New York to the Hudson Valley, cycling from urban jungle to a land of white picket fences
Taking the Empire State Trail from Manhattan, a cyclist leaves New York’s skyscrapers and stress behind him as he heads up to Peekskill
New York chiefs are trying to rid the Big Apple of its concrete jungle reputation. Those slender skyscrapers might be interesting to glance up at for tourists, but the architectural intensity can be a turn-off if you actually live in the city.
Public spaces are popping up along the west side of Manhattan Island, in particular. Former industrial piers are being reimagined as places such as the Hudson River Park, and as of this year there is even Manhattan’s first “beach”, the Gansevoort Peninsula.
Change cannot come soon enough for some, though, with a rise in people moving out of the city. In 2022, roughly 545,000 people left New York, with about 170,000 relocating to neighbouring states. That included 75,000 to New Jersey, 50,000 to Connecticut and 45,000 to Pennsylvania.
Others moved to rural parts of New York state.
The lakes, forests and pretty little towns that punctuate the Hudson Valley, an area that begins around 30 miles north of Manhattan’s Central Park, is an antidote to the chaos.
