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NYC Central Prak

Central Park is a large public, urbanDistrict or the Convent of the Sisters
park (843 acres or 3.41 km²; aof Charity. The roughly 1,600
rectangle 2.5 statute miles by 0.5working-class residents occupying the
statute mile, or 4 km × 800 m) in thearea at the time were evicted under the
borough of Manhattan in New York City.rule of eminent domain during 1857, and
With about twenty-five million visitorsSeneca Village and parts of the other
annually, Central Park is the mostcommunities were torn down and removed
visited city park in the Unitedin order to make room for the park. The
States,[1] and its appearance in manyperson responsible for carrying out the
movies and television shows has made itevictions was the great-great
among the most famous city parks in thegrandfather of future New York Yankee
world. It is run by the Central ParkJoe Pepitone.
Conservancy, a private, not-for-profitDuring the construction of the park,
organization that manages the park underOlmsted fought constant battles with the
a contract with the New York CityPark Commissioners, many of whom were
Department of Parks and Recreation.appointees of the city's Democratic
Central Park is bordered on the north bymachine. In 1860, he was forced out for
West 110th Street, on the west bythe first of many times as Central
Central Park West, on the south by WestPark's Superintendent, and was replaced
59th Street, and on the east by Fifthby Andrew Haswell Green, the former
Avenue. Along the park's borders, thesepresident of New York City's Board of
streets are usually referred to asEducation took over as the chairman of
Central Park North, Central Park West,the commission. Despite the fact that he
and Central Park South, respectively.had relatively little experience, he
(Fifth Avenue retains its name along thestill managed to accelerate the
eastern border.)construction, as well as to finalize the
The park was designed by Frederick Lawnegotiations for the purchase of an
Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, both of whomadditional 65 acres (26 ha) at the north
later created Brooklyn's Prospect Park.end of the park between 106th and 110th
While much of the park looks natural, itStreets, which would be used as the
is in fact almost entirely landscaped'rugged' part of the park, its swampy
and contains several artificial lakes,northeast corner dredged and
extensive walking tracks, tworeconstructed as the natural-seeming
ice-skating rinks, a wildlife sanctuary,Harlem Meer.
and grassy areas used for variousBetween 1860 and 1873, the construction
sporting pursuits, as well asof the park had come a long way, and
playgrounds for children. The park is amost of the major hurdles had been
popular oasis for migrating birds, andovercome. During this period, more than
thus is popular with bird watchers. The500,000 cubic feet (14,000 m³) of
6-mile (10 km) road circling the park istopsoil had been transported in from New
popular with joggers, bicyclists andJersey, as the original soil wasn't good
inline skaters, especially on weekendsenough to sustain the various trees,
and in the evenings after 7:00 p.m.,shrubs and the plants the Greensward
when automobile traffic is banned.Plan called for. When the park was
Historyofficially completed in 1873, more than
The park was not part of theten million cartloads of material,
Commissioners' Plan of 1811; however,including soil and rocks which were to
between 1821 and 1855, New York Citybe removed from the area had been
nearly quadrupled in population. As themanually dug up, and transported out of
city expanded, people were drawn to thethe park. Also included were the more
few open spaces, mainly cemeteries, tothan four million trees, shrubs and
get away from the noise and chaotic lifeplants representing the approximately
in the city. Before long, however, New1,500 species which were to lay the
York City's need for a great public parkfoundation for today's park.
was voiced by the poet and editor of the20th Century
then-Evening Post (now the New YorkFollowing the completion of the park, it
Post), William Cullen Bryant, and by thequickly slipped into decline. One of the
first American landscape architect,major reasons for this was the
Andrew Jackson Downing, who began todisinterest of Tammany Hall, the
publicize the city's need for a publicpolitical machine which was the largest
park in 1844. A stylish place forpolitical force in New York at the time.
open-air driving, like the Bois deAround the turn of the century, the park
Boulogne in Paris or London's Hyde Park,faced several new challenges. Cars had
was felt to be needed by manybeen invented and were becoming
influential New Yorkers, and in 1853 thecommonplace, bringing with them their
New York legislature designated a 700burden of pollution. Also, the general
acre (2.8 km²) area from 59th to 106thmental view of the people was beginning
Streets for the creation of the park, toto change. No longer were parks to be
a cost of more than US$5 million for theused only for walks and picnics in an
land alone.idyllic environment, but now also for
Initial developmentsports, and similar recreation.
The State appointed a Central ParkFollowing the dissolution of the Central
Commission to oversee the development ofPark Commission in 1870 and Andrew
the park, and in 1857 the commissionGreen's departure from the project and
held a landscape design contest. Writerthe death of Vaux in 1895, the
Frederick Law Olmsted and Englishmaintenance effort gradually declined,
architect Calvert Vaux developed theand there were few or no attempts to
so-called "Greensward Plan", which wasreplace dead trees, bushes and plants or
selected as the winning design.worn-out lawn. For several decades,
According to Olmsted, the park was "ofauthorities did little or nothing to
great importance as the first real Parkprevent vandalism and the littering of
made in this century—a democraticthe park.
development of the highestAll of this changed in 1934, when
significance…", a view probablyFiorello LaGuardia was elected mayor of
inspired by his stay, and various tripsNew York City and unified the five
in Europe in 1850.[2] During that trippark-related departments then in
he visited several parks, and was inexistence, and gave Robert Moses the job
particular impressed by Birkenhead Parkof cleaning up. Moses, then about to
near Liverpool, England, which opened inbecome one of the mightiest men in New
1847 as the first publicly funded parkYork City, took over what was
in the world.essentially a relic, a leftover from a
Several influences came together in thebygone era.
design. Landscaped cemeteries, such asAccording to historian Robert Caro in
Mount Auburn (Cambridge, Massachusetts)his 1974 book The Power Broker,
and Green-Wood (Brooklyn, New York) hadLawns, unseeded, were expanses of bare
set an example of idyllic, naturalisticearth, decorated with scraggly patches
landscapes. The most influentialof grass and weeds, that became dust
innovations in the Central Park design,holes in dry weather and mud holes in
were the "separate circulation systems"wet…. The once beautiful Mall looked
for pedestrians, horseback riders, andlike a scene of a wild party the morning
pleasure vehicles. The "crosstown"after. Benches lay on their backs, their
commercial traffic was entirelylegs jabbing at the sky….
concealed in sunken roadways screenedIn a single year, Moses managed to clean
with densely planted shrub belts, so asup not only Central Park, but also other
not to disturb the impression of aparks in New York City; lawns and
rustic scene. The Greensward plan calledflowers were replanted, dead trees and
for some 36 bridges, all designed bybushes replaced, walls were sandblasted
Vaux, ranging from rugged spans ofand bridges repaired. Major redesigning
Manhattan schist or granite, to lacyand construction was also carried out;
neo-gothic cast iron, no two alike. Thefor instance, the existing Croton Lower
ensemble of the formal line of theReservoir was filled-in so the Great
Mall's doubled allées of elmsLawn could be created. The Greensward
culminating at Bethesda Terrace, with aPlan's intention of creating an idyllic
composed view beyond of lake andlandscape was combined with Moses'
woodland was at the heart of the largervision of a park to be used for
design.recreational purposes—nineteen
Before the construction of the parkplaygrounds, twelve ballfields, and
could start, the area had to be clearedhandball courts were constructed. Moses
of its inhabitants, most of whom werealso managed to secure funds from the
quite poor and either freeNew Deal program, as well as donations
African-Americans or immigrants offrom the public, thus ensuring that the
either German or Irish origin. Most ofpark got a new lease of life, prospering
them lived in smaller villages, such asunder the wings of a powerful and new
Seneca Village, Harsenville, the Piggerydefender.



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