With the sky clearing up and the city cleared out, there’s plenty of room for your outdoor spread. All you need is the blanket. We’ve supplied the (suggested) food, drink and spots, from Bay Ridge to Long Island City.

The Community Garden Picnic
Sweet Spot: 6/15 Green Community Garden, on 6th Ave. between 15th and 16th Sts. in the South Slope. This lush patch’s tables and chairs are open to the public Saturday mornings and Thursday and Sunday evenings (though, sadly, the on-site grill is for members only). If you’re bringing six or more, check beforehand to ensure your gathering doesn’t clash with another’s. (For contact info and hours visit>>)

Perfect Meal: Fresh mozzarella balls marinated with sun-dried tomatoes, handmade bread, olives, and a pasta salad from Eagle Provisions, a small Polish grocery store on 5th Ave. and 18th St. that’s been serving the South Slope since the Thirties.

Picnic Cooler: Ommegang Witte, a Belgian-style white ale brewed in Cooperstown, NY, also at Eagle Provisions. The brewery itself recommends this coriander-spiced beer for summer picnics, and we couldn’t agree more.–Nina Pearlman

Picnic Between the Bridges
Sweet Spot: Enter Dumbo’s Brooklyn Bridge Park on Plymouth St. (at Washington or Main). Walk the loop of the pathway and spread your blanket on the grassy high ground. If you’re not up for a blanket picnic, try the benches facing the Brooklyn Bridge, or the steps leading down to the rocky beach.

Perfect Meal: Stop by Foragers Market on Front and Adams and just try not to go overboard. Of their consistently delicious prepared foods, opt for a pasta salad (like penne with kale, chick peas, proscuitto, and fresh ricotta, perfectly complemented by fresh grape tomatoes from the salad bar). Grab one of the fresh Eli’s baguettes, some artichoke Parmesan tapenade, and Jules Destrooper Belgian almond thins for the Bucheron goat cheese. Buy watermelon or spread American Spoon rhubarb marmalade on your bread for dessert, or if you’re up for something decadent, go to Jacques Torres (66 Water St.) for one of their over-the-top ice cream sandwiches.
(Note: lazy picnickers can get classic pressed sandwiches and a grilled vegetable salad from Dumbo General Store, 111 Front, to go.)

Picnic Cooler: At Blanc & Rouge (81 Washington St.) try the $9, citrusy, light and crisp Terra Andina Sauvignon Blanc from Chile, or, the refreshing Karl Schmitt rose ($13). Also, Foragers has exciting sparkling beverages, like a pomegranate presse, or for the more daring, a Cricket green tea cola.–Chrysanthe Tenentes

The Stuff-Yourself-Silly Picnic
Sweet Spot: Enter Owl’s Head Park in Bay Ridge from the southwest corner and walk parallel to 68th St., past the restroom and people barbecuing. Head for the slope in front of you. About midway up the hill, chose a tree to sit under, and a view of the harbor you like best.

Perfect Meal: On Saturday’s only, any good picnic goer’s first stop should be Chowhound favorite The Family Store (6905 3rd Ave., 718-748-0207), where my personal favorite Mediterranean goodies are the sauteed chard with caramelized onions, beet salad with tahini, and their own, to-die-for halvah. Second stop, also only on Saturday, is Nordic Delicacies (6909 3rd Ave.), directly next door, a treasure trove of Scandinavian specialties like gjetost, for their tube of Ham-Cheese spread thickly on one of their house-baked multigrain rolls. The final food stop should be one of the city’s best Polish restaurants, Polonica (7214 3rd Ave., 718-630-5805). Order either (or both) their delicious cold borscht and cold pickle soup, and for every two people, a mixed salad plate — six different salads of red cabbage, white cabbage, beet, carrot, sauerkraut and lettuce that are always amazing.

Picnic Cooler: Two doors down at the Polish grocery store Polbridge (7218 3rd Ave, 718-491-1398), you’ll find many, many kinds of Polish beer. If you want to adhere to the rules, mix one of their zany boxed juices with seltzer to concoct spritzers.–Ann of A Chicken in Every Granny Cart

Our Long Island City and Greenmarket picnic — complete with a fresh cocktail recipe from Quarter Bar — continue here>>

Community Garden photo by Jenna Bascom, Brooklyn Bridge Photo by redxdress on Flickr, Bay Ridge Photo by Ann of A Chicken in Every Granny Cart.