A trip to a nature preserve in most huge American cities will cost you an energy-sapping drive through sprawling "chain-store ghost towns" and subdivisions, but New York City is full of places where the concrete ends and the region's sundry ecosystems take over. The Giuliani regime may have made a step toward bleaching street life, but it can't eclipse the city's legacy of green-oriented urban planners and progressive conservationists (not to mention guerrilla gardeners). Beyond Central Park, Prospect Park, and the other staples lie some of the richest pieces of this legacy. Getting to a lot of these spots takes some extra time, but that's exactly what keeps any good boondock hideaway from... More >>>