Summer’s Best Spots

July 13, 2016

Summertime in Brooklyn is an annual cause for celebration, and Prospect Park affords a resplendent, green oasis to beat the summer heat. We asked Prospect Park Alliance staff members how they most like to stay cool when the mercury rises.

Prospect Park Alliance President Sue Donoghue stuck with a classic. “It’s hard to narrow it down as there are so many great spots in Prospect Park; but I think my favorite would have to be under a tree in the Long Meadow!”

Grace McCreight, External Affairs Assistant, prefers to venture over toward the Lake. “I like the hill right behind the Boathouse, near the Camperdown Elm.”

Arborist Ryan Gellis also seeks out the shade, but with a poetic bent: “Sub tegmine fagi – it’s a common Latin poetic phrase, meaning ‘under the shade of a beech tree.’ Why? Beech trees have some of the most complete leaf cover around. If you thrive in the shade, as I do, then look for a beech tree to rest under.”

Paul Campbell, Director of the Tennis Center, shows no signs of favoritism with his response: “The Tennis Center, of course.” Nepotism or not, he raises a fair point – the Tennis Center’s outdoor lighting allows for cooler, nighttime play.

Eric Johnsen, who works the front desk at the Tennis Center and is also a longtime Alliance volunteer, suggests seeking some solitude by getting to the WWI monument at Lakeside early in the morning, before most Park visitors are up.

Whether you heed the advice of our experts or take to exploring the Park in search of your own personal Summer Spot, you can’t go wrong with an afternoon spent in Brooklyn’s Backyard.

Learn more about upcoming events and activities this summer in the Park.