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Where to Enjoy Sledding in New York City After the Blizzard

By Mary Johnson | February 9, 2013 9:07am

NEW YORK — Let it snow.

For the first time in a while, kids will be able to dust off their Flexible Flyers and hit the hills around the city after a massive storm dumped several inches of snow on New York.

A lot of the Big Apple might seem as flat as a board, but fun sledding spots abound, from Central Park to Clove Lakes in Staten Island.

The city's many parks offer hills of all shapes and sizes — from kid-friendly slopes to steep drops for daredevils. When it gets snowy, look for the hay bales that park employees place in front of trees to help keep sledders from having a painful crash.

The Parks Department is holding a "Snow Day" Saturday at one location in each of the five boroughs where there will be snowman building contests, snowball fights and complimentary hot chocolate. Kids will also be able to borrow sleds there if they don't have one.

In Manhattan, aside from Central Park, most of the good spots for sledding are uptown, in Fort Tryon, Morningside, Riverside, Highbridge and St. Nicholas parks, according to the city's Parks Department, which has a list of recommended sledding locations around town.

New York City parenting blog Mommy Poppins recommends Riverside Park because it isn't very crowded and says the hill near 103rd Street. And it says Inwood Hill Park is one of the best and least known sledding spots in the borough.

Parks in Queens, The Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island are chock full of hills that kids of all ages can take to when the city is a winter wonderland.

From the slopes of Sunset Park near 42nd and 43rd Streets in Brooklyn to Astoria Park in Queens, options abound in the boroughs.

Check out the many spots for skating and sledding the five boroughs have to offer:

MANHATTAN

Central Park Sledding

Popular spots include Pilgrim Hill, just north of the 72nd Street entrance at Fifth Avenue, and Cedar Hill between 76th and 79th streets, just south of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Riverside Park Sledding

There are lots of hills, but the one near Hippo Playground at 91st Street is popular.

Inwood Hill Park Sledding  

Dyckman Street at the Hudson River.

Morningside Park Sledding

Morningside Drive at 115th Street.

BROOKLYN

Prospect Park Sledding

Enter at 9th Street and Prospect Park West.

A hill right inside the park at 9th Street is popular, as are the hills around the Nethermead field.

Fort Greene Park Sledding  

DeKalb Avenue at Washington Park. The park has four main hills, and various levels of fear-inducing slopes.

QUEENS

Crocheron Park Sledding

35th Avenue between Cross Island Parkway and 215th Street.

Forest Park Sledding

Mary Whalen Playground, Park Lane South at 79th Street.

Juniper Valley Park Sledding

80 Street at Juniper Boulevard North.

THE BRONX

Crotona Park Sledding  

Fulton Avenue between Crotona Park North and 172nd Street.

Ewen Park Sledding

Riverdale Avenue at 231st Street.

Van Cortlandt Park Sledding  

This expansive park offers plenty of spots and space for winding downhill at Broadway and Jerome Avenue.

STATEN ISLAND

Cloves Lake Park Sledding  

Martling Avenue at Slosson Avenue.

Hay bales can be found at the base of this picturesque park's many sizeable hills.

Silver Lake Park Sledding

Forest Avenue at Victory Boulevard.