Brooklyn’s Prospect Park is one of the best things the borough has to offer, next to Coney Island. The 585-acre park was designed by the same landscape architects as Central Park, making it an urban oasis far from any tourists or Gossip Girl wannabes.

Located in the heart of Brooklyn, Prospect Park blew me away when I first went to visit. I sat under a tree with a book in my hand and enjoyed my view of the Boathouse that sits on Prospect Park Lake. Before heading to the Boathouse, I marveled at the Carousel and how many families were taking advantage of the park’s open space.

With costs rising so severely in contrast to salaries, it’s even more pertinent to find free and low-cost activities so as to not blow your budget each month. Years ago, living in Manhattan on a salary that even a Mickey D’s employee would scoff at, I became pretty adept at entertaining myself for next to nothing. We’ve covered free, recession-proof activities before, and we’re continuing the series with out latest batch of awesome entertainment that costs less than you pay for your morning coffee.