Van Cortlandt Park

Slow and Steady Wins: Tortoise vs Hare

What and Where

Somewhat hidden away in the far northern reaches of the city lies its third largest park, Van Cortlandt Park. As with many of the city's parks on the weekends, this one often hosts numerous immigrant sportsmen and women  playing a particular sport with other folks of similar origins. You will find South Asian family's camped out for a day long cricket match as well as Latin Americans competing in weekend leagues.

Included in the premises along with an assortment of tennis courts, baseball diamonds, cricket pitches(?) soccer fields and basketball courts is a track, golf course, hiking trail,  fitness para-course, and renown cross-country trail. A general map of the park can be found here.

Facility

The track and fitness equipment are unfortunately on opposite sides of the park. The track can be found inside the stadium located on Broadway between 240th and 242nd street. Aside from the full 400 meter track there exists a stadium setup with stairs available to compliment all of your sprinting desires.

 At the northern tip of the parade ground, which is the large relatively flat field spanning from 242nd Street until the Henry Hudson Parkway, you will find the fitness equipment. Much of the equipment is spread along a para-course that runs the perimeter of the parade ground. Most of the useful relevant and useful equipment can be found towards the northern end of the oval.

The fitness equipment is part of a larger para-course that runs on the eastern side of the parade ground oval. The pull-up bars and decline bench are found at the northern tip. There are two pull-up bars of differing heights adjacent to one another. The bench has a bar at the end which can be used to hang on or two place one's feet in order to to situps. A bit to the southeast of the pull up station are parallel bars which are hidden under some trees on the side of the path. Further along the path you will also spot two benches for situps/core exercises. The park used to have chain linked gymnastics rings but these were removed circa 2005. 

The parade ground running path happens to also be part of a renown cross-country running track that often hosts high school and collegiate running events. The running surface varies in parts but is generally easy on the feet and consists of hard packed dirt or finely crushed gravel.You can follow the trail into the woods where it winds its way up and down through this urban oasis, or you can simply run laps around the oval.


Regardless of your sport of choice this park has something for just about every type of athlete and it certainly warrants my highest praise.

Columbus Park

 

Hidden at the southern edge of Chinatown near the location of the infamous Five Points neighborhood lies Columbus Park. While the newbies and natives made famous by the film, Gangs of New York have long since left this world, the area is now home to the city's many courthouses and municipal buildings. This park itself stretches from Bayard street down to Worth street and features many amenities including children's playgrounds, basketball courts, soccer fields and of course an adult jungle gym.

This park is often used by workers from the surrounding buildings and institutions looking to get in shape during their lunch break. (see article)

Equipment

The equipment is all attached to one centralized piece, the horizontal ladder aka monkey bar.

Monkey Bar - Roughly 6-7 feet above the ground and spans about 10 feet in length.

Pull up bars - Two bars for doing pull ups. 

Vertical ladder- Great for human flags and hanging leg raises.

Parallel bars - There are two one of which is much lower than the other and may be useful for pushups. Only the higher parallel bar will be useful for dips.

Pole - In absence of a climbing rope this is great for climbing up.

Low Bar- There are also low bars along with the parallel bar which are useful for doing body weight rows.



Ps. I took the above graphic from another website but I can't seem to find the appropriate link. If anyone recognizes where that picture comes from please feel free to post it in the comments so that I may give credit.

Arthur Ross Pinetum - Central Park

What and Where

Nestled exactly in the middle of Central Park adjacent to 85th Street is the Arthur Ross Pinetum which contains the only dedicated adult workout space in the park. Actually this is a bit of an overstatement as the facility literally consists of just two pullup bars in the middle of a well-shaded area filled with wood chips. Frankly it is a bit odd that the most publicized park in the city has merely one area for which adults may workout. While to be fair the park certainly caters to runners, cyclists, tennis players and other athletes, it is unfortunate that it lacks adequate equipment for body weight athletes.

 Source: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/54433953

Equipment

The equipment consists of two pullup bars, one of which is approximately 6-7 feet above ground which will allow most adult males to do pullups and hanging leg raises without bending their knees.The other is roughly 5.5 feet high. The equipment is made of steel and appears sturdy and is well suited for even the most vigorous and heaviest of athletes.

There are a number of A-frame picnic tables in the area which folks tend to use for pushups, crunches and dips. I recommend bringing two picnic tables close together and performing dips while resting your hands on the edges of each table. You can also raise the table on one end and perform military presses, just be careful to protect your back when doing so. The swing set nearby can be utilized for body weight rows as long as you don't have to scare away any toddlers.

You will find this equipment well utilized during the spring and summer months when most outdoor athletes are out and about, and you may have to wait patiently for your turn to use the bar.

 With that said this is still a lovely place to workout and I highly recommend you give it a few pulls from the high bar.

Pros

• The regulars are quite friendly and are often willing to share their advice and wisdom with the newbies.
• Sturdy construction.
• Tall enough for most adult males to use without bending the knees. 
• Well shaded for your hot summer workout.

Cons

• Small facility and minimal equipment relative to the stature of this park. 
• The area can become quite muddy after a good rain storm. 

Closing remark

According to Google a "pinetum" is defined as "an arboretum of pine trees or other conifers for scientific or ornamental purposes". It is a composite of a Latin and English word, and apparently was used relatively frequently in the 1850s and early 1900s. Based on the Google graph usage of this word has declined significantly since.

Bloomingdale Playground

What and Where

Well-hidden and stuck between the Grosvenor Neighborhood House YMCA and the West Preparatory Academy on 105th Street between Amsterdam Avenue and Columbus Avenue is the Bloomingdale Playground fitness equipment. This relatively small but useful site is on the grounds of a children's playground and can be relatively difficult to find especially if you choose to enter through the Broadway side of the park. If you do enter from Broadway do make a left at the children's jungle gym and head up the small set of stairs to the fitness equipment. The 105th Street-side entrance to the park is often locked especially on weekends.

The the fitness equipment available to adults at this playground is not at all mentioned on the Parks Department webpage. The equipment is all at adult height and men from the neighborhood  usually workout there on weekends and in the evenings after work.

Equipment 

Most of the equipment is made of metal and appears to be somewhat older. As the paint is wearing off, I do hope those responsible for the maintenance of this equipment give it a good paint job soon. With that said everything appears sturdy and I had no complaints as to the apparent structural integrity of the facility.

In the middle of this site you can a relatively high set of parallel bars that rest over 5 feet off the ground. Most people will have to jump just to mount the bars. The bars are approximately 7-8 feet long. They are ringed on the northern side by a horizontal ladder/monkey bars as well as two pullup bars. To the east side of the parallel bars are another set of horizontal bars that are perched at least 7 feet off the ground. They are great for doing hanging leg raises without having to bend your knees. The beginning part of this ladder is at a decline angle. At the southern end of the horizontal ladder is a pole that you can shimmy across to a large jungle gym. This jungle gym contains all sorts of bars that can be used for pullups as well as lower bars for rows. There is also a 15-20 foot pole that one can use for the purposes of climbing. It did shake quite a bit when I climbed it.

Pros

• Sturdy fitness equipment including pullup bars, parallel bars, a pole and low hanging bars. 

Cons

• During the summer neighborhood children may commandeer some of the equipment for their own fun and games. 
• The equipment is aging and could use a bit of maintenance.

Thomas Jefferson Park

 Located at 114th Street and 1st Avenue in East Harlem, Thomas Jefferson Park provides the full package as an outdoor workout facility. The park contains an outdoor public pool, soccer field, baseball field, basketball courts, children's playground, running track and adult fitness equipment.

The adult fitness equipment is generally in good condition and did not appear to worn or unsafe. There is adequate shade near and around the site leaving it quite pleasant to use during the hot summer months.

The adult fitness center consisted of two pullup bars  of differing heights, a set of parallel bars, a vertical ladder, a horizontal ladder (monkey bars), a metal bench with a bar along the top for situps, two horizontal bars about waist high, and a diagonal climbing bar. There were also a number of A-frame picnic tables in the area that could serve as platforms for box jumps, or as a clean spot to do situps/pushups.The fitness area is also served by relatively soft rubber mats that do help lessen the impact of jumps and possibly falls.

One limiting factor was the relatively low-height of the horizontal ladder and the pullup bars. Tall folks be advised; you will have to bend your knees while doing pullups and hanging leg raises on these bars.

As mentioned above, the facility also offers an outdoor track constructed out of some sort of relatively soft carpeting material. While the Parks Department website claims that the track is a regulation sized .25 miles (400 meters), a Google Earth measurement indicated that this track is actually closer to 315 meters. Running the track is quite pleasant and rather forgiving on the feet.

One of the few qualms I have with this location is that children from the playground often migrate to the adult fitness equipment and may attempt to commandeer  the equipment or climb on the ladder. A dose of patience is advised; my experience as been that the children are normally cordial if you ask them to share the equipment.

My somewhat larger beef is with children and adults who sit on the running track while watching the numerous soccer games transpiring on the pitch. The main danger is sprinters colliding with children or adults attempting to retrieve soccer balls that were kicked out of bounds. Do be careful.

My relatively slight peeves aside, this is a wonderful location for all of your outdoor workout needs and I highly recommend it.

About the ParkFit Project

About two summers ago, as I became interested in body-weight/calisthenic fitness I found that New York City lacks an accurate list of its park-based fitness inventory. Performing cursory web searches in the hope of finding a new pull up bar or set of parallel bars may bring you an article here or there about a particular spot, but as of the present moment there is no place to find a comprehensive source compilation of locations.

Through my readings, wanderings and conversations I have begun to find a number of these sites throughout the city and will be documenting them through this blog. My goal is to primarily document park-based workout spots and fitness equipment. All locations will be added as pins to the Google Map contained on the site. I will also add my knowledge of running tracks and other outdoor workout spots that I deem relevant. Information garnered from assorted websites may be used to further provide information to my readers.

While I hope that at some point this site will host a comprehensive review of all outdoor fitness equipment in the city, at the present time the information contained herein will be limited to my personal knowledge which admittedly contains a strict geographic bias to Manhattan. I most certainly welcome all emails and will happily post new verifiable information as it is provided to me.

To health, fitness and pushing limits,

- The Skyhopper