# Parkways in New York

The majority of parkways in the US state of New York are part of a statewide parkway system owned by several public and private agencies but mostly maintained by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT). A handful of other roads in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island are also known as parkways but are not part of the state system. The roads of the state parkway system were among the first expressways to be constructed. These highways were not divided and allowed no driveway cuts, but did have intersections for some of the streets they crossed. A small section of the privately financed Long Island Motor Parkway was the first expressway to begin operation as a toll road and the first highway to use bridges and overpasses to eliminate intersections.
The individual parkways vary widely in composition. Some, such as the Sprain Brook Parkway, are functionally equivalent to a freeway; others, like Seven Lakes Drive, are two-lane undivided roads. The majority of parkways are located in downstate New York, where the state parkway system originated in the early 20th century.

## State parkways

The state's parkway system originally began as a series of then-high-speed (25 miles per hour or 40 kilometres per hour) four-lane roads that were created to provide a scenic way into, out of, and around New York City. The first section of this system opened in 1908. Most of the early roads have been replaced and redesigned to address higher speed requirements and to increase capacity. In later sections north of New York City, the roadways were typically divided by a wide landscaped median and provided service areas along the way that offered fuel and restrooms. During the 1930s, urban planner Robert Moses developed a system of parkways in the New York City area.
Many of these parkways were built by regional agencies such as the Long Island State Park Commission (LISPC), New York City Parks Department, Taconic State Park Commission (TSPC), Westchester County Parks Commission (WCPC), and Palisades Interstate Park Commission (PIPC). Most are now maintained, if not owned, by NYSDOT outside New York City and the New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) within New York City.
Today, the state parkways are for the most part equivalent to expressways and freeways built in other parts of the country, except for a few oddities. First, because many of these roads were either designed before civil engineers had experience building roads for automobile use or widened in response to increasing traffic, many New York parkways lack shoulders. Second, because designers focused more on making routes scenic rather than efficient, the parkways are meandering, often built to follow a river, and so contain many turns. Finally, because most use low, decorative stone-arch overpasses that would trap trucks, commercial vehicles, trucks and tractor trailers are banned from parkways. In Manhattan, this has led to nearly all trucks being forced onto local streets as the island has only one short Interstate (the Trans-Manhattan Expressway) passing through Washington Heights, a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan.

### List of parkways

| Parkway | Opened | Region | From | To | Owner | Maintained by |
| Bay Parkway | 1892 as 22nd Avenue | New York City | Brooklyn | Brooklyn | NYSDOT/NYCDOT | NYSDOT |
| Bay Parkway | N/A | Long Island | Jones Beach State Park | Jones Beach State Park | NYS OPRHP | NYSDOT |
| Bear Mountain State Parkway | 1932 | Hudson Valley | Peekskill | Cortlandt | NYSDOT | NYSDOT |
| Belt Parkway | 1941 | New York City | Brooklyn | Queens | NYSDOT/NYCDOT | NYSDOT/NYCDOT |
| Bethpage State Parkway | 1936 | Long Island | Massapequa | Bethpage State Park | NYS OPRHP | NYSDOT |
| Bronx River Parkway | 1908 | Hudson Valley | The Bronx | North Castle | NYCDOT/Westchester County | NYCDOT/Westchester County |
| Cross County Parkway | 1947 | Hudson Valley | Yonkers | Eastchester | NYSDOT | NYSDOT |
| Cross Island Parkway | 1940 | New York City | Queens | Queens | NYCDOT | NYCDOT |
| Eastern Parkway | 1874 | New York City | Brooklyn | Brooklyn | NYCDOT | NYCDOT |
| Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive | 1955 | New York City | Lower Manhattan | Upper Manhattan | NYSDOT/NYCDOT | NYSDOT/NYCDOT |
| Grand Central Parkway | 1936 | New York City | Queens | New York City line | NYSDOT | NYSDOT |
| Harlem River Drive | 1964 | New York City | Upper Manhattan | Upper Manhattan | NYSDOT | NYSDOT |
| Heckscher State Parkway | 1959 | Long Island | West Islip | Heckscher State Park | NYS OPRHP | NYSDOT |
| Henry Hudson Parkway | 1937 | New York City | Manhattan | New York City line | NYSDOT/NYCDOT/PANYNJ | NYSDOT/NYCDOT/PANYNJ |
| Hutchinson River Parkway | 1928 | Hudson Valley | The Bronx | Connecticut state line | NYSDOT/NYCDOT | NYSDOT/NYCDOT |
| Jackie Robinson Parkway | 1935 | New York City | Brooklyn | Queens | NYCDOT | NYSDOT |
| Korean War Veterans Parkway | 1972 | New York City | Staten Island | Staten Island | NYSDOT | NYSDOT |
| Lake Ontario State Parkway | | Western New York | Carlton | Rochester | NYSDOT/NYS OPRHP | NYSDOT |
| Little Neck Parkway | | New York City | Queens | Queens | | |
| Lake Welch Parkway | 1971 | Hudson Valley | Harriman State Park | Harriman State Park | PIPC | NYSDOT |
| Long Mountain Parkway | | Hudson Valley | Harriman State Park | Bear Mountain State Park | NYSDOT | NYSDOT |
| Loop Parkway | 1934 | Long Island | Lido Beach | Jones Beach State Park | NYS OPRHP | NYSDOT |
| Meadowbrook State Parkway | 1934 | Long Island | Jones Beach State Park | Westbury | NYS OPRHP | NYSDOT |
| Mosholu Parkway | 1937 | New York City | Bronx Park | Van Cortlandt Park | NYSDOT/NYCDOT | NYSDOT/NYCDOT |
| Niagara Scenic Parkway | | Western New York | Niagara Falls | Porter | NYS OPRHP | NYSDOT |
| Northern State Parkway | 1931 | Long Island | New York City line | Hauppauge | NYS OPRHP | NYSDOT |
| Ocean Parkway | | New York City | Brooklyn | Brooklyn | | |
| Ocean Parkway | | Long Island | Jones Beach State Park | Captree State Park | NYS OPRHP | NYSDOT |
| Palisades Interstate Parkway | 1958 | Hudson Valley | Fort Lee, NJ | Bear Mountain State Park | PIPC | NYSDOT/NJDOT |
| Pelham Parkway | 1911 | New York City | The Bronx | Pelham Bay Park | NYCDOT | NYCDOT |
| Prospect Mountain Veterans Memorial Highway | 1969 | Adirondacks | Lake George | Prospect Mountain | NYSDEC | NYSDEC |
| Robert Moses Causeway | | Long Island | Robert Moses State Park | West Islip | NYS OPRHP | NYSDOT |
| Rockaway Parkway | | New York City | Brooklyn | Brooklyn | | |
| Sagtikos State Parkway | 1952 | Long Island | West Islip | Commack | NYS OPRHP | NYSDOT |
| Saw Mill River Parkway | 1954 | Hudson Valley | New York City line | Bedford | NYS OPRHP | NYSDOT |
| Seven Lakes Drive | | Hudson Valley | Sloatsburg | Bear Mountain State Park | PIPC | NYSDOT |
| Southern State Parkway | 1949 | Long Island | Valley Stream | West Islip | NYS OPRHP | NYSDOT |
| Sprain Brook Parkway | 1961 | Hudson Valley | Yonkers | Hawthorne | NYSDOT | NYSDOT |
| Sunken Meadow State Parkway | 1957 | Long Island | Commack | Sunken Meadow State Park | NYS OPRHP | NYSDOT |
| Taconic State Parkway | 1925 | Hudson Valley | North Castle | East Chatham | NYSDOT | NYSDOT |
| Wantagh State Parkway | 1929 | Long Island | Jones Beach State Park | Westbury | NYS OPRHP | NYSDOT |
| Whiteface Mountain Veterans Memorial Highway | 1935 | Adirondacks | Wilmington | Whiteface Mountain | NYSDEC | NYSDEC |

## Other parkways

Some regions of New York have parkways that are not owned or maintained by a state agency. Westchester County, for example, contains some highways that were originally part of the TSPC and WCPC, while Suffolk County has preserved a section of the former Long Island Motor Parkway (LIMP) for current driving and built their own roads on land originally reserved for the LISPC. The surviving remnant of the LIMP in western Suffolk County, named the Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, became a surface road that is no longer an expressway nor off limits to commercial vehicles.

### List of parkways

| Parkway | Opened | Region | From | To | Owner | Maintained by |
| Arden Valley Road | 1922 | Hudson Valley | Harriman State Park | Harriman State Park | PIPC | PIPC |
| Central Westchester Parkway | | Hudson Valley | White Plains | White Plains | Westchester County | Westchester County |
| Farragut Parkway | | Hudson Valley | Hastings-on-Hudson | Hastings-on-Hudson | Westchester County | Westchester County |
| Fire Island Beach Road | | Long Island | Fire Island | Fire Island | Suffolk County | Suffolk County |
| Memorial Parkway | | Mohawk Valley | Genesee Street, Utica | Albany Street, Utica | City of Utica | City of Utica |
| Playland Parkway | 1929 | Hudson Valley | Harrison | Playland | Westchester County | Westchester County |
| Tiorati Brook Road | | Hudson Valley | Harriman State Park | Bear Mountain State Park | PIPC | PIPC |
| Vanderbilt Motor Parkway | | Long Island | Melville | Lake Ronkonkoma | Suffolk County | Suffolk County |
| William Floyd Parkway | | Long Island | Fire Island | Rocky Point | Suffolk County | Suffolk County |