The Fab Five: Parks Less Traveled

Central Park is packed, snooty Gramercy Park won't let you in, and cyclists are trying to mow you down in Riverside Park. To take in some green space in the asphalt jungle of Manhattan, head to one of these lesser-known parks. For more information: New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, 212-639-9675, nycgovparks.org.
— Elissa Leibowitz Poma

	FORT TRYON PARK	INWOOD HILL PARK	MADISON SQUARE PARK	MORNINGSIDE PARK	SARA DELANO ROOSEVELT PARK
BEST FOR	Fine art lovers seeking a French respite without crossing the pond.	Naturalists seeking the shade of towering trees, not skyscrapers.	Sightseers who waited too long to climb the Empire State Building.	Fitness gurus bored with the view from the StairMaster at the gym.	Ornithologists who prefer melodious birds over honking horns.
WHY GO	Named for the last British governor of Colonial New York, this 67-acre northern Manhattan park is best known for the branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art called the Cloisters: It looks like a monastery and is filled with medieval art and quiet courtyards. The park contains one of Manhattan's highest points and has eight miles of pedestrian paths.	Hard to believe, but there's a real forest in Manhattan. At the northernmost point of the borough, Inwood Hill is 196 acres of primordial forest and glacial rock formations. Wander its non-landscaped footpaths and look for sweeping views of the Hudson River and for naturally forming potholes — yeah, they're everywhere in New York.	Seven blocks from the city's tallest building, this 6.2-acre Flatiron District park has statues of lesser-known but famous men in history, including Civil War Adm. David Farragut and William Henry Seward, who nabbed Alaska from Russia. Look for the Eternal Flight flagpoles, a star-shape lamp from 1923 that commemorates World War I heroes.	Building streets across the land separating Morningside Heights and Harlem would have been costly, so the city instead created this 30-acre park. Walkways are esplanades connected by many stairs and resting points. The top has great vistas of Harlem; for the less aerobically inclined, admire the Cathedral of St. John the Divine from below.	Named for FDR's mother, this 7.9-acre park on the Lower East Side became a place for mothers and children to unwind in 1934. Today it's popular among families of all ethnicities, with a vendors market and gardens filled with plants and trees.
DON'T MISS	Among the stained-glass windows and religious triptychs are the Unicorn Tapestries, some of the most detailed works to survive since the Middle Ages. The 12-foot "Unicorn in Captivity" is the most famous of the hangings.	Look for a plaque marking the spot where the Dutch supposedly bought Manhattan from Native Americans for a measly 24 bucks. The concrete ring encircling a rock indicates the width of a now-dead tulip tree that grew for 280 years.	Visit the old-school Shake Shack (at the park's southeast corner) for a burger, smoked chicken, bratwurst or custard cone. There are even sundaes for dogs. Prices are low by New York standards — $3.50 for a burger, $2.75 for a cone.	The Seligman Fountain at the bottom of the stairs at 114th Street and Morningside Avenue depicts a sprawling bear with a paw reaching for a huddled faun below. Artist Edgar Walter created the fountain in 1914.	Early each morning, Chinese men bring songbirds in bamboo cages to the park's Hua Mei Bird Garden, a semicircular community garden with stone paths and shrubs to attract wild birds.
GETTING THERE	The park is bounded by Riverside Drive, Broadway and West 192nd and Dyckman streets. By subway, take the A train to 190th Street.	The park runs along the Hudson River and the ship canal between Dyckman Street and Payson and Seaman avenues. Take the IRT to 215th Street, the last stop in Manhattan.	The park is between Fifth and Madison avenues and 23rd and 26th streets. Take the R, W or 6 subway (or N train on weekends) to 23rd Street.	The park is between West 110th and West 123rd streets, Manhattan Avenue, Morningside Avenue and Morningside Drive. Take the 1 or 9 train to 110th Street/Cathedral Parkway.	The park is between East Houston, Canal, Chrystie and Forsyth streets. By subway, take the B or D train to Grand Street.