The Ridgewood Reservoir is a cryptoforest located on the Queens/Brooklyn border in New York. It is in the middle of a large swath of land otherwise occupied by highways, anonymous warehouses, auto body shops, and miles of cemeteries. It's also within walking distance from my apartment building in Bushwick. I went there earlier this year with some co-conspirators to explore, just a few days after one of the heaviest snows of the season.

The reservoir itself is decommissioned and the area is fenced off. The reservoir sits on top of a large hill that looks out over Queens and Brooklyn. The sense of calm once we got inside was incredible. Something about freshly fallen snow brings a real sense of stillness. The peacefulness of this area was accentuated by the intensity of the rest of New York-- it was amazing to be able to stand still, and not talk, and not hear anything or anybody else. The feeling is much different than the public, managed parks in NYC.

The rest of the description is captioned with the photos.