Staten Island or Coney Island: What’s the Better Beach Getaway?
If Staten has a beach-with-a-capital-B, it’s this one, probably the most crowded, and the one that many Staten Island kids grew up going to. (As did their parents and grandparents: In the ’50s, it was a bungalow-filled beach colony.) It’s the best beach for Instagrammable shots of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, and there’s a boardwalk with a bike path that overlooks the water — the promenade length from South to Midland Beach is 2.1 miles. You can rent a bike ($12 per hour) at Wheel Fun Rentals, which also offers umbrellas and chairs for $8 a day. “We get a lot of folks who don’t want to go to the crowded beaches in Brooklyn,” says Ricciardone, so there’s often lots of day-trippers sunbathing and mingling with locals. If you’re here on Wednesday, come by for fireworks and other entertainment starting at dusk.
