Build Sandcastles that Protect Our Air: Take Transit to the Beach!

Few activities are more associated with summer than a day at the beach. Clean Air NY encourages New Yorkers to carpool whenever possible, and now is the perfect time to gather your friends for a shared ride down to the shore. There are circumstances, however, when friends are coming from different parts of the region and can’t meet in a central location beforehand. Others may not have a car and would have to rent or borrow one to drive. We want to offer another solution: Take mass transit!

Numerous beaches conveniently are accessible using the New York metro area’s extensive mass transportation network. Here are just some of the options available to take transit to the shore:

The Water Taxi Beach on Governor’s Island

This brand-new beach is just minutes from downtown Manhattan. It also has free admission and free transportation. If you live in the five boroughs, now you don’t even have to head to Long Island or New Jersey to put your toes in the sand. For more details, visit the website, or you can check out the similar beach in Queens.

Directions: Take the free Governor’s Island Ferry from Slip 7 at the Battery Maritime Building at the corner of South and Whitehall streets.

Long Beach

Get to this Long Island beach using the Long Island Rail Road. You can get a special beach fare round-trip ticket for just $19; a beach pass is $10. Along with plenty of sun and sand, Long Beach has two miles of boardwalk for you to explore.

Directions: Take the LIRR to the Long Beach station. The beach is just a few blocks away.

Rockaway Beach

You can get to Rockaway Beach in Queens using the subway. It’s the largest urban beach in the United States; a $2.50 one-way subway fare will take you to the miles of shoreline and the boardwalk at Rockaway Beach.

Directions: Take the A train to Broad Channel and then transfer to the shuttle that will drop you off at any of a number of stops between 90th and 116th Beach streets.