Highland Park

Highland Park is a 141-acre park straddling the Brooklyn-Queens border in the Cypress Hills and Ridgewood neighborhoods. The park occupies a prominent ridgeline on the terminal moraine that provides sweeping views across Brooklyn and Queens, with sightlines extending to Manhattan, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, and the Atlantic Ocean on clear days.

The park is home to the Ridgewood Reservoir, a former water supply facility that operated from 1858 to 1989 as part of the system delivering fresh water to Brooklyn. The three reservoir basins, now decommissioned, have evolved into an accidental urban wilderness, with mature forest growing in the drained basins and wetland habitat developing where water still collects.

The reservoir's ecological transformation has made it a destination for naturalists, birders, and environmental advocates. The unplanned forest that has colonized the basins supports diverse bird populations and native plant communities, creating a wilderness experience within the city that few planned parks can match.

Highland Park's recreational facilities include tennis courts, a running track, a playground, and extensive playing fields. The park also contains a grove of memorial trees and monuments, and its elevated terrain provides a sense of spaciousness rare in the densely built neighborhoods of eastern Brooklyn and western Queens.

Highland Park serves communities from both boroughs, making it a shared resource that bridges the administrative boundary between Kings and Queens Counties. Its combination of natural terrain, historic infrastructure, and active recreation facilities makes it one of the most significant parks along the Brooklyn-Queens border.