Could someone recommend a beach near Manhattan where it would be clean and safe to swim? (and best way to get there with no car)
Thanks.
Alex
PS. My son is 13 so it would be great if there were also some interesting activities near the beach.

The closest beaches to Manhattan are probably on Brooklyn but I wouldn't want to swim in them!

take the train from penn station to long beach, on long island it's about a 45 minute train ride. sometimes they have an express train.

I remember back in the summer of 1970 when I was a "newlywed" taking a daytrip via bus from (Port Authority?} Manhattan to Jones Beach. Somewhere in suburbia before we made it to the beach, the bus driver actually got lost. Now I remember that more than what the beach was actually like! Another weekend that summer, I recall taking the train to Fire Island. We may have stayed with a friend that weekend. Whoa. Real blasts from the past. But geography hasn't really changed much -- nor does the fact that many New Yorkers don't have cars -- so I would imagine your choices are still pretty much the same.

I live in Manhattan and agree with Chrissy----Long Beach is your best bet. I, like most Manhattanities, do not own a car. The Hamptons are too far; Jersey shore---the same. From Penn Station, you can be on Long Beach in an hour. On weekend summer mornings there is an express train to Long Beach--40 minutes and it makes no stops, not even at the Long Island RR hub in Jamaica. Most people on the train are Manhattanites with their chairs and umbrellas and go on the three block trail to the beach after getting off the trail (of course since they are Manhattanites, they pick up their bottled water and bagel at the stores just off the train).

Forgot one thing---The Long Island RR sells combination tickets for the train and to get on the beach (otherwise there is a fee to get on the beach). You must buy the tickets on the day of travel and a warning---come early---the lines to buy tickets are unlimited but are very long---the trains to the Hamptons leave around the same time as your train.

Alex,

I live in NYC and haven't done this myself - but it may help. You can also go to Jones Beach by train and bus. I went to JonesBeach.com and found the following:

From manhattan: Long Island Railroad to Freeport, then buses to Jones Beach.
From Queens & Nassau: Metropolitan Suburban Authority buses.
For info: Manhattan: Call (718) 217-5477 Queens/Nassau: Call (516) 766-6722

If you call these phone numbers, you should get some details. Jones Beach is a good bet since the beach is great plus there's lots to do on the boardwalk.

have a good time...

Dona

I don't think buses go to jones beach. i am pretty sure robert moses made sure of that when he built the parkways with low overpasses. kind of elitist, but his plan was to keep the "undesirables" off jones beach. i could be wrong, so if anyone has ever actually taken a bus to jones beach, please post.
i live on LI, but i have never actually been to jones beach since my township has it's own section of the ocean beach adjacent to jones, you have to be a town resident to go on it. Plus i live on the north shore, so i just go to the local bay beaches, even though they are rocky, they are much closer and quieter.
anyway, if i were in your shoes i would go to long beach. i have heard that jones beach is very crowded with the day trippers from NYC and that on a busy day you literally would be on top of other beach-goers.