Kissena Park

Kissena Park is a 237-acre park in eastern Queens centered around scenic Kissena Lake, one of the borough's most important natural and recreational spaces. The park connects to a larger green corridor linking Queens Botanical Garden, Cunningham Park, and Alley Pond Park.

The park's historic tree grove was once part of a 19th-century horticultural nursery that supplied trees to the New York region. Today, the grove contains over 100 varieties of trees, including rare species like the Persian parrotia, Chinese toon, and Japanese katsura.

Kissena Park is home to the Kissena Velodrome, a 400-meter cycling track that hosted the 1964 Olympic Trials for track cycling. The velodrome remains one of the few dedicated cycling tracks in New York City and continues to host racing events.

Kissena Lake, the park's centerpiece, supports diverse wildlife including wood ducks, great blue herons, and painted turtles. The lake's shoreline provides habitat for both migrating and nesting songbirds, making the park a popular birdwatching destination.

Kissena Park serves the diverse communities of Flushing and Fresh Meadows with boating, fishing, golfing, cycling, playgrounds, and nature trails in one of Queens' most ecologically significant green spaces.