A short sponsored YouTube travel vlog by Kara and Nate Buchanan (for Canada Goose) showcasing lesser-known natural and artistic spaces in New York City. The hosts guide viewers through elevated parks (the High Line, Elevated Acre), hidden waterfalls (Paley Park, Greenacre), community gardens and a secret treehouse, street-food at the Dosa cart, Brooklyn green spaces (Prospect Park, Domino Park), a rooftop vineyard in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and an overnight glamping experience on Governor's Island. The video emphasizes accessible escapes from the city's bustle and encourages locals and visitors to seek nature within the 'concrete jungle.'
Chapters
Oh, my gosh. I cannot believe we're in Manhattan right now.
We're Karen Nate. We've been traveling the world full time for almost four years. We spend most of our time outside the US pursuing our goal of visiting 100 countries. But today we're back in our home country of the United States of America.
We've traveled to New York with Canada Goose to explore the surprisingly beautiful natural and artistic spaces that are hidden inside this concrete jungle. In this video, we'll be showing you some great places you can retreat to when you're ready to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Plus, we'll take you off the beaten path to some lesser known but incredible places where you can still be in nature without even leaving the heart of the city, including a secret tree house, a rooftop vineyard.
I love this place.
A hidden waterfall, the perfect camping spot in Manhattan, and much more.
All right, let's get started. Today's first stop is also going to be the most popular, so we've gotten up bright and early to avoid the crowds.
One whole grain everything bagel and one large coffee, please.
Thank you.
This is so cool.
We have grabbed a classic New York bagel and a coffee from a great little place down the road and we are having breakfast on the High Line. Oh, that's good. What makes the High Line so cool is that you're elevated above the city and it's actually an old freight rail line that they have converted into a public park. It's a mile and a half long, so it's the perfect place to come on a morning walk, especially in this.
Crisp, cool autumn air. They actually left the train tracks up.
Here and they're completely overgrown with these beautiful plants now, so you feel like.
You'Re surrounded by nature.
But when you look up, all you see are skyscrapers and you're just reminded that you're still in the heart of New York City. And as an added bonus, there's lots.
Of cool street art along the way.
Up next, we are going to take you to two waterfalls that are hidden in the heart of Midtown. The first one can be found in Paley Park. It's a great little sanctuary in the center of Midtown. The rushing water reverberating off the walls really makes this a great place to rest and relax and get away from the never ending, constant noise of the city.
And just 10 minute walk down the road, you can find the second waterfall which is inside the Green Acre Park.
This is probably the most secret place.
On our whole list.
We have a Couple friends who live in the city and they had no idea that this place existed. Inside the 6 BC Botanical Gardens, you'll find the cutest little hidden tree house you've ever seen. Let's go inside.
What a super cool little hidden gym. I feel like I'm in the middle of the jungle. It's a community garden run by volunteers, so anyone can just come up here, read a book, enjoy the views.
If you happen to be in the Washington Square park area around lunchtime, be sure to find the DOSA man who has been a New York legend for serving these incredible South Indian crepes from a street cart for the last 18 years.
I'm so excited this line is any indication. This is going to be a great meal.
This place is fact only. Thank you. Thank you.
The only other time we've had dosa was in India and the Dose man told us that this is his grandmother's.
Recipe and it will be better.
Wow. We just made our way downtown where there are several tourist attractions like the World Trade center and Wall Street. But if you find yourself in this area needing some time to recharge, we're going to show you the perfect place to do that. So if you didn't know this here, it would be super easy to miss. This mysterious escalator takes you to another elevated oasis.
This is called the Elevated Acre, and we have spent the last hour just soaking in the sunshine and the views. We could not have asked for a more perfect fall day. From up here, you can see the Brooklyn skyline and the Brooklyn Bridge perfectly. And there's a helipad with a bunch of helicopters taking off, which is really fun to watch. But I think my favorite part of being up here is that it's just us and a bunch of locals with their sax lunches. I could be here all day.
So we've covered almost all of our stops here in Manhattan, so we are about to grab some bikes. Our favorite way to get around the city. And we are going to head across the Brooklyn Bridge.
Underneath the bridge is the Brooklyn Bridge park with this really nice greenway. It's honestly a much better place to ride your bike than on the actual bridge because there are way less people and there's a really good view of the Manhattan skyline.
Next up, we've come deeper into Brooklyn to Prospect Park. It's actually the largest park in all of Brooklyn and it was designed by the same guy who designed Central Park. So if you're looking for a big, beautiful park without all the tourists and without all the hype this is a great place to come. It also has a big, beautiful lake with located right in the center of the park. And if you're here during the summer, you can actually rent a kayak and go kayaking in New York City.
After you've gotten your nature fix. If you're still looking for a great way to enjoy the outdoors and get your creative juices flowing, you can take a walk through the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn.
This is a mecca for street art. The best street artists in the whole world come here to put their mark on the walls of this neighborhood. But it hasn't been this way. Not too long ago, this was a very grim and industrial part of town. You wouldn't have wanted to come walk around here. But one man's dream of turning this neighborhood into an outdoor gallery has completely revived the city and turned it into a vibrant tourist destination.
Next up, we are heading to a rooftop in the Brooklyn Navy Yard for a super unique experience that you probably.
Wouldn'T expect in the city.
If you follow me up these stairs, we are going to take a stroll.
Can you believe this?
We are sitting in a vineyard on a rooftop in New York City. How crazy is this? We just missed the harvest by a few weeks, so there aren't any grapes on the vines right now. But I can't imagine a better place to enjoy a glass of wine. With amazing views of New York City.
This might be my favorite stop.
And next up, yet another park that shouldn't be missed.
Domino park got its name because it's in the location of the old Domino sugar refinery, which dates back to 1856. At the time, it was the biggest sugar refinery in the whole world. The old building is still here. It looks really cool. And now it's been turned into this beautiful park where you can soak up the sunshine by the east river and look at the Manhattan skyline.
I think we've saved the best for last. We have just boarded a ferry that's going to take us over to Governor's island where we're spending the night in a tent, camping in Manhattan.
What?
It started raining a little bit, but we're not going to let a little weather hold us back from having a good time. It's going to be great.
This is our home for the night.
This is so cute.
So Governor's island is a 172 acre island that you. It doesn't allow cars. It's only 800 meters south of Manhattan. But it feels like a completely different world. Whether you're a tourist looking for a Super unique experience or a local just looking to escape into nature. You can come here, rent a luxury tent and go glamorous camping or glamping. What's really unique about this experience, besides the fact that you're literally camping in Manhattan, is that all the tourists leave the island for the night and so you pretty much have it all to yourself. It's supposed to to be one of the best places to watch the sunset over the Statue of Liberty.
But the weather is chosen otherwise for us. We've been blessed with a nice moody Manhattan skyline. It's not too bad.
The rain eventually stopped long enough for the sky to start glowing from the lights of the city.
As we as we snuggled into bed, we realized that the flats to our tent perfectly framed the Statue of Liberty. So we fell asleep to this incredible view listening to the sound of rain landing on our canvas roof.
There's just something about being outside surrounded by nature, even if it's for a short amount of time, that makes us feel happy and content. It has a way of calming us and re energizing us like nothing else can.
But.
But our always on fast paced lifestyle often leads us to miss the natural beauty and creativity that surrounds us every day. It's easy to forget how accessible nature is, even in a city that's earned the nickname the Concrete Jungle. If you find yourself in New York City, we hope this video has enabled you to enjoy some of the unique and beautiful natural spaces the city has to offer. But more importantly, we hope it's encouraged you to seek them out close to where you live.
This is called the 10 acre park.
3 acre park.
Where do I get 10? Walk this way, talk this way.
Oh, it's so sunny. It's a beautiful place to come.
To.
Come joke.
Such a good view of the Manhattan skyline. W thanks for being honest. She's lighting up too. The Statue of Liberty. Look how beautiful.
