Brooklyn Heights Promenade

The Promenade is a third of a mile of esplanade cantilevered over the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway — a 1950s compromise that accidentally produced the finest free view in New York. The whole lower Manhattan skyline stands across the water at exactly the right distance, with the Brooklyn Bridge to the right, the harbor and Statue of Liberty to the left, and the traffic that made it possible humming invisibly beneath your feet.

Behind the railing, the scene is pure Brooklyn Heights: rows of brownstone and brick backs, private gardens spilling over the fence, neighbors walking dogs at all hours. Benches line the full length and face the skyline like theater seats, which is how locals use them — morning coffee, evening wind-down, the occasional proposal at the Montague Street end.

Sunset is the obvious hour and still the right one; the sun drops behind the towers and the glass catches fire. But early morning, with the harbor traffic starting up and almost nobody out, may be the Promenade at its honest best.