Marathon Sunday Turns Fourth Avenue Into a Wall. Here's How Park Slope Works Around It

What side of Fourth Avenue do you need to be on at noon this Sunday?

For most of the year, nobody in Park Slope asks that. Fourth Avenue is the street you cross to reach the Gowanus side. On Sunday, November 1, 2026, the TCS New York City Marathon runs north up that avenue for nearly the full length of the neighborhood. That turns a crosswalk question into the main logistics of the day. The race has an 8:00 a.m. event time. The city's street and bridge closures run from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

That is a nine-hour window, and the race itself explains why it lasts so long. If you plan the day around getting across the avenue, the viewing takes care of itself.

Fourth Avenue Becomes the Neighborhood's Western Edge

NYC DOT's 2026 route list puts the course on northbound Fourth Avenue from 92nd Street up to Flatbush Avenue. From there it runs along Flatbush to Lafayette Avenue, then Lafayette to Bedford Avenue. The official NYRR course map labels the Fourth Avenue section as Park Slope. In race terms, the neighborhood covers roughly miles 5 through 8. Mile 7 falls around Union Street, Fourth Avenue and 9th Street sits between miles 7 and 8, and the mile-8 point is around the Flatbush and Atlantic Avenue intersection. Sources place that last marker a little differently. Time Out calls Fourth Avenue at Flatbush mile 8, and NYC Tourism puts Atlantic and Flatbush just short of it.

The detail that matters most for a Park Slope Sunday is on NYRR's course page under pedestrian crossing zones. The designated Brooklyn crossings are at Lafayette Avenue and Fulton Street, and at Bedford Avenue and Broadway. Both are past the Flatbush turn, outside Park Slope. None of NYRR's designated crossing zones falls anywhere along the Fourth Avenue stretch between 15th Street and Atlantic.

NYRR also says the NYPD closes streets along the course early so the race can set up. It doesn't publish separate closure times for the Park Slope segment. The safe assumption is that Fourth Avenue works as a closed edge from early morning until mid-afternoon. Brunch on Nevins Street, a dog walk to the canal, or a visit to someone in Gowanus all need planning before the barricades go up. Since the Carroll Street Bridge reopened car-free, the Gowanus side has become a short walk from President Street. We covered what's open along that walk. On Sunday, that walk starts with Fourth Avenue.

Why the Closure Lasts So Long

The marathon doesn't arrive in Park Slope as one burst of runners. It arrives in layers. Here is NYRR's 2026 start schedule, which it notes is subject to change:

The last wave leaves Staten Island three and a half hours after the first wheelchair athletes. Each of those waves then has to cover about seven miles before reaching Union Street. NYRR expects nearly 60,000 participants this year. Fourth Avenue doesn't empty after the leaders pass. It fills, thins and fills again with each wave until well into the afternoon. That stacked schedule is why the 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. window exists.

NYRR doesn't publish an arrival table for miles 6 through 8. If you're watching for one runner, work it out from their wave. Add the 5 to 15 minutes it can take a wave to cross the start line, then the runner's pace over the first seven miles. NYRR's app gives live position and splits once the race is underway. Timing systems run at every mile from mile 3, and every course clock is set to Wave 1. A clock at Union Street reading 1:10 tells you how long it has been since 9:10, not how long your runner has been on the course.

Where to Watch, Once You've Picked Your Side

Once you've settled which side of the avenue you'll be on, picking a viewing spot is easier.

Fourth Avenue Pub, 76 Fourth Avenue. This is the confirmed 2026 option. The pub has posted a marathon-day opening from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., matching the closure window almost exactly. It offers $1 off Bloody Marys and mimosas from opening until 4 p.m., plus free bagels and cream cheese while supplies last. In its own words, runners will "trot right past our front door on Fourth Avenue."

Atlantic Avenue and Flatbush. This is the transit pick. Time Out lists the B, D, N, Q, R, 2, 3, 4 and 5 trains for its mile-8 spot at Fourth Avenue and Flatbush. A guest coming from Manhattan or Queens can get off the train right at the course without crossing anything. NYRR suggests checking MTA planned service changes before race day. The MTA's race-specific service notice usually comes out in the final days before the race, so check it Saturday night.

Official cheer zones. These are elsewhere. The 2026 course map shows official cheer zones in Downtown Brooklyn and Harlem, and an NYRR member cheer zone in the Downtown Brooklyn and Clinton Hill area. None of them is on the Park Slope stretch. Watching from the neighborhood means watching from the curb, a doorway or a bar window.

Last year's neighborhood traditions are on hold until their organizers announce 2026 plans. The October 30, 2025 issue of Park Slope Pulse listed Whisk & Whiskey's fourth annual marathon cheer station. It ran from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. with a DJ, coffee, a whiskey tasting and indoor viewing. The same issue listed a PS 118 Marathon Fun Day and chili cook-off at the Old Stone House, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Old Stone House calendar for November 1, 2026 currently lists regular public Open Hours from noon to 2 p.m. Check directly before building a morning around any of them.

A Short Plan for the Day

Put together, the schedule and the crossing map suggest a simple order of operations:

1. Before 7 a.m. Cross Fourth Avenue now if you'll spend the day on the Gowanus side. The same goes for any car that needs to leave the area.
2. 8:00 to 9:05 a.m. Wheelchair, handcycle and professional starts. The first athletes reach the Park Slope stretch in this part of the morning.
3. 9:10 to 11:30 a.m. The five waves leave Staten Island. Fourth Avenue gets its heaviest runner traffic over the following hours.
4. Through 4 p.m. The citywide closure window stays in effect. Plan errands, deliveries and guest arrivals on the assumption that the avenue stays closed until then.

The 50th Year on These Streets

This year carries extra weight. NYRR is marking the 50th anniversary of the five-borough course, first run on October 24, 1976. The 2026 course includes the first changes in 15 years, and all of them are minor reroutes in the Bronx after the Willis Avenue Bridge. The Brooklyn route, Fourth Avenue included, hasn't changed. NYRR expects more than two million spectators along the full course.

If you want to mark the anniversary before Sunday, NYRR's "50 Years Through the Five Boroughs" experience runs at Vanderbilt Hall in Grand Central Terminal through Friday, October 30. It includes a Brooklyn-themed area where visitors can make cheer signs. If you go Thursday or Friday, you'll come home with a sign before the barricades go up on Fourth Avenue.

The day before the race, Park Slope has Halloween on a Saturday, with block-by-block closures of its own. Our guide to that day covers which streets close and when.

Race day goes smoothly for people who check the closure map before 7 a.m., and a building sale works the same way. The schedule, the obstacles and the buyer's next steps should be clear before the property goes to market. If you own in Park Slope and are weighing when to make a move, Exodus Capital can walk you through the timing. Discuss your exit strategy with our team.