Even on a cloudy day, it’s beautiful to get an opportunity to look across the East River at Manhattan from Astoria, especially when the view remains unobstructed by buildings, warehouses, elevated tracks, and all that other urban detritus. Socrates Sculpture Park provides an extraordinary view that, in itself, is worth the trip, but also acts as a tremendous background to the art on display in the waterfront park.

While I walked through the park, taking pictures and studying the pieces, plenty of people used the space outside of looking at art. Some visitors used the park to play with their dogs, others to do aerobics, groups of kids came after school to avoid going home, and not one, but two people used the space to have long cell phone conversations redefining collapsing relationships.