The Best Beaches in and Around New York City
Coney Island, Rockaway Beach, Cherry Grove and more – New York City and its surrounding boroughs boast sun, fun and sand for families, adventure-seekers and everyone in between. Here’s where the local New Yorkers take a break from the stifling city on a summer’s afternoon.
1. Coney Island Beach
Amusement Park, Natural Feature, Park, School
2. Long Beach
Natural Feature
Hurricane Sandy pummeled this seaside town in 2012, but since its revival, Long Beach has transformed into more than 2mi (3.2km) of walking and biking bliss. In the summer, this family-friendly beachfront also features concerts, a weekly arts festival and a farmers’ market on Wednesdays and Saturdays in Kennedy Plaza. Better yet, Long Beach has been ranked the cleanest beach in the US and the spiffiest in New York by the National Resources Defense Council.
3. South Beach
Natural Feature
After suffering destruction from Hurricane Sandy, South Beach on Staten Island is now embracing its renaissance. Silky sand, beachfront music festivals, fountains, playing fields and a lovely, 2-mi (3.2-km) wooden boardwalk are the perks that have lured innumerable swimmers here every summer.
5. Manhattan Beach
Natural Feature
6. Jones Beach
Park
7. Rockaway Beach
Natural Feature
8. Orchard Beach
Natural Feature
9. Robert Moses State Park
Park
10. Cherry Grove
Natural Feature
11. Midland Beach
Natural Feature
This beach on Staten Island’s East Shore had its heyday back in the late-19th and early-20th centuries when it was the go-to summer destination for holidaymakers in need of R&R. Today, after years of decline and the damage caused by 2012’s Hurricane Sandy, Midland Beach is returning to normality but without the throngs of pleasure-seekers of yesteryear. Midland Beach is also home to a veterans memorial honoring local residents who served and died in World War I, World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars.
12. Jacob Riis Park Beach
Park
13. Franklin D. Roosevelt Boardwalk and Beach
Park
14. Tilden Beach
Park
Michelle Lam contributed to this article.
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