One of the great waterfowling and shorebird hunting areas in North America during the late 1800s early 1900s was just across the bay from Manhattan in Jamaica Bay, east of Brooklyn and west of Queens. It's now an 18,000 acre refuge and a NYC park all as big as Manhattan. My daughter has lived and worked in Brooklyn for almost 3 years and it has some beautiful, self-contained neighborhoods and we have enjoyed the visits there. Gil