By Frank da Cruz - My daughter Amy moved to Woodside, Queens, a place that is not near any parks or rivers, but close to the massive New Calvary - Mount Zion cemetery complex. I figured it should be possible to run around the perimeter, about 5 miles according to the map. We tried it and found that: there are long stretches with no sidewalk where you have to run in traffic; much of the route is desolate, which would be a safety concern, especially for women running alone; the cemetery itself is fascinating if you stop running and look at the plots, e.g. of whole families who were wiped out by the influenza of 1918. But then you are not running. If you live in that area, it is probably best to just run up and down Queens Boulevard, which is well-traveled, long, spacious, and has a broad, uncrowded sidewalk with an impressive view of the Manhattan skyline when heading West.

Runners who live in the Columbia University area of Manhattan, New York City (Morningside Heights and West Harlem) are fortunate to have Riverside Park, Central Park, and Morningside Park nearby. The parks and the Hudson riverfront are in better condition now than at any time in the last one hundred years, especially since 2000 with the inauguration of the Greenway. The site Upper Manhattan Running describes some obvious and not-so-obvious runs that start in the Columbia area, but it is also useful for anybody who lives on the west side anywhere between midtown and Washington Heights or Inwood.

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