In the summer, the city can be a lot to take. The heat. The sweaty bodies. The smells. Oh, the smells. It’s with good reason that so many people vacate their overcrowded, under-air conditioned apartments in the months of June, July, and August and head to the Hamptons, Fire Island, or anyplace that is cooler, cleaner, and has some proximity to a beach.

Thanks to a slew of parties and appointments (and the financial peaks of high season rentals), I was one of those sad folks stuck trying to make the best of a New York summer. And you know what? It wasn’t so bad. Especially when I made use of your unlimited MetroCard to go on some local day trips.

My boyfriend, N., recently had the idea of exploring an area of the city that, until then, I had only equated with my grandmother’s assisted living home: Riverdale.

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