Ocean Parkway Bike Path
Aug 17th, 2007On June 15, 1894, Brooklyn’s Ocean Parkway became the home of the country’s first bike path. Inspired by the grand boulevards of Europe and designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux , Ocean Parkway stretches over five miles from Brooklyn’s Prospect Park to Coney Island.
History of Brooklyn’s Ocean Parkway
1860’s – Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, who were also responsible for Central Park and Prospect Park, designed and proposed Ocean Parkway to the Brooklyn Park Commissioners.
1868 – Land for Ocean Parkway was acquired by the City of Brooklyn.
1874 – Construction of Ocean Parkway began.
1880 – Ocean Parkway completed.
1894 – Pedestrian path split to create the first bike path in the United States.
1950 – Northernmost half-mile of Ocean Parkway demolished and replaced by the Prospect Expressway.
1975 – Ocean Parkway designated a historic landmark.
View Map of Ocean Parkway Bike Path
The bike path is on the West side of Ocean Parkway. The path on the East side is reserved for pedestrians.
The bike path is separated from cars by a tree-lined median and intersects with cross streets at every block.
signs above from Urch on flickr
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cool. had no idea it was the first bike path in the US. might head there this weekend if the weather is nice (not likely)
[...] Ocean Parkway Bike Path [...]
Was a little disappointed on this bike path. Very bumpy ride!
[...] Beach, I highly recommend taking advantage of the designated bike path (built in 1894 and the nation’s first!) along Ocean Parkway, which will get you to the beach in less than 30 minutes without worrying [...]
It’s fun to bike because it clears your mind — you think better, you resolve problems you thought unresolvable, you get your perspective back.
I always have a hard time picking up the path from Prospect Park, though it’s very easy to follow the path from Brighton Beach to Prospect Park. It’s a great tour of a classic orthodox Jewish neighborhood.
Funny, I know it’s called a bike path and I know the little picture up there shows that pedestrians are supposed to be on the other side of the street, but that’s just not the case. This bike path is of no use to actual cyclists because of the endless parade of pedestrians who couldn’t care less about the fact that it’s supposed to be a bike path. It’s an embarrassment to the city of New York that it’s basically just an unmaintained sidewalk that acts mostly as a nice way for large groups of people to slowly stroll away the afternoon. Between this bike path and the bike half of the Brooklyn Bridge… the City of New York is great at pretending it cares about cyclists.
Dear cyclists,
Please stop bicycling on the pedestrian-only east side of Ocean Parkway, my children are with me, and you can’t anticipate when they might jump out unexpectedly. Thank you. For our part, we won’t walk on the bicycle-only section of the west side of the Parkway.
[...] bike ride: Use the Ocean Parkway bike path from Prospect Park or the Shore Parkwaybike path along the [...]