| Central Park is a large public, urban park | | | | Charity. The roughly 1,600 working-class |
| (843 acres or 3.41 km²; a rectangle 2.5 | | | | residents occupying the area at the time were |
| statute miles by 0.5 statute mile, or 4 km | | | | evicted under the rule of eminent domain |
| × 800 m) in the borough of Manhattan in | | | | during 1857, and Seneca Village and parts of |
| New York City. With about twenty-five million | | | | the other communities were torn down and |
| visitors annually, Central Park is the most | | | | removed in order to make room for the park. |
| visited city park in the United States,[1] | | | | The person responsible for carrying out the |
| and its appearance in many movies and | | | | evictions was the great-great grandfather of |
| television shows has made it among the most | | | | future New York Yankee Joe Pepitone. |
| famous city parks in the world. It is run by | | | | |
| the Central Park Conservancy, a private, | | | | During the construction of the park, Olmsted |
| not-for-profit organization that manages the | | | | fought constant battles with the Park |
| park under a contract with the New York City | | | | Commissioners, many of whom were appointees |
| Department of Parks and Recreation. | | | | of the city's Democratic machine. In 1860, he |
| | | | was forced out for the first of many times as |
| Central Park is bordered on the north by West | | | | Central Park's Superintendent, and was |
| 110th Street, on the west by Central Park | | | | replaced by Andrew Haswell Green, the former |
| West, on the south by West 59th Street, and | | | | president of New York City's Board of |
| on the east by Fifth Avenue. Along the park's | | | | Education took over as the chairman of the |
| borders, these streets are usually referred | | | | commission. Despite the fact that he had |
| to as Central Park North, Central Park West, | | | | relatively little experience, he still |
| and Central Park South, respectively. (Fifth | | | | managed to accelerate the construction, as |
| Avenue retains its name along the eastern | | | | well as to finalize the negotiations for the |
| border.) | | | | purchase of an additional 65 acres (26 ha) at |
| | | | the north end of the park between 106th and |
| The park was designed by Frederick Law | | | | 110th Streets, which would be used as the |
| Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, both of whom later | | | | 'rugged' part of the park, its swampy |
| created Brooklyn's Prospect Park. While much | | | | northeast corner dredged and reconstructed as |
| of the park looks natural, it is in fact | | | | the natural-seeming Harlem Meer. |
| almost entirely landscaped and contains | | | | |
| several artificial lakes, extensive walking | | | | Between 1860 and 1873, the construction of |
| tracks, two ice-skating rinks, a wildlife | | | | the park had come a long way, and most of the |
| sanctuary, and grassy areas used for various | | | | major hurdles had been overcome. During this |
| sporting pursuits, as well as playgrounds for | | | | period, more than 500,000 cubic feet (14,000 |
| children. The park is a popular oasis for | | | | m³) of topsoil had been transported in |
| migrating birds, and thus is popular with | | | | from New Jersey, as the original soil wasn't |
| bird watchers. The 6-mile (10 km) road | | | | good enough to sustain the various trees, |
| circling the park is popular with joggers, | | | | shrubs and the plants the Greensward Plan |
| bicyclists and inline skaters, especially on | | | | called for. When the park was officially |
| weekends and in the evenings after 7:00 p.m., | | | | completed in 1873, more than ten million |
| when automobile traffic is banned. | | | | cartloads of material, including soil and |
| | | | rocks which were to be removed from the area |
| History | | | | had been manually dug up, and transported out |
| | | | of the park. Also included were the more than |
| The park was not part of the Commissioners' | | | | four million trees, shrubs and plants |
| Plan of 1811; however, between 1821 and 1855, | | | | representing the approximately 1,500 species |
| New York City nearly quadrupled in | | | | which were to lay the foundation for today's |
| population. As the city expanded, people were | | | | park. |
| drawn to the few open spaces, mainly | | | | |
| cemeteries, to get away from the noise and | | | | 20th Century |
| chaotic life in the city. Before long, | | | | |
| however, New York City's need for a great | | | | Following the completion of the park, it |
| public park was voiced by the poet and editor | | | | quickly slipped into decline. One of the |
| of the then-Evening Post (now the New York | | | | major reasons for this was the disinterest of |
| Post), William Cullen Bryant, and by the | | | | Tammany Hall, the political machine which was |
| first American landscape architect, Andrew | | | | the largest political force in New York at |
| Jackson Downing, who began to publicize the | | | | the time. |
| city's need for a public park in 1844. A | | | | |
| stylish place for open-air driving, like the | | | | Around the turn of the century, the park |
| Bois de Boulogne in Paris or London's Hyde | | | | faced several new challenges. Cars had been |
| Park, was felt to be needed by many | | | | invented and were becoming commonplace, |
| influential New Yorkers, and in 1853 the New | | | | bringing with them their burden of pollution. |
| York legislature designated a 700 acre (2.8 | | | | Also, the general mental view of the people |
| km²) area from 59th to 106th Streets for | | | | was beginning to change. No longer were parks |
| the creation of the park, to a cost of more | | | | to be used only for walks and picnics in an |
| than US$5 million for the land alone. | | | | idyllic environment, but now also for sports, |
| | | | and similar recreation. Following the |
| Initial development | | | | dissolution of the Central Park Commission in |
| | | | 1870 and Andrew Green's departure from the |
| The State appointed a Central Park Commission | | | | project and the death of Vaux in 1895, the |
| to oversee the development of the park, and | | | | maintenance effort gradually declined, and |
| in 1857 the commission held a landscape | | | | there were few or no attempts to replace dead |
| design contest. Writer Frederick Law Olmsted | | | | trees, bushes and plants or worn-out lawn. |
| and English architect Calvert Vaux developed | | | | For several decades, authorities did little |
| the so-called "Greensward Plan", which was | | | | or nothing to prevent vandalism and the |
| selected as the winning design. According to | | | | littering of the park. |
| Olmsted, the park was "of great importance as | | | | |
| the first real Park made in this | | | | All of this changed in 1934, when Fiorello |
| century—a democratic development of | | | | LaGuardia was elected mayor of New York City |
| the highest significance…", a view | | | | and unified the five park-related departments |
| probably inspired by his stay, and various | | | | then in existence, and gave Robert Moses the |
| trips in Europe in 1850.[2] During that trip | | | | job of cleaning up. Moses, then about to |
| he visited several parks, and was in | | | | become one of the mightiest men in New York |
| particular impressed by Birkenhead Park near | | | | City, took over what was essentially a relic, |
| Liverpool, England, which opened in 1847 as | | | | a leftover from a bygone era. |
| the first publicly funded park in the world. | | | | |
| | | | According to historian Robert Caro in his |
| Several influences came together in the | | | | 1974 book The Power Broker, |
| design. Landscaped cemeteries, such as Mount | | | | |
| Auburn (Cambridge, Massachusetts) and | | | | Lawns, unseeded, were expanses of bare earth, |
| Green-Wood (Brooklyn, New York) had set an | | | | decorated with scraggly patches of grass and |
| example of idyllic, naturalistic landscapes. | | | | weeds, that became dust holes in dry weather |
| The most influential innovations in the | | | | and mud holes in wet…. The once |
| Central Park design, were the "separate | | | | beautiful Mall looked like a scene of a wild |
| circulation systems" for pedestrians, | | | | party the morning after. Benches lay on their |
| horseback riders, and pleasure vehicles. The | | | | backs, their legs jabbing at the sky…. |
| "crosstown" commercial traffic was entirely | | | | |
| concealed in sunken roadways screened with | | | | In a single year, Moses managed to clean up |
| densely planted shrub belts, so as not to | | | | not only Central Park, but also other parks |
| disturb the impression of a rustic scene. The | | | | in New York City; lawns and flowers were |
| Greensward plan called for some 36 bridges, | | | | replanted, dead trees and bushes replaced, |
| all designed by Vaux, ranging from rugged | | | | walls were sandblasted and bridges repaired. |
| spans of Manhattan schist or granite, to lacy | | | | Major redesigning and construction was also |
| neo-gothic cast iron, no two alike. The | | | | carried out; for instance, the existing |
| ensemble of the formal line of the Mall's | | | | Croton Lower Reservoir was filled-in so the |
| doubled allées of elms culminating at | | | | Great Lawn could be created. The Greensward |
| Bethesda Terrace, with a composed view beyond | | | | Plan's intention of creating an idyllic |
| of lake and woodland was at the heart of the | | | | landscape was combined with Moses' vision of |
| larger design. | | | | a park to be used for recreational |
| | | | purposes—nineteen playgrounds, twelve |
| Before the construction of the park could | | | | ballfields, and handball courts were |
| start, the area had to be cleared of its | | | | constructed. Moses also managed to secure |
| inhabitants, most of whom were quite poor and | | | | funds from the New Deal program, as well as |
| either free African-Americans or immigrants | | | | donations from the public, thus ensuring that |
| of either German or Irish origin. Most of | | | | the park got a new lease of life, prospering |
| them lived in smaller villages, such as | | | | under the wings of a powerful and new |
| Seneca Village, Harsenville, the Piggery | | | | defender. |
| District or the Convent of the Sisters of | | | | |