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CONEY ISLAND, ROCKAWAY BEACH, THE INTERSTATE PALISADE PARK, BEAR MOUNTAIN, HIGHLANDS OF THE HUDSON, WEST POINT.
It is quite impossible in a book of ordinary size to speak at length of all the features of New York that are more or less of interest to the stranger. Besides the city, there are its environs like Coney Island, for instance, that are practically part of the metropolis. A quarter of a million people sometimes spend the day at Coney Island, which is one of the really great sights of the world.
It is not more than forty minutes from almost any station in the subway, and ranks among one of the most popular resorts near a great city in the world. It fronts directly on the ocean.
The bathing is a great attraction, and there is generally a cool breeze blowing. A portion of the beach is now a public park. From the East side, take the subway at 60th Street on the Lexington Avenue line. On the West Side, subway, take the 42nd Street station. You can use any of the stations in between to reach those points, as best suits your convenience.
A very delightful route to Coney Island is by boat. Starting from 129th Street and sailing down the North River, touching at Pier 1, near the Battery, we get a splendid view of the docks and shipping of New York with the tall buildings in the background, and the ever-changing scenes of river traffic on our right.
As we pilot our way into the bay the historic Governor's Island appears on our left and the famous Statue of Liberty on our right. Passing these landmarks we sail along the beautiful shore of Bay Ridge—another Brooklyn suburb—with its fine residences and its splendidly built Shore Road stretching all the way down to Fort Hamilton and the Narrows.
At this point we emerge into the ocean and get a taste of the ocean breezes at first hand, and if our voyager is at all languid from the effects of the heat, the oxygen of the Atlantic transforms him, in an incredibly short time, into a most lively and vivacious pleasure seeker.
THE ROCKAWAYS AND JAMAICA BAY.
Next to Coney Island, Rockaway Beach is the most attractive of all the nearby resorts and in some respects it is even more delightful than its famous neighbor. The trip by water is a most pleasant one. To those who go to Rockaway by train the fishing stations on Jamaica Bay, just before reaching your destination, present a curious and rather perplexing puzzle of winding water ways, zig-zagging and crossing each other in an interminable maze.
But the fishermen who frequent these perplexing waters know all the outs and ins, the deeps and shallows, the currents and eddies of this most strange fishing ground. The sensation of crossing this bay is peculiar. You wonder whether you are on land or water. Besides Rockaway Beach itself, where the crowds go, there is the beautiful Rockaway Park, a few miles farther west on the beach—a quiet and select place. Andin the other direction there is the fashionable Far Rock-away with its incomparable stretch of sandy beach, and Arverne with its many fine residences.
For any one who likes a trolley ride through the country, a very pleasant way to return from Far Rockaway is to take the trolley car which starts from near the station and crosses the island to Jamaica. There the street car or elevated may be taken to New York. The trip this way consumes more than two hours, but is most enjoyable and gives the traveler a view of a very fine suburban part of Brooklyn and the village of Jamaica, itself a residential section of Brooklyn, which is growing very fast and is building up with handsome residences. From here car lines run to Flushing, Corona, College Point, and thence back to New York by Queensborough Bridge.
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