One of the best under-the-radar half-days in New York City starts in Long Island City and covers less than a mile — but it packs in a world-class sculpture museum, sweeping Manhattan skyline views, a beautiful waterfront park, and some of the quietest riverside walking you can find within city limits. The Noguchi Museum to Gantry Plaza State Park route is a Queens gem that even longtime New Yorkers often discover for the first time on a friend’s recommendation.

Here is how to do it right.

Start: The Noguchi Museum

The Noguchi Museum at 9-01 33rd Road in Astoria — technically Long Island City — is one of the finest small museums in New York, and it is routinely underattended by visitors who make it no further into Queens than Flushing. Isamu Noguchi, the Japanese-American sculptor and designer, personally oversaw the conversion of this former industrial building into his museum, and the result is something genuinely rare: a space where the architecture and the art feel entirely inseparable.

The collection spans Noguchi’s entire career, from his early portrait busts to his monumental stone abstractions to the Akari light sculptures that became his most commercially recognizable work. The walled garden at the center of the building — open-air, planted with gravel and stone, the sculptures arranged in contemplative groupings — is one of the most serene spaces in the five boroughs.

The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, 11am to 6pm (last entry at 5:30pm). General admission is $10; students and seniors pay $5. Admission is free on the first Friday of every month. The museum is closed Monday and Tuesday. Plan ahead and check noguchi.org for current exhibitions before you go.

Walk Toward the Waterfront

From the museum, head east toward the East River — it is about a 10-minute walk through the industrial-residential mix of blocks that defines this part of Long Island City. Vernon Boulevard runs along the waterfront, and from here you can turn south toward the main destination: Gantry Plaza State Park.

The park is named for its two restored Queensboro Ferry gantries — massive iron loading structures that once transferred railroad cars between Queens and Manhattan via ferry. They have been preserved as public art and landmark structures, and they frame the views of Midtown Manhattan in a way that feels almost too perfect to be accidental. The Empire State Building sits dead center between the two gantries on a clear day. It is one of the best skyline photographs you can take in the city without getting on a boat.

Gantry Plaza: What to Do Here

Gantry Plaza State Park stretches along the East River waterfront with walking and cycling paths, lawns, fishing piers, and a dog run. The park is free and open daily. In the warmer months the lawns fill with picnicking families and after-work crowds, but the early morning and mid-afternoon hours during the week are genuinely peaceful — and on a Saturday morning, you can often find a stretch of the promenade nearly to yourself.

Walk the full length of the park from north to south. The piers extend out over the river, giving you 360-degree water views — Manhattan to the west, the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge to the north, and the open harbor to the south. Benches are plentiful. The fishing is reportedly good. The light on the water in the afternoon, with the Manhattan skyline behind it, is extraordinary.

Continue south and the park connects into Hunter’s Point South Park, a newer addition to the waterfront that extends the green space further along the Queens shoreline. The Hunter’s Point Library — a striking angular building designed by Steven Holl Architects that opened in 2019 — sits at the edge of this park and is worth a look from the outside even when closed.

Eating and Getting Here

Long Island City has developed a serious food scene over the last decade, concentrated along Jackson Avenue and Vernon Boulevard. After your walk, head back inland for options ranging from Japanese ramen to Colombian bakeries to the kind of no-frills diner that Queens has always done well.

Getting here: take the E, M, or R train to Queens Plaza, or the 7 train to Vernon Boulevard-Jackson Avenue. The Noguchi Museum is about a 10-minute walk from the 7 train stop. For more on what is open and happening in Queens, check out our Queens neighborhood spotlight.

What You Need to Know

• Noguchi Museum: 9-01 33rd Road, Astoria (Long Island City), NY 11106 | Wed-Sun, 11am-6pm | $10 adults, $5 students/seniors | Free first Fridays
• Gantry Plaza State Park: 4-09 47th Road, Long Island City | Open daily, dawn to dusk | Free
• Getting there: 7 train to Vernon Blvd-Jackson Ave; E/M/R to Queens Plaza
• Total walk distance: Under 1.5 miles for the full loop
• Time needed: 2 to 3 hours with museum visit; 1 hour for waterfront walk only
• Best for: Art lovers, waterfront walkers, skyline photographers, anyone who wants a quieter alternative to the Manhattan waterfront

The Noguchi-to-Gantry walk is one of those routes that Queens insiders have been doing for years while the rest of the city was looking elsewhere. It deserves to be on every New Yorker’s regular rotation — and this weekend is a great time to start.