The best of Brooklyn: Bloggers' favorite local spots

Ocean Parkway and Avenue U in Brooklyn

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Joe Teutonico, senior writer at Bay Ridge Odyssey (bayridgeodyssey.com)

“I remember when the city first cleaned up the Gerritsen [Creek] Nature Trail and started maintaining the trails. I was about six years old. A few years later, my friends and I would hike through the weeds—or ‘the creek,’ as we called the salt marsh. It wasn’t the deep woods of the Northwest, but it was our own slice of untouched wilderness—like a miniature Walden right here in Brooklyn. Even though I’m older now, I still use the gravel paths for pretty much the same thing I did then—clearing my head and letting my imagination run wild. With the reintroduction of native plant species by the Army Corps of Engineers the last few years, it’s easier to visualize how wild Brooklyn must have seemed to Dutch settlers in the 1600s when Hugh Gerritsen built a tidal mill—a mill that would later grind the corn that fed British soldiers during the Revolutionary War; that is, until his millstones went ‘missing.’ Whether read in a book or experienced, it’s unique personal and historic memories like these—and the potential for more—that keep me coming back.” Gerritsen Creek Nature Trail, Marine Park, Ave U between Flatbush and Gerritsen Aves, Marine Park, Brooklyn (nyc.gov/parks)

“Ever since I was old enough to ride a bike, one of my favorite places to do so was on the Ocean Parkway bike path. It was great, because when I would approach the intersection of Ocean Parkway and Avenue T, I had the choice of either turning north toward the wooded blacktop drive of Prospect Park or south toward the wooden planks of Coney Island’s Riegelmann Boardwalk. I would often take one of these two routes in the springtime as my first long bike ride of the season, resulting in a sore behind but a memorable local journey. I can’t help but admire the understated, and often overlooked, elegance of Ocean Parkway—which was designed by Fredrick Olmstead as Brooklyn’s answer to the Champs-Élysées. The trees, benches with old men playing chess, and separate pedestrian and walking paths never fails to impress out-of-town guests. Nearly its entire length is dotted with green pedestrian malls, large Spanish-tiled single-family homes and impressive apartment buildings.”