The past few weeks have been very “hot town, summer in the city” and most of us have felt the overwhelming urge to blow off work to head to the beach. If you can’t play hooky during this week’s 90° days, we’ve got at least another month and a half of chances for good beach weather. The issue is getting to there from North Brooklyn is no easy feat. But luckily, it is getting easier as the years go on. Well, at least, the city is trying to make it easier. Here’s are the best ways to get to our area beaches without a car.
Coney Island: This is one of the easiest to get to on the subway. Take the G to the F and go all the way to the end (Coney Island-Stillwell Ave). This though will take you about an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half.
Jacob Riis/Fort Tilden: Getting to this part of Rockaway by public transportation is hard without a car. It’ll take two hours and at least two trains and a bus. Or you can take the East River Ferry and transfer to a Rockaway-bound ferry. Once on the peninsula, take their shuttle heading West.
If you want to avoid the weekend ferry lines, consider the Rockaway Beach Bus. For $25/roundtrip or $15/one way, they’ll pick you up at Union Pool (10am & 12:30pm) and drop you off at either Fort Tilden or Riis Park Beach Bazaar. Right now they have a sweet little deal going on where for $28 you get a beach pass with chair rental, food from Ed & Bev’s, and 10% your Rockaway Beach Bus tickets.
Rockaway Beach: Getting here by subway really depends on where you are in the neighborhood. If you’re on the G, take it to Hoyt-Schermerhorn and transfer to a Rockaway Beach-bound A train. Those by the L take it to Broadway Junction for the transfer. For the “cool” part of Rockaway, transfer to the shuttle at Broad Channel which takes you to Beach 90th, 98th, 105th, and 116th.
Here’s also where Rockaway Beach Bus is helpful. Those same pickups do drop-offs at the concessions at Beach 86th Street/Rippers.
Long Island Beaches: It’s completely possible to get to good Long Island beaches without a car. For Long Beach, take the G to the 7 and get off at Woodside (srsly, just avoid Penn Station). Catch a Long Beach-bound LIRR train and you’ll be out there in an hour for about $26 r/t. Want to go to Robert Moses? Grab the LIRR to Babylon and then take the S-47 bus. It takes about two hours each way and $25 r/t but it’s totally worth it.
Special Bonus Beach in New Jersey: If you’ve ever sat on the water during the summer, you’ve probably seen a Seastreak ferry go by. That’s the best way to Sandy Hook, NJ. Take the East River ferry upriver to the 35th Street dock and change over to the Seastreak. It takes 50 minutes to get to Sandy Hook and is $46 round trip (but if you catch the first ferry in the morning, it’s $30).