East River Park

During the summer we meet for track workouts at the East River Park track. This is one gorgeous 400m track with a beautiful view of East River (assuming that you want to look at all). There are two minor flaws:  first, there is a little bump on the track at the top of the backstraight, so you need to brace yourself for the jolt; second, there are usually a lot of the soccer players in the infield, so you need to keep an eye out for errant soccer balls.

Travel directions:

The track is located in East River Park, which is east of the FDR Drive at East 6th Street, bordering on East River. Here are some possible (but not the only ones) travel options:

Option #1:  Take any uptown or downtown subway (#A, #C, 1, 2, 3, #4, #5, #6, N, R, Q, W) to 14th Street.  Get on the L-train to head east along 14th Street, exiting at the last Manhattan stop at First Avenue.  Run/walk east down 14th Street to Avenue C (by the Con Edison substation), then go downtown (south) until you reach East 6th Street, and then turn left (east) to reach the FDR Drive, cross the pedestrian bridge and the entrance to the track is right there.  Apart from the L-train, there are also bus services down 14th Street; in particular, the #14 bus heads downtown along Avenue D.  Please verify those bus routes with the MTA and bear in mind that the bus can be interminably slow.

Option #2:  Take any uptown or downtown subway (#4, #5, #6, N, R, Q, W) to Astor Place (East 8th Street) and walk/run down East 6th Street all the way to the FDR Drive.  Cross via the pedestrian bridge and the entrance to the track is right there. Alternately, the #8 bus will bring you to East 10th Street and Avenue D, where you can cross the East 10th Street pedestrian bridge over the FDR Drive and go south a couple hundred of meters to reach the track.

Option #3:  Take any uptown or downtown subway (#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, N, R) to Houston Street.  Run/walk east until you reach the FDR Drive, turn north to cross over on the East 6th Street pedestrian bridge and the entrance to the track is right there.  Alternately, you can take the #21 bus, which will take you all down Houston Street and then deposit you near East 6th Street and Avenue C, from where it is only one block east.

Option #4:  Take any uptown or downtown subway (F, V) to 2nd Avenue.  Run/walk east until you reach the FDR Drive, turn north to cross over on the East 6th Street pedestrian bridge and the entrance to the track is right there.  Alternately, you can take the #21 bus, which will take you all down Houston Street and then deposit you near East 6th Street and Avenue C, from where it is only one block east.

Option #5:  Take a cab!  Simply state that you wish to get to East 6th Street and the FDR Drive (note:  the taxi cannot stop on the FDR Drive itself to let you off, but you can take the service road that runs parallel to it).

Option #6:  Coming down from uptown, you can run along the East River esplanade all the way down to the East 6th Street track.  This is the scenic route.  If for some reason you have to cross the street at Stuyvesant Town, we urge to be extra careful in watching the cars and run defensively.  That is to say, just because you make eye contact with the driver, you should not assume that he will stop for you -- you have nothing to win and everything to lose in an accident!

Option #7:  Coming up from downtown, you can run along the East River esplanade all the up from Wall Street to the East 6th Street track.  This is the scenic route, going under the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge and the Williamsburg Bridge.