A Shore Thing

How to get there: Endure a ride to the end of the No. 6 line at Pelham Bay Park, then take the Bx29 bus through the largest park in NYC and across the bridge. Or you could arrive the traditional way: Skipper a boat.

Gowanus Canal
Used condoms bob on its oily surface and it often smells like old sneakers, but South Brooklyn's Gowanus Canal has become an unlikely sanctuary for a growing number of New Yorkers. Creaky row houses, graffiti-tagged brick factories, and old-school Italian eateries like Monte's (451 Carroll Street between Nevins Street and Third Avenue, 718-624-8984) and 2 Toms (255 Third Avenue at Union Street, 718-875-8689) surround this two-mile-long relic of the neighborhood's industrial boom. For almost a century, the canal was a stagnant soup of raw sewage and toxic waste. But in the last eight years it's been flushed daily with clean water; crabs, ducks, and other wildlife are cautiously returning. To witness this rebirth up close, climb into a canoe or kayak with the Gowanus Dredgers club (gowanuscanal.org). If you'd rather explore via dry land, head out on foot or bike using the Brooklyn Historical Society's Red Hook/Gowanus guidebook (brooklynhistory.org). Walk over the charming Carroll Street Bridge, built in 1889, and head down 1st Street to the Empty Vessel Project (emptyvesselproject.org), a busted Navy rescue boat turned experimental floating public art space. Afterward, grab a beer at Canal Bar (270 Third Avenue between President & Union Streets; 718-246-0011), a rockabilly dive whose owners claim to be organ-izing Gowanus fishing excursions. CHRISTINE RICHMOND

How to get there: Take the F train to Carroll Street and walk east or get off at the Smith–9th Street stop for an elevated view of the canal.

Long Island City
So you're never going to spend a summer in the Hamptons with girls named Tinsley or Tory. We respect you for that. But there's still a chance to troll with socialites in that other part of the island—Long Island City, Queens. Without a car, there are really two ways to get to Long Island City: the MTA way or the fun way. Opt for the fun route by taking a five-minute, $9 round-trip New York Water Taxi (nywatertaxi.com) ride from Manhattan to the shores of LIC. After your feet touch land on the western tip of Long Island (yes, you read that right), you'll see the white sands of Water Taxi Beach, a man-made 20,000-square-foot beach with music, inexpensive eats, and tropical drinks. But before becoming a beach bum, walk up Borden Avenue and rent a bike ($5/hour, $25/ day) from Spokesman Cycles (49-04 Vernon Boulevard, 718-433-0450). Pedal to Flux Factory (38-38 43rd Street, fluxfactory.org) to experience OPOLIS (opening June 24), an indoor itty-bitty city where you feel like Godzilla (just please don't smash the mini–childhood house of Julia Child). Continue to The Noguchi Museum (9-01 33rd Road, 718-204-7088, noguchi.org) for its "Music in the Garden" series featuring a bossa nova–meets-borscht sound. Before heading back to your floating taxi ride home, stop at the Waterfront Crabhouse (2-03 Borden Ave, 718-729-4862, wfcrabhouse.com). As you ponder the pugilists who have dined here before you, remember that LIC has the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center (22-25 Jackson Ave., 718-784- 2084, ps1.org) and Socrates Sculpture Park (32-01 Vernon Boulevard, 718-956-1819, socratesculpturepark.org). Then down your beer and pat yourself on the back for knowing that LIC doesn't start and stop with the girls from Spence slumming it at P.S.1 Warmup. LINDA SAUCERMAN

How to get there: Another option is the No. 7 train to Vernon Blvd/Jackson Ave.

Rockaway
There's more to Rockaway Beach than the 1977 Ramones song. A popular beach resort in the 1830s, the "Irish Riviera" was once a destination for sun worshippers from all over the country. Vacationers summered in bungalows that have since been converted into homes. Besides fishing and surfing, this secret party town is famous for its hundreds of bars, many of which dot the area around Beach 111-116th streets. New Irish Circle (101-19 Rockaway Beach Boulevard, 718-474-9002), a mega-resort in its heyday, is still swinging with live Gaelic singers, Irish bands, and pub fare. Whaleamena (Boardwalk and Beach 95th Street), a sculpture originally from Central Park Zoo, was redone in bright mosaic by local artists and marks the border of Rockaway Park, appropriate as Rockaway is referred to in Moby Dick. Five blocks down, surfers hit " The Rocks" (Beach 90th Street). Local personality and Howard Stern regular "Hook Nose Mike" says "People come from all over for the killer waves." International dining, curio shops and even more bars dot main strip, 116th Street. Belle Harbor Steaks & Seafood (268 Beach 116th Street, 718-318-5100) is the peninsula's swanky date spot, while sushi joint O'Sake (263 Beach 116th Street, 718-945-8888) has a name you've gotta love for keeping in the Irish spirit of the 'hood. LIZA MONROY

How to get there: A train to Broad Channel, change to shuttle on same platform for Beach 90th Street to Beach 116th Street.