Alley Pond Park

Highlights

Alley Pond Park

This park is the second largest in Queens. The site is named for The Alley, an 18th century commercial and manufacturing center formerly located here. The origin of that… Read More

Alley Pond Park - Invasive Phragmites

The City gradually acquired the land for Alley Pond Park, the second-largest park in Queens, between 1927 and the present. The park lies on a glacier-formed moraine, a… Read More

Alley Pond Park - Osprey in New York City

This park is host to the “Alley,” a 150-acre strip of wetlands in the park’s north end. Fresh water drains into the Alley from the hills and bubbles up from natural… Read More

Freshwater Wetlands in New York City - Alley Pond Park

New York City once contained 224,000 acres of freshwater wetland. This valuable ecosystem can slow erosion, prevent flooding by retaining storm waters, filter and… Read More

Freshwater Wetlands in New York City - Oakland Lake

New York City once contained 224,000 acres of freshwater wetland. This valuable ecosystem can slow erosion, prevent flooding by retaining storm waters, filter and… Read More

Gertrude Waldeyer Promenade at Oakland Lake

This promenade bears the name of Gertrude Waldeyer (1908–1987), an active member of the Bayside community. Born in Brooklyn, Waldeyer studied at Hunter College and later… Read More

Glaciers in New York City - Alley Pond Park

The land that makes up Alley Pond Park was acquired over the course of many years between 1927 and the present. The landscape itself, however, came into existence roughly… Read More

John Riedl Wildflower Meadow

This feature of Alley Pond Park is named for Dr. John O. Riedl (1905–1992), who worked in the 1960s to preserve the park’s saltwater and freshwater marshes. Dr. Riedl led… Read More

Long Island Motor Parkway

The Long Island Motor Parkway, also known as the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, survives today as a bicycle path, but began as America’s first limited-access road for… Read More

Oakland Lake

Oakland Lake is a 15,000-year-old spring-fed glacial kettle pond located in Alley Pond Park. The lake, once known as Mill Pond, became known as Oakland Lake, named for… Read More