventor, Antonio Meucci, and legendary hero, Giuseppe Garibaldi. The simple country residence was built circa 1840 in the Gothic-revival style. In 1850 Meucci and his wife Ester learned of its availability and soon after, began renting it. In the same year, Garibaldi also arrived in New York City seeking refuge. Meucci offered him the hospitality of his home and together they worked in his candle factory until 1854 when Garibaldi returned to Italy to lead the victories that unified Italy and won him world wide fame. When Garibaldi died in 1884, a committee was formed to commemorate the hero’s stay on these shores. Meucci was on hand that year when a marble plaque was placed over the front door of the house. After Meucci’s death, the house was turned over to the Italian community to be preserved as a memorial to Garibaldi. By 1907, on the centennial of the hero’s birth, the house was moved to it’s present location, where a pantheon was erected over it. In 1919, the Garibaldi Society turned over the house to The Order Sons of Italy in America. The Order has restored and maintained the house ever since. With the assistance of the cultural department of the Italian Embassy, artifacts were collected from around the world. In May of 1956 the house was opened to the public and rededicated as The Garibaldi-Meucci Museum. Today the museum is a National Landmark owned and operated by the Order Sons of Italy in America. The Museum offers historical tours and many educational programs for children and adults. They also offer an extensive library of rare and out-of-print books is open to the public.

One of the oldest buildings belonging to the country's oldest federal agency, the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House sits in stately situ on Bowling Green in Lower Manhattan. This 1892 Beaux Arts replacement for the original custom house that burned down in 1814 has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1972 and has been designated a landmark by both the National Historic Society and Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Manhattan Beach was created by real estate developer Austin Corbin (1827-1896) in 1877 as a self-contained summer resort on 500 acres of salt marsh, the eastern peninsula of what was once Coney Island. Visitors stayed at the Oriental Hotel and the Manhattan Beach Hotel and attended concerts by bandmaster John Philip Sousa who composed the Manhattan Beach March, in 1893, to commemorate the resort. Corbin was the president of the Long Island Railroad from 1880 until his death. The opening of amusement parks coupled with the closing of racetracks in 1910, in nearby Coney Island, led to the swift decline of the hotels. Residential development began in the area in 1907, redefining the character of the neighborhood. Today, Manhattan Beach, whose streets are arranged in alphabetical order from Amherst to Pembroke and named after places in England, is home to approximately 7,000 people. The land on this site was originally acquired by the Federal Government in 1942 for a Coast Guard and Maritime Training Station. After eight years of negotiations, this 16-acre waterfront property was transferred to New York State. It was turned over to the City for park purposes in 1951. An additional 24.4 acres were acquired in 1954. The park opened to the public on July 15, 1955 and was welcomed as an alternative to the crowded beaches of Coney Island. The children of Manhattan Beach have had a seaside resort of their own at the Manhattan Beach Playground since it was renovated in 1997 under a $778,000 capital project funded by Borough President Golden and Councilmember Anthony D. Weiner. New features include modular play equipment, benches and shade trees, swings, a water fountain, a sprinkler system, as well as animal art and wrought-iron fencing depicting decorative motifs of ocean and marine life. Every May and June, horseshoe crabs emerge from the Atlantic Ocean onto Manhattan Beach. Female horseshoe crabs arrive on the beach to lay their eggs, with their male counterparts literally in tow. Males grasp onto the back of the female’s shell using their specially adapted, hooked legs, sometimes two, three, or four males onto one female. When they arrive on the beach, female horseshoe crabs dig a hole in the sand and lay up to 20,000 tiny olive-green eggs inside. The males then rush to be the first to fertilize.

Founded in 1886, Yeshiva University is the oldest and most comprehensive educational institution under Jewish auspices in America. It reflects the centuries-old commitment of the Jewish people to learning, continuity, and the advancement of human knowledge and is a unique and vital resource for the Jewish community and society at large. US News & World Report rates Yeshiva as one of the top 50 research universities in America. From its beginnings as a small day school on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, the University has developed into a multifaceted center for teaching and research with facilities on four campuses in New York City. Central administration offices are located on the Wilf campus at 500 West 185th Street, New York, NY 10033. The University's 17 undergraduate, graduate, and affiliated schools and divisions reflect the full range of knowledge in the arts, sciences, and professions, and the richness of Jewish culture and thought. Total on-campus enrollment is approximately 6,300, including some 2,000 undergraduate students. An additional 600 young men and women per year study under YU auspices in Israel. Undergraduate programs for men (Wilf campus) and for women (Midtown Campus) combine rigorous programs in the arts and sciences (and in some instances business) with extensive offerings in Jewish studies. The philosophy behind these programs is called Torah Umadda (Torah and Western learning). The goal is to convey both wisdom and knowledge, to imbue in students a system of values that can help guide their personal, professional, and communal lives long after they graduate. Coeducational graduate and professional programs are offered in medicine (Albert Einstein College of Medicine), law (Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law), social work (Wurzweiler School of Social Work), psychology (Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology), Jewish studies (Bernard Revel Graduate School), and Jewish education (Azrieli Graduate School of Education and Administration). Rabbinic training and instruction in Jewish music are provided on the Wilf campus at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, an affiliate of the University. The Yeshiva University High Schools provide college preparatory instruction for boys (Wilf campus) and for girls (in Queens). Yeshiva University's 40,000 alumni work in virtually all fields and live in communities across the country and around the world. Several thousand have made aliyah to Israel. Most YU alumni are active in their local communities, and many hold leadership positions in communal organizations.

The Brooklyn Historic Railway Association (BHRA) was a non-profit organization dedicated to returning trolleys to the streets of Brooklyn, NY. The BHRA's origin began with the rediscovery of the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel by Bob Diamond in 1980. BHRA was formed in 1982 to restore the historic tunnel. The Atlantic Avenue Tunnel (constructed in 1844) is the world's oldest subway tunnel. BHRA successfully filed and received designation for the tunnel on the National Register of Historic Places. As of June 30, 2003, BHRA was ordered to remove and fill in all trolley tracks on public streets by the DOT. The DOT revoked consent for the project to proceed or exist on city streets. Shortly thereafter, BHRA completely ceased operation. Most of the PCC trolleys were removed from Brooklyn. Only the trolleys that are on the Beard Street Pier itself remain. The disposition of the last few trolleys is pending. The BHRA organized tours of the Atlantic Avenue Tunnel have also ended. A new, separate organization, Brooklyn City Streetcar Company, has been formed to attempt to return trolleys to other parts of Brooklyn.