187-533: 40°47′49″N 73°57′28″W / 40.7970°N 73.9577°W / 40.7970; -73.9577 North Woods and North Meadow are two interconnected features in the northern section of Central Park , New York City , close to the neighborhoods of the Upper West Side and Harlem in Manhattan . The 90-acre (36 ha) North Woods, in the northwestern corner of the park, is a rugged woodland that contains
374-404: A design competition for the park with their "Greensward Plan". Construction began in 1857; existing structures, including a majority-Black settlement named Seneca Village , were seized through eminent domain and razed. The park's first areas were opened to the public in late 1858. Additional land at the northern end of Central Park was purchased in 1859, and the park was completed in 1876. After
561-530: A 10-year, $ 100 million "Central Park Management and Restoration Plan". The long-closed Belvedere Castle was renovated and reopened in 1983, while the Central Park Zoo closed for a full reconstruction that year. To reduce the maintenance effort, large gatherings such as free concerts were canceled. On completion of the planning stage in 1985, the Conservancy launched its first campaign and mapped out
748-527: A 15-year restoration plan. Over the next several years, the campaign restored landmarks in the southern part of the park, such as Grand Army Plaza and the police station at the 86th Street transverse; while Conservatory Garden in the northeastern corner of the park was restored to a design by Lynden B. Miller . Real estate developer Donald Trump renovated the Wollman Rink in 1987 after plans to renovate it were delayed repeatedly. The following year,
935-551: A 48-inch (120 cm) water supply pipe. Originally, the Pool was fed by a drainage basin of 64.5 acres (26.1 ha) inside the park as well as 115 acres (47 ha) to the west of the park boundary. The Loch originates at the Pool before winding through the North Woods and the Ravine. Its name is likely influenced from the trips that Central Park designer Frederick Law Olmsted made to
1122-452: A Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University in 1914, Moses became attracted to New York City reform politics. At the start a committed idealist , Moses developed several plans to rid New York of patronage hiring practices, including authoring a 1919 proposal to reorganize the New York state government, which was ultimately not adopted but drew the attention of Belle Moskowitz ,
1309-738: A bridge. He also clashed with the chief engineer of the project, Ole Singstad , who preferred a tunnel instead of a bridge. Only a lack of a key federal approval thwarted the bridge project. President Roosevelt ordered the War Department to assert that bombing a bridge in that location would block East River access to the Brooklyn Navy Yard upstream. Thwarted, Moses dismantled the New York Aquarium on Castle Clinton and moved it to Coney Island in Brooklyn, where it grew much bigger. This
1496-465: A children's play structure as well as spray fountains. The surrounding area also contains several tall rocks, popular among boulderers . The western portion of North Woods contains Great Hill, the third-highest point in Central Park, rising to 135 feet (41 m) above sea level. Great Hill contains a picnic area with tables. Near the top of the hill, a 0.25-mile (0.40 km) walking path encircles
1683-550: A forest called the Ravine, as well as two water features called the Loch and the Pool. The western portion of the North Woods also includes Great Hill, the third highest point in Central Park. North Meadow, a recreation center and sports complex, is immediately southeast of the North Woods. Completed in the 1860s, North Woods and North Meadow were among the last parts of Central Park to be built. North Woods and North Meadow, located between 97th and 110th Streets in Central Park, were among
1870-614: A friend and trusted advisor to Governor Al Smith . When the state Secretary of State's position became appointive rather than elective, Smith named Moses. He served from 1927 to 1929. Moses rose to power with Smith, who was elected as governor in 1918, and then again in 1922. With Smith's support, Moses set in motion a sweeping consolidation of the New York State government. During that period Moses began his first foray into large-scale public work initiatives, while drawing on Smith's political power to enact legislation. This helped create
2057-596: A generation of engineers, architects, and urban planners across the United States. Never elected to any office, Moses held various positions throughout his more-than-40-year career. He held as many as 12 titles at once, including New York City Parks Commissioner and chairman of the Long Island State Park Commission . By working closely with New York governor Al Smith early in his career, he became expert in writing laws and navigating and manipulating
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#17328445402382244-463: A green lawn. North Meadow, one of Central Park's lawns, measures 23 acres (9.3 ha) and is bounded by North Woods (at approximately 102nd Street) to the north and west, Harlem Meer to the northeast, East Meadow to the east, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir to the south. Samuel Parsons , the superintendent of Central Park during the 1880s through 1910s, once wrote of the North Meadow: "It
2431-414: A lawn, though this was strongly opposed by athletes who used these ball fields. In 1990, the Conservancy announced recreational programs and restoration projects to attract more people to the North Woods and, by extension, reduce crime. Improvements to the northern end of the park began around this time. Areas of the North Woods was cleared and replanted, and programs to minimize erosion were set up. In 1994,
2618-585: A long period and she may have changed the will of her own accord, and implies that Robert's subsequent treatment of Paul may have been legally justifiable but was morally questionable. During the last years of his life, Moses concentrated on his lifelong love of swimming and was an active member of the Colonie Hill Health Club. Moses died of heart disease on July 29, 1981, at the age of 92 at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip, New York . Moses
2805-553: A member of the Temporary Long Island Railroad Commission, installed after the Richmond Hill train crash on November 22, 1950, that claimed 79 lives. The Commission recommended the state purchase and operation by non-profit public authority of the railway service. Moses had influence outside the New York area as well. Public officials in many smaller American cities hired him to design freeway networks in
2992-463: A minimum 55-yard (50 m) length, underwater lighting, heating, filtration, and low-cost construction materials. To fit the requirement for cheap materials, each building would be built using elements of the Streamline Moderne and Classical architectural styles. The buildings would also be near "comfort stations", additional playgrounds, and spruced-up landscapes. Construction for some of
3179-504: A more picturesque design. It was influenced by the pastoral ideals of landscaped cemeteries such as Mount Auburn in Cambridge, Massachusetts , and Green-Wood in Brooklyn. The design was also inspired by Olmsted's 1850 visit to Birkenhead Park in Birkenhead , England, which is generally acknowledged as the first publicly funded civil park in the world. According to Olmsted, the park
3366-405: A natural spring but now replenished by the city's water system. The Loch is the only stream in Central Park where an existing watercourse was left aboveground, rather than placed in a culvert underground. The Pool is located near 101st Street and Central Park West. It was once surrounded by lilies and contained a rocky island in the center. The water for the Pool comes from a grotto that hides
3553-511: A new executive budget system, and the four-year term limit for the governorship. During the Depression , Moses, along with Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia , was especially interested in creating new pools and other bathing facilities, such as those in Jacob Riis Park , Jones Beach , and Orchard Beach . He devised a list of 23 pools around the city. The pools would be built using funds from
3740-463: A period of decline in the early 20th century, New York City parks commissioner Robert Moses started a program to clean up Central Park in the 1930s. The Central Park Conservancy , created in 1980 to combat further deterioration in the late 20th century, refurbished many parts of the park starting in the 1980s. The park's main attractions include the Ramble and Lake , Hallett Nature Sanctuary ,
3927-437: A permanent patrol. The regulations were sometimes strict. For instance, prohibited actions included games of chance , speech-making, large congregations such as picnics , or picking flowers or other parts of plants. These ordinances were effective: by 1866, there had been nearly eight million visits and only 110 arrests in the park's history. In late August 1857, workers began building fences, clearing vegetation, draining
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#17328445402384114-460: A residential complex specifically designed for these veterans, and purportedly trying to make swimming pool water cold in order to drive away potential African American residents in white neighborhoods. People had come to see Moses as a bully who disregarded public input, but until the publication of Caro's book, they had not known many details of his private life—for instance, that his older brother Paul had spent much of his life in poverty. Moses
4301-519: A role in the merged authority, Moses declined to challenge the merger. On March 1, 1968, the TBTA was folded into the MTA and Moses gave up his post as chairman of the TBTA. He eventually became a consultant to the MTA, but its new chairman and the governor froze him out—the promised role did not materialize, and for all practical purposes Moses was out of power. Moses had thought he had convinced Nelson Rockefeller of
4488-540: A similar ratio of park usage: only 14% of visits are by people visiting Central Park for the first time. According to the report, nearly two-thirds of visitors are regular park users who enter the park at least once weekly, and about 70% of visitors live in New York City. Moreover, peak visitation occurred during summer weekends, and most visitors used the park for passive recreational activities such as walking or sightseeing, rather than for active sport. The park
4675-409: A standalone facility at Tompkinsville Pool . Moses, along with architects Aymar Embury II and Gilmore David Clarke , created a common design for these proposed aquatic centers. Each location was to have distinct pools for diving, swimming, and wading; bleachers and viewing areas; and bathhouses with locker rooms that could be used as gymnasiums. The pools were to have several common features, such as
4862-521: A swimming pool and recreational center in the North Meadow. However, parks commissioner Charles Stover opposed the plan, and it was ultimately dropped. After the plan was cancelled, another proposal was made that would replace the "comfort station", refreshment stand, and storage shed in North Meadow with a single recreational center. Around this time, in 1911, North Meadow was temporarily closed for reseeding, to mitigate damage caused by heavy usage. During
5049-490: A tunnel connecting Brooklyn to Lower Manhattan . A 1941 publication from the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority claimed that the government had forced them to build a tunnel at "twice the cost, twice the operating fees, twice the difficulty to engineer, and half the traffic," although engineering studies did not support these conclusions, and a tunnel may have held many of the advantages Moses publicly tried to attach to
5236-545: A tunnel. LaGuardia and Lehman as usual had little money to spend, in part due to the Great Depression , while the federal government was running low on funds after recently spending $ 105 million ($ 1.8 billion in 2016) on the Queens-Midtown Tunnel and other City projects and refused to provide any additional funds to New York. Awash in funds from Triborough Bridge tolls, Moses deemed that money could only be spent on
5423-469: A year. The Authority was thus able to raise hundreds of millions of dollars by selling bonds, a method also used by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to fund large public construction projects. Toll revenues rose quickly as traffic on the bridges exceeded all projections. Rather than pay off the bonds, Moses used the revenue to build other toll projects, a cycle that would feed on itself. In
5610-457: Is also a Robert Moses Playground in New York City. There are other signs of the surviving appreciation held for him by some circles of the public. A statue of Moses was erected next to the Village Hall in his long-time hometown, Babylon Village, New York . During his tenure as chief of the state park system, the state's inventory of parks grew to nearly 2,600,000 acres (1,100,000 ha). By
5797-633: Is blamed for having destroyed more than a score of neighborhoods by building 13 expressways across New York City and by building large urban renewal projects with little regard for the urban fabric or for human scale. Yet the author is more neutral in his central premise: the city would have developed much differently without Moses. Other U.S. cities were doing the same thing as New York in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s; Boston , San Francisco , and Seattle , for instance, each built highways straight through their downtown areas just as Moses wished to do in New York. The New York City architectural intelligentsia of
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5984-588: Is genuine park scenery that the eye is tempted to linger upon and the foot to walk upon, and presents, if viewed as a single feature, one of the best examples we have of good park work." North Meadow contains twelve baseball fields , as well as six non-regulation soccer fields overlapping with the North Meadow ballfields. A series of butterfly gardens are also located on the northeastern edge of North Meadow. The space has sometimes been used for concerts, such as Garth Brooks 's 1997 event Garth: Live from Central Park , which drew an estimated crowd of up to 980,000. In
6171-432: Is located at the lightly-used northwestern corner of Central Park. It covers about 90 acres (36 ha) adjacent to North Meadow. The name sometimes also applies to other attractions in the park's northern end; if these adjacent features are included, the area of North Woods can be 200 acres (81 ha). North Woods contains the 55-acre (22 ha) Ravine, a forest with deciduous trees on its northwestern slope, as well as
6358-584: Is managed and maintained by the Central Park Conservancy , a private, not-for-profit organization, under contract with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks). The president of the Conservancy is the ex officio administrator of Central Park who effectively oversees the work of both the park's private and public employees under the authority of the publicly appointed Central Park Administrator, who reports to both
6545-493: Is much lower; a Central Park Conservancy report conducted in 2011 found that between eight and nine million people visited Central Park, with 37 to 38 million visits between them. By comparison, there were 25 million visitors in 2009, and 12.3 million in 1973. The number of tourists as a proportion of total visitors is much lower: in 2009, one-fifth of the 25 million park visitors recorded that year were estimated to be tourists. The 2011 Conservancy report gave
6732-528: Is near the southwest corner of the park. Robert Moses Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid-20th century. Moses is regarded as one of the most powerful and influential people in the history of New York City and New York State . The grand scale of his infrastructure projects and his philosophy of urban development influenced
6919-467: Is now SoHo . This plan and the Mid-Manhattan Expressway both failed politically. One of his most vocal critics during this time was the urban activist Jane Jacobs , whose book The Death and Life of Great American Cities was instrumental in turning opinion against Moses's plans; the city government rejected the expressway in 1964. Moses's power was further eroded by his association with
7106-475: The 1964 New York World's Fair . His projections for attendance of 70 million people for this event proved wildly optimistic, and generous contracts for fair executives and contractors made matters worse economically. Moses's repeated and forceful public denials of the fair's considerable financial difficulties in the face of evidence to the contrary eventually provoked press and governmental investigations, which found accounting irregularities. In his organization of
7293-713: The American Museum of Natural History , founded three years before at the Arsenal . A corresponding area on the East Side, originally intended as a playground, would later become the Metropolitan Museum of Art . In the final years of Central Park's construction, Vaux and Mould designed several structures for Central Park. The park's sheepfold (now Tavern on the Green) and Ladies' Meadow were designed by Mould in 1870–1871, followed by
7480-461: The Bethesda Terrace and Fountain . By late 1861, the park south of 72nd Street had been completed, except for various fences. Work had begun on the northern section of the park but was complicated by a need to preserve the historic McGowan's Pass . The Upper Reservoir was completed the following year. During this period Central Park began to gain popularity. One of the main attractions
7667-630: The COVID-19 pandemic . A renovation of the Chess and Checkers House was completed in June 2023, and a renovation of the Delacorte Theater began later that year. In addition, pickleball courts were added to Wollman Rink in 2023 and became permanent the next year. The Central Park Conservancy allocated $ 64 million in early 2024 to fix sidewalks on 108 blocks immediately surrounding the park. Later that year,
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7854-675: The Frederick Douglass Circle entrance to the park at 110th Street and Eighth Avenue, is the tallest span in the park at 48 feet (15 m) high. In addition, there are three unadorned "rustic bridges" in North Woods: the Cascade and Loch Bridges, as well as a third unnamed bridge. Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City that
8041-470: The Great Lawn and Turtle Pond , which was completed in 1997. The Upper Reservoir was decommissioned as a part of the city's water supply system in 1993, and was renamed after former U.S. first lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis the next year. During the mid-1990s, the Conservancy hired additional volunteers and implemented a zone-based system of management throughout the park. The Conservancy assumed much of
8228-501: The Greensward Plan , Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux 's original design for Central Park. Work had started on the northern section of the park by 1864, but was complicated by a need to preserve the historic McGowan's Pass on the northeastern corner of the park. The topography in the northern section of Central Park was not altered as much as that in the southern section of the park: workers created drives and paths, as well as
8415-744: The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir , and Sheep Meadow ; amusement attractions such as Wollman Rink , Central Park Carousel , and the Central Park Zoo ; formal spaces such as the Central Park Mall and Bethesda Terrace ; and the Delacorte Theater . The biologically diverse ecosystem has several hundred species of flora and fauna. Recreational activities include carriage-horse and bicycle tours, bicycling, sports facilities, and concerts and events such as Shakespeare in
8602-706: The New York Mets , who played at Shea until 2008, when the stadium was demolished and replaced with Citi Field . The NFL's New York Jets also played its home games at Shea from 1964 until 1983, after which the team moved its home games to the Meadowlands Sports Complex in New Jersey. Moses's reputation began to fade during the 1960s. Around this time, Moses's political acumen began to fail him, as he unwisely picked several controversial political battles he could not possibly win. For example, his campaign against
8789-514: The Robert F. Kennedy Bridge ) opened in 1936, connecting the Bronx , Manhattan , and Queens via three separate spans. Language in its Authority's bond contracts and multi-year Commissioner appointments made it largely impervious to pressure from mayors and governors. While New York City and New York State were perpetually strapped for money, the bridge's toll revenues amounted to tens of millions of dollars
8976-846: The Robert Moses Causeway on Long Island, and the Robert Moses Niagara Power Plant in Lewiston, New York . The Niagara Scenic Parkway in Niagara Falls, New York was originally named the Robert Moses State Parkway in his honor; its name was changed in 2016. The Moses-Saunders Power Dam in Massena, New York also bears his name. Moses also has a school named after him in North Babylon, New York on Long Island; there
9163-554: The Throgs Neck Bridge , as well as several major highways. These roadways and bridges, alongside urban renewal efforts that destroyed huge swaths of tenement housing and replaced them with large public housing projects , transformed the physical fabric of New York and inspired other cities to undertake similar development endeavors. Moses's reputation declined after the publication of Robert Caro 's Pulitzer Prize -winning biography The Power Broker (1974), which cast doubt on
9350-623: The Works Progress Administration (WPA), a federal agency created as part of the New Deal to combat the Depression's negative effects. Eleven of these pools were to be designed concurrently and open in 1936. These comprised ten pools at Astoria Park , Betsy Head Park , Crotona Park , Hamilton Fish Park , Highbridge Park , Thomas Jefferson Park , McCarren Park , Red Hook Park , Jackie Robinson Park , and Sunset Park , as well as
9537-518: The cascades along its route had dried up, and the stream was jokingly referred to as "the Trickle". The Great Hill was also rundown, as was the North Woods. By 1987, the Central Park Conservancy had raised $ 2.5 million to build a tennis house, the current recreation center, in the North Meadow. However, these plans were opposed by some tennis players, who stated that the existing tennis house on
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#17328445402389724-402: The coronavirus pandemic , temporary field hospitals were set up within the park to treat overflow patients from area hospitals. By mid-2023, the New York City government was considering erecting tents in Central Park to temporarily house asylum seekers. This move came after the federal government repealed an order authorizing Title 42 expulsions of migrants, which had been implemented during
9911-433: The federal government found itself with millions of New Deal dollars to spend, yet states and cities had few projects ready. Moses was one of the few local officials who had projects shovel ready . For that reason, New York City was able to obtain significant Works Progress Administration (WPA), Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and other Depression-era funding. One of his most influential and longest-lasting positions
10098-608: The gneiss ), do not surface in the park. Fordham gneiss, which consists of metamorphosed igneous rocks , was formed a billion years ago, during the Grenville orogeny that occurred during the creation of an ancient super-continent. Manhattan schist and Hartland schist were formed in the Iapetus Ocean during the Taconic orogeny in the Paleozoic era, about 450 million years ago, when
10285-456: The subway system . Moses opposed this idea and fought to prevent it. Lindsay then removed Moses from his post as the city's chief advocate for federal highway money in Washington. The legislature's vote to fold the TBTA into the newly created Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) could have led to a lawsuit by the TBTA bondholders. Since the bond contracts were written into state law, it
10472-408: The "development scheme" mentality cultivated by Moses even though it was the impoverished Pennsylvania Railroad that was actually responsible for the demolition. This casual destruction of one of New York's greatest architectural landmarks helped prompt many city residents to turn against Moses's plans to build a Lower Manhattan Expressway , which would have gone through Greenwich Village and what
10659-552: The 11 pools began in October 1934. By mid-1936, ten of the eleven WPA-funded pools were completed and were being opened at a rate of one per week. Combined, the facilities could accommodate 66,000 swimmers. The eleven WPA pools were considered for New York City landmark status in 1990. Ten of the pools were designated as New York City landmarks in 2007 and 2008. Moses allegedly fought to keep African American swimmers out of his pools and beaches. One subordinate remembers Moses saying
10846-509: The 1840s, members of the city's elite were publicly calling for the construction of a new large park in Manhattan. At the time, Manhattan's seventeen squares comprised a combined 165 acres (67 ha) of land, the largest of which was the 10-acre (4 ha) Battery Park at Manhattan island's southern tip. These plans were endorsed in 1844 by New York Evening Post editor William Cullen Bryant , and in 1851 by Andrew Jackson Downing , one of
11033-763: The 1850s and 1860s. It has eight lakes and ponds that were created artificially by damming natural seeps and flows. There are several wooded sections, lawns, meadows, and minor grassy areas. There are 21 children's playgrounds , and 6.1 miles (9.8 km) of drives. Central Park is the sixth-largest park in New York City , behind Pelham Bay Park , the Staten Island Greenbelt , Freshkills Park , Van Cortlandt Park , and Flushing Meadows–Corona Park , with an area of 843 acres (341 ha; 1.317 sq mi; 3.41 km ). Central Park constitutes its own United States census tract , numbered 143. According to American Community Survey five-year estimates,
11220-661: The 1900s and 1910s. These associations advocated against such changes to the park as the construction of a library, sports stadium, a cultural center, and an underground parking lot. A third group, the Central Park Association, was created in 1926. The Central Park Association and the Parks and Playgrounds Association were merged into the Park Association of New York City two years later. The Heckscher Playground —named after philanthropist August Heckscher , who donated
11407-688: The 1920s. In addition, there was a proposal to move the Central Park Zoo to the North Meadow in the 1890s, though this was controversial and largely opposed. In 1902, the Interborough Rapid Transit Company excavated a subway tunnel at a deep level underneath the Great Hill, North Woods and North Meadow, as part of its Lenox Avenue Line (present-day 2 and 3 trains). In 1910, in conjunction with Central Park's growing recreational use, New York City Board of Aldermen president John Purroy Mitchel suggested placing
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#173284454023811594-673: The 1930s to the 1960s, Robert Moses was responsible for the construction of the Triborough , Marine Parkway , Throgs Neck , Bronx-Whitestone , Henry Hudson , and Verrazzano-Narrows Bridges . His other projects included the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and Staten Island Expressway (together constituting most of Interstate 278 ); the Cross-Bronx Expressway ; many New York State parkways ; and other highways. Federal interest had shifted from parkway to freeway systems, and
11781-747: The 1930s to well into the 1960s because the parkways and expressways that were built replaced, at least to some extent, the planned subway lines. The 1968 Program for Action (which was never completed) was hoped to counter that. Other critics charge that he precluded the use of public transit, which would have allowed non-car-owners to enjoy the elaborate recreation facilities he built. Caro's The Power Broker also accused Moses of building low bridges across his parkways to make them inaccessible to public transit buses, thereby restricting "the use of state parks by poor and lower-middle-class families" who did not own cars. Caro also wrote that Moses attempted to discourage Black people in particular from visiting Jones Beach,
11968-408: The 1940s and 1950s, who largely believed in such proponents of the automobile as Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe , had supported Moses. Many other cities, like Newark , Chicago , and St. Louis , also built massive, unattractive public housing projects. Caro also points out that Moses demonstrated racist tendencies . These allegedly included opposing black World War II veterans to move into
12155-551: The 1940s and early 1950s. For example, Portland, Oregon hired Moses in 1943; his plan included a loop around the city center , with spurs running through neighborhoods. Of this plan, only I-405 , its links with I-5 , and the Fremont Bridge were built. Moses himself did not know how to drive an automobile. Moses's highways in the first half of the 20th century were parkways—curving, landscaped "ribbon parks" that were intended to be pleasures to travel on, as well as "lungs for
12342-566: The 1990s restoration, this had been reduced to a few invasive species . The Loch enters a culvert between Huddlestone Arch to the west and the Lasker Rink (at the Harlem Meer) to the east. The tall-grass meadow adjacent to the Loch is the park's only woodland meadow. North Woods contains four ornamental spans. Glen Span, a light-gray gneiss -and- ashlar span, crosses the Loch as well as the adjacent walkway. Further east, Huddlestone Arch carries
12529-426: The 2010s. Belvedere Castle was closed in 2018 for an extensive renovation, reopening in June 2019. Later in 2018, it was announced that the Delacorte Theater would be closed from 2020 to 2022 for a $ 110 million rebuild. The Central Park Conservancy further announced that Lasker Rink would be closed for a $ 150 million renovation; demolition of the existing rink began in 2021. In March 2020, in response to
12716-446: The Bronx . Additionally, the North Meadow includes a security center, installed in 1984. North Woods contains the Loch, which drains into Harlem Meer in the northeastern corner of the park; the Loch is fed by the Pool, whose mouth is the waterfall at its eastern end that is the source of the Loch, just west of the arch called Glen Span . The Loch and Pool are adapted from a single watercourse called Montayne's Rivulet, originally fed from
12903-605: The Central Park Conservancy began restoring the Ramble and Lake, in a project that was completed in 2012. Bank Rock Bridge was restored, and the Gill, which empties into the lake, was reconstructed to approximate its dramatic original form. The final feature to be restored was the East Meadow, which was rehabilitated in 2011. In 2014, the New York City Council proposed a study on the viability of banning vehicular traffic from
13090-430: The Central Park Conservancy since 1998, under a contract with the municipal government in a public–private partnership . The Conservancy, a non-profit organization, raises Central Park's annual operating budget and is responsible for all basic care of the park. Central Park is bordered by Central Park North at 110th Street; Central Park South at 59th Street; Central Park West at Eighth Avenue; and Fifth Avenue on
13277-477: The Central Park Conservancy sometimes hires seasonal Parks Enforcement Patrol officers to protect certain features such as the Conservatory Garden . A free volunteer medical emergency service, the Central Park Medical Unit , operates within Central Park. The unit operates a rapid-response patrol with bicycles, ambulances , and an all-terrain vehicle . Before the unit was established in 1975, municipal EMS often took over 30 minutes to respond to incidents in
13464-478: The Central Park Conservancy, the park's reclamation began by addressing needs that could not be met within NYC Parks' existing resources. The Conservancy hired interns and a small restoration staff to reconstruct and repair unique rustic features, undertaking horticultural projects, and removing graffiti under the broken windows theory which advocated removing visible signs of decay. The first structure to be renovated
13651-612: The Central Park site, chose it because the Croton Aqueduct's 35-acre (14 ha), 150-million-US-gallon (570 × 10 ^ L) collecting reservoir would be in the geographical center. In July 1853, the New York State Legislature passed the Central Park Act, authorizing the purchase of the present-day site of Central Park. The board of land commissioners conducted property assessments on more than 34,000 lots in
13838-430: The Conservancy announced a $ 71.5 million program to restore several portions of the park. The projects included adding drainage systems and reseeding the North Woods and North Meadow. The North Meadow Recreation Center was renovated again from 1998 to 2000. The West 110th Street playground was restored in 2006. A major storm destroyed more than one hundred trees in the northern section of the park in 2009, which represented
14025-555: The Croton Aqueduct board. Work on the Reservoir started in April 1858. The first major work in Central Park involved grading the driveways and draining the land in the park's southern section. The Lake in Central Park's southwestern section was the first feature to open to the public, in December 1858, followed by the Ramble in June 1859. The same year, the New York State Legislature authorized
14212-548: The East Drive above a pedestrian path and the Loch. It is made of boulders, some weighing nearly 100 short tons (89 long tons; 91 tonnes). It is the only one in the park whose boulders are held together solely by gravity . South of both of those, the Springbanks Arch carries a bridle path and a former segment of carriage road across a pedestrian path and a stream of the Loch. Finally, the gneiss-and-ashlar Mountcliff Arch, near
14399-428: The Great Hill. The North Meadow was thus designated as an adults' play area, while the Great Lawn further south was reserved for children. In 1962, the city announced that Lasker Rink would be built above the mouth of the Loch. When completed in 1966, the facility served as an ice rink in winter and Central Park's only swimming pool in summer. By the late 1960s, the Loch had deteriorated to such an extent that
14586-448: The Green. The controversy placed Moses, an urban planner known for displacing families for other large projects around the city, against a group of mothers who frequented a wooded hollow at the site of a parking lot. Though opposed by the parents, Moses approved the destruction of part of the hollow. Demolition work commenced after Central Park was closed for the night and was only halted after
14773-601: The Greensward Plan. Based on claims of cost mismanagement, the New York State Senate commissioned the Swiss engineer Julius Kellersberger to write a report on the park. Kellersberger's report, submitted in 1861, stated that the commission's management of the park was a "triumphant success". Olmsted often clashed with the park commissioners, notably with Chief Commissioner Green. Olmsted resigned in June 1862, and Green
14960-487: The Lake. The Tammany Hall political machine, which was the largest political force in New York at the time, was in control of Central Park for a brief period beginning in April 1870. A new charter created by Tammany boss William M. Tweed abolished the old 11-member commission and replaced it with one with five men composed of Green and four other Tammany-connected figures. Subsequently, Olmsted and Vaux resigned again from
15147-457: The Loch, a small stream that winds through North Woods diagonally. The southeastern part of the Ravine contains oak, elms, and maple trees, while the area further east contains oak, hickory, maple, and ash trees. The Woods also includes Blockhouse No. 1 , a historic fortification from the War of 1812 . The northwestern corner contains a playground called West 110th Street Playground. The playground has
15334-478: The Park . Central Park is traversed by a system of roads and walkways and is served by public transportation. Its size and cultural position make it a model for the world's urban parks. Its influence earned Central Park the designations of National Historic Landmark in 1963 and of New York City scenic landmark in 1974. Central Park is owned by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation but has been managed by
15521-547: The Pool, Loch, and Harlem Meer, but did not modify much of the landscape. North Woods and North Meadow were completed by the late 1860s. In 1870–1871, the Tammany Hall political machine, which was the largest political force in New York at the time, took control of Central Park for a brief period. They proposed building a zoo at the site of the current North Woods, but the proposal was not implemented. Olmsted and Vaux also proposed an observation tower atop Great Hill, though this
15708-643: The Soviet Union, were all BIE members and they declined to participate, instead reserving their efforts for Expo 67 in Montreal . After the World's Fair debacle, New York City mayor John Lindsay , along with Governor Nelson Rockefeller , sought to direct toll revenues from the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority 's (TBTA) bridges and tunnels to cover deficits in the city's then financially ailing agencies, including
15895-792: The Taconic State Park Commission, who favored the prompt construction of a parkway through the Hudson Valley . Moses succeeded in diverting funds to his Long Island parkway projects (the Northern State Parkway , the Southern State Parkway and the Wantagh State Parkway ), although the Taconic State Parkway was later completed as well. Moses helped build Long Island's Meadowbrook State Parkway . It
16082-508: The Tammany administration, and budget cuts demanded by taxpayers, the maintenance expenses for Central Park had reached a nadir by 1879. Olmsted blamed politicians, real estate owners, and park workers for Central Park's decline, though high maintenance costs were also a factor. By the 1890s, the park faced several challenges: cars were becoming commonplace, and with the proliferation of amusements and refreshment stands, people were beginning to see
16269-516: The Tavern on the Green restaurant. Renovations in the 1940s and 1950s include a restoration of the Harlem Meer completed in 1943, and a new boathouse completed in 1954. Moses began construction on several other recreational features in Central Park, such as playgrounds and ball fields. One of the more controversial projects proposed during this time was a 1956 dispute over a parking lot for Tavern in
16456-503: The United Kingdom during the 1850s. The Loch, formerly an actual lake, was whittled down over time into a small stream. Originally, there were two waterfalls on the Loch: a 13.5 ft (4.1 m) drop at the Pool, and a smaller 9.5 ft (2.9 m) drop further east. Paths also lined either bank of the Loch. A diverse selection of plant species was located along the Loch, though before
16643-569: The Upper East Side, as the park's site, as Bryant had advocated for Jones Wood. The acquisition was controversial because of its location, small size relative to other potential uptown tracts, and cost. A bill to acquire Jones's Wood was invalidated as unconstitutional, so attention turned to a second site: a 750-acre (300 ha) area known as "Central Park", bounded by 59th and 106th streets between Fifth and Eighth avenues. Croton Aqueduct Board president Nicholas Dean, who proposed
16830-576: The Zoo reopened after a $ 35 million, four-year renovation. Work on the northern end of the park began in 1989. A$ 51 million campaign, announced in 1993, resulted in the restoration of bridle trails, the Mall, the Harlem Meer, and the North Woods, and the construction of the Dana Discovery Center on the Harlem Meer. This was followed by the Conservancy's overhaul of the 55 acres (22 ha) near
17017-433: The administrative offices on the 86th Street transverse in 1872. Even though Olmsted and Vaux's partnership was dissolved by the end of 1872, the park was not officially completed until 1876. By the 1870s, the park's patrons increasingly came to include the middle and working class, and strict regulations were gradually eased, such as those against public gatherings. Because of the heightened visitor count, neglect by
17204-435: The anti-development sentiment was now insurmountable and in 1973 Rockefeller canceled plans for the bridge. Moses's image suffered a further blow in 1974 with the publication of The Power Broker , a Pulitzer Prize –winning biography by Robert A. Caro . Caro's 1,200-page opus (edited down from 2,000 or so pages) showed Moses generally in a negative light; essayist Phillip Lopate writes that "Moses's satanic reputation with
17391-531: The appointment of both a NYC Parks administrator and a board of citizens. In 1979, Parks Commissioner Gordon Davis established the Office of Central Park Administrator and appointed Elizabeth Barlow , the executive director of the Central Park Task Force, to the position. The Central Park Conservancy, a nonprofit organization with a citizen board, was founded the following year. Under the leadership of
17578-404: The area, completing them by July 1855. While the assessments were ongoing, proposals to downsize the plans were vetoed by mayor Fernando Wood . At the time, the site was occupied by free black people and Irish immigrants who had developed a property-owning community there since 1825. Most of the Central Park site's residents lived in small villages, such as Pigtown; Seneca Village ; or in
17765-691: The bridge option. This had not been the first time Moses pressed for a bridge over a tunnel. He had tried to upstage the Tunnel Authority when the Queens-Midtown Tunnel was being planned. He had raised the same arguments, which failed due to their lack of political support. Moses's power increased after World War II after Mayor LaGuardia retired and a series of successors consented to almost all of his proposals. Named city "construction coordinator" in 1946 by Mayor William O'Dwyer , Moses became New York City's de facto representative in Washington . Moses
17952-490: The bridge was opposed by the Regional Plan Association , historical preservationists, Wall Street financial interests, property owners, various high society people, construction unions , the Manhattan borough president , Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia , and governor Herbert H. Lehman . Despite this, Moses favored a bridge, which could both carry more automobile traffic and serve as a higher visibility monument than
18139-556: The builder who can remove ghettos without moving people as I hail the chef who can make omelets without breaking eggs." Additionally, there were allegations that Moses selectively chose locations for recreational facilities based on the racial compositions of a neighborhood, such as when he selected sites for eleven pools that opened in 1936. According to one author, Moses purposely placed some pools in neighborhoods with mainly white populations to deter African Americans from using them, and other pools intended for African Americans, such as
18326-531: The centerpiece of the Long Island state park system, by such measures as making it difficult for Black groups to get permits to park buses, and assigning Black lifeguards to "distant, less developed beaches". While the exclusion of commercial vehicles and the use of low bridges where appropriate were standard on earlier parkways, where they had been instituted for aesthetic reasons, Moses appears to have made greater use of low bridges, which his aide Sidney Shapiro said
18513-600: The city and removed the Zoning Commissioner from power in the process. Moses was also empowered as the sole authority to negotiate in Washington for New York City projects. By 1959, he had overseen construction of 28,000 apartment units on hundreds of acres of land. In clearing the land for high-rises in accordance with the towers in the park concept, which at that time was seen as innovative and beneficial by leaving more grassy areas between high-rises, Moses sometimes destroyed almost as many housing units as he built. From
18700-537: The city". However, post–World War II economic expansion , and notion of the automotive city , led to the creation of freeways , most notably in the form of the vast, federally funded Interstate Highway network . When the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers , Walter O'Malley , sought to replace the outdated and dilapidated Ebbets Field , he proposed building a new stadium near the Long Island Rail Road on
18887-673: The conservancy announced plans to redesign the park's drives to provide bike lanes and pedestrian paths of consistent width. A report by the conservancy also recommended constructing bike lanes on the 86th Street transverse, as well as removing traffic lights from the park, which served little purpose due to the lack of vehicular traffic. There are four different types of bedrock in Manhattan. In Central Park, Manhattan schist and Hartland schist, which are both metamorphosed sedimentary rock , are exposed in various outcroppings . The other two types, Fordham gneiss (an older deeper layer) and Inwood marble (metamorphosed limestone which overlays
19074-619: The construction of Jones Beach State Park , the most-visited public beach in the United States, and was the primary architect of the New York State Parkway System . As head of the Triborough Bridge Authority , Moses had near-complete control over bridges and tunnels in New York City as well as the tolls collected from them; he built, among others, the Triborough Bridge , the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel , and
19261-541: The consulting board. Thirty-three firms or organizations submitted plans. In April 1858, the park commissioners selected Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux 's "Greensward Plan" as the winning design. Three other plans were designated as runners-up and featured in a city exhibit. Unlike many of the other designs, which effectively integrated Central Park with the surrounding city, Olmsted and Vaux's proposal introduced clear separations with sunken transverse roadways. The plan eschewed symmetry, instead opting for
19448-459: The corner of Atlantic Avenue and Flatbush Avenue (next to the present-day Barclays Center , home of the NBA 's Brooklyn Nets ). O'Malley urged Moses to help him secure the property through eminent domain, but Moses refused, having already decided to build a parking garage on the site. Moreover, O'Malley's proposal — to have the city acquire the property for several times as much as he had originally said he
19635-587: The crime in 2002, his DNA matched that found in semen at the scene, and the DA's office conducted an investigation of other elements of the evidence. Following the female jogger attack and other assaults in the park that night, the Central Park Conservancy organized the Citizens Task Force on the Use and Security of Central Park. The task force published a report that suggested reverting the North Meadow's baseball fields to
19822-539: The day. O'Malley vehemently opposed that plan, citing the team's Brooklyn identity. Moses refused to budge and, after the 1957 season, the Dodgers left for Los Angeles and the New York Giants left for San Francisco . Moses was later able to build the 55,000-seat multi-purpose Shea Stadium on the site. Construction ran from October 1961 to its delayed completion in April 1964. The stadium attracted an expansion franchise,
20009-487: The development of Jones Beach State Park . Displaying a strong command of law as well as matters of engineering , Moses became known for his skill in drafting legislation, and was called "the best bill drafter in Albany ". At a time when the public was accustomed to Tammany Hall corruption and incompetence, Moses was seen as a savior of government. Shortly after President Franklin D. Roosevelt's inauguration in 1933,
20196-763: The development of new parks such as the High Line and Brooklyn Bridge Park . Central Park is patrolled by its own New York City Police Department precinct, the 22nd (Central Park) Precinct, at the 86th Street transverse. The precinct employs both regular police and auxiliary officers. The 22nd Precinct has a lower crime rate than in the 1990s, with crimes across all categories having decreased by 81.2% between 1990 and 2023. The precinct saw no murders, three rapes, 23 robberies, nine felony assaults, five burglaries, 48 grand larcenies, and no grand larcenies auto in 2023. The citywide New York City Parks Enforcement Patrol patrols Central Park, and
20383-498: The east. The park is adjacent to the neighborhoods of Harlem to the north, Midtown Manhattan to the south, the Upper West Side to the west, and the Upper East Side to the east. It measures 2.5 miles (4.0 km) from north to south and 0.5 miles (0.80 km) from west to east. Central Park is split into three sections: the "North End" extending above the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir ; "Mid-Park", between
20570-757: The estates of the rich, but told owners of the family farms who lost land that it was an unbiased decision based on "engineering considerations." The book also charged that Moses libeled officials who opposed him, attempting to have them removed from office by calling them communists during the Red Scare . The biography further notes that Moses fought against schools and other public needs in favor of his preference for parks. Moses's critics charge that he preferred automobiles over people. They point out that he displaced hundreds of thousands of residents in New York City and destroyed traditional neighborhoods by building multiple expressways through them. The projects contributed to
20757-460: The fair, Moses's reputation was now undermined by the same personal character traits that had worked in his favor in the past: disdain for the opinions of others and high-handed attempts to get his way in moments of conflict by turning to the press. The fact that the fair was not sanctioned by the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE), the worldwide body supervising such events, would be devastating to
20944-535: The first American landscape designers. Mayor Ambrose Kingsland , in a message to the New York City Common Council on May 5, 1851, set forth the necessity and benefits of a large new park and proposed the council move to create such a park. Kingsland's proposal was referred to the council's Committee of Lands, which endorsed the proposal. The committee chose Jones's Wood , a 160-acre (65 ha) tract of land between 66th and 75th streets on
21131-537: The first nine years of his life living at 83 Dwight Street in New Haven, two blocks from Yale University . In 1897, the Moses family moved to New York City, where they lived on East 46th Street off Fifth Avenue. Moses's father was a successful department store owner and real estate speculator in New Haven. In order for the family to move to New York City, he sold his real estate holdings and store, then retired. Moses's mother
21318-461: The free Shakespeare in the Park program received much negative publicity, and his effort to destroy a shaded playground in Central Park to make way for a parking lot for the expensive Tavern-on-the-Green restaurant earned him many enemies among the middle-class voters of the Upper West Side . The opposition reached a climax over the demolition of Pennsylvania Station , which many attributed to
21505-424: The initial funding approved by the New York State legislature, knowing the legislature would eventually have to fund the full project to avoid appearing to have provided ineffective oversight ( fait accompli ). He was also characterized as using his political power to benefit cronies, including a case in which he secretly shifted the planned route of the Northern State Parkway large distances to avoid impinging on
21692-587: The land, and leveling uneven terrain. By the following month, chief engineer Viele reported that the project employed nearly 700 workers. Olmsted employed workers using day labor , hiring men directly without any contracts and paying them by the day. Many of the laborers were Irish immigrants or first-or-second generation Irish Americans , and some Germans and Italians ; there were no black or female laborers. The workers were often underpaid, and workers would often take jobs at other construction projects to supplement their income. A pattern of seasonal hiring
21879-546: The last parts of the park to be built. While construction on the southern part of the park started in 1857, the northernmost four blocks between 106th and 110th Streets were not even purchased until 1859. At the time, the northwestern corner of the park was a rocky forest, while the northeastern corner (now the Harlem Meer ) was a swamp. The Pool and Loch in the North Woods were proposed by Central Park commissioner Robert J. Dillon, who included it as one of seventeen amendments to
22066-427: The late 1930s a municipal controversy raged over whether an additional vehicular link between Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan should be built as a bridge or a tunnel. Bridges can be wider and cheaper to build, but taller and longer bridges use more ramp space at landfall than tunnels do. A "Brooklyn Battery Bridge" would have decimated Battery Park and physically encroached on the financial district, and for this reason,
22253-421: The measuring and constructing architectural features such as paths, roads, and buildings. Waring was one of the engineers working under Grant's leadership and was in charge of land drainage. Central Park was difficult to construct because of the generally rocky and swampy landscape. Around five million cubic feet (140,000 m ) of soil and rocks had to be transported out of the park, and more gunpowder
22440-434: The mid-1970s, managerial neglect resulted in a decline in park conditions. A 1973 report noted that the park suffered from severe erosion and tree decay, and that individual structures were being vandalized or neglected. The Central Park Community Fund was subsequently created based on the recommendation of a report from a Columbia University professor. The Fund then commissioned a study of the park's management and suggested
22627-618: The middle of North Meadow is the North Meadow Recreation Center. The main building in the complex was converted to a recreation facility in the 1990s. The building contains twelve tennis courts and four basketball courts outdoors. In addition, a rock-climbing wall is located inside the recreation center building. In 2007, the center started offering horseback riding in conjunction with the Riverdale Equestrian Center , which operates near Van Cortlandt Park in
22814-432: The morning after. Benches lay on their backs, their legs jabbing at the sky..." During the following year, the city's parks department replanted lawns and flowers, replaced dead trees and bushes, sandblasted walls, repaired roads and bridges, and restored statues. The park menagerie was transformed into the modern Central Park Zoo , and a rat extermination program was instituted within the zoo. Another dramatic change
23001-452: The need for one last great bridge project, a span crossing Long Island Sound from Rye to Oyster Bay . Rockefeller did not press for the project in the late 1960s through 1970, fearing public backlash among suburban Republicans would hinder his re-election prospects. A 1972 study found the bridge was fiscally prudent and could be environmentally manageable (according to the comparatively low environmental impact parameters of that period), but
23188-562: The new Long Island State Park Commission and the State Council of Parks. In 1924, Governor Smith appointed Moses chairman of the State Council of Parks and president of the Long Island State Park Commission. This centralization allowed Smith to run a government later used as a model for Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal federal government. Moses also received numerous commissions that he carried out efficiently, such as
23375-475: The new roads mostly conformed to the new vision, lacking the landscaping or the commercial traffic restrictions of the pre-war highways. He was the mover behind Shea Stadium and Lincoln Center , and contributed to the United Nations headquarters . On November 25, 1950, Governor Thomas E. Dewey appointed Moses along with former Secretary of War Robert P. Patterson and former Justice Charles C. Lockwood as
23562-399: The newly restored Loch. A new rink would be built to the east of the Loch and would be set within a slope, containing a new pool that would be located at a lower elevation than the existing pool. During winters, ice skaters would be allowed to skate on the boardwalk and the Loch by means of synthetic ice placed on the boardwalk. North Woods is the largest of Central Park's three woodlands, and
23749-490: The nurseries of Central Park in 1886. Parsons closely followed Olmsted's original vision for the park, restoring Central Park's trees while blocking the placement of several large statues in the park. Under Parsons' leadership, two circles (now Duke Ellington and Frederick Douglass Circles ) were constructed at the northern corners of the park. He was removed in May 1911 following a lengthy dispute over whether an expense to replace
23936-527: The one in Colonial Park (now Jackie Robinson Park ), were placed in inconvenient locations. Another author wrote that of 255 playgrounds built in the 1930s under Moses's tenure, only two were in largely Black neighborhoods. Caro wrote that close associates of Moses had claimed they could keep African Americans from using the Thomas Jefferson Pool , in then-predominantly-white East Harlem , by making
24123-459: The outline for Manhattan's modern street grid, included several smaller open spaces but not Central Park. As such, John Randel Jr. had surveyed the grounds for the construction of intersections within the modern-day park site. The only remaining surveying bolt from his survey is embedded in a rock north of the present Dairy and the 66th Street transverse, marking the location where West 65th Street would have intersected Sixth Avenue . By
24310-542: The park as a recreational attraction. The 1904 opening of the New York City Subway displaced Central Park as the city's predominant leisure destination, as New Yorkers could travel to farther destinations such as Coney Island beaches or Broadway theaters for a five-cent fare. In the late 19th century the landscape architect Samuel Parsons took the position of New York City parks superintendent. A onetime apprentice of Calvert Vaux , Parsons helped restore
24497-602: The park in the form of glacial erratics (large boulders dropped by the receding glacier) and north–south glacial striations visible on stone outcroppings. Alignments of glacial erratics, called "boulder trains", are present throughout Central Park. The most notable of these outcroppings is Rat Rock (also known as Umpire Rock), a circular outcropping at the southwestern corner of the park. It measures 55 feet (17 m) wide and 15 feet (4.6 m) tall with different east, west, and north faces. Boulderers sometimes congregate there. A single glacial pothole with yellow clay
24684-425: The park was home to four females with a median age of 19.8. Though the 2010 United States Census recorded 25 residents within the census tract, park officials have rejected the claim of anyone permanently living there. Central Park is the most visited urban park in the United States and one of the most visited tourist attractions worldwide, with 42 million visitors in 2016. The number of unique visitors
24871-619: The park which was later converted into a "rugged" woodland and the Harlem Meer waterway. When the American Civil War began in 1861, the park commissioners decided to continue building Central Park, since significant parts of the park had already been completed. Only three major structures were completed during the Civil War: the Music Stand and the Casino restaurant, both later demolished, and
25058-405: The park's drives. The next year, mayor Bill de Blasio announced that West and East drives north of 72nd Street would be closed to vehicular traffic, because the city's data showed that closing the roads did not adversely impact traffic flows. Subsequently, in June 2018, the remaining drives south of 72nd Street were closed to vehicular traffic. Several structures were also renovated in
25245-542: The park's operations in early 1998. Renovations continued through the first decade of the 21st century, and a project to restore the pond was commenced in 2000. Four years later, the Conservancy replaced a chain-link fence with a replica of the original cast-iron fence that surrounded the Upper Reservoir. It started refurbishing the ceiling tiles of the Bethesda Arcade, which was completed in 2007. Soon after,
25432-416: The park, and accosting and sometimes assaulting eight other persons. According to The New York Times , the attack was "one of the most widely publicized crimes of the 1980s". A group of four black and one Hispanic teenagers, who became known as the " Central Park Five ", were convicted of this and another assault, and sentenced to years in prison. Their convictions were vacated after another man confessed to
25619-399: The park. Between 1821 and 1855, New York City's population nearly quadrupled. As the city expanded northward up Manhattan , people were drawn to the few existing open spaces, mainly cemeteries, for passive recreation. These were seen as escapes from the noise and chaotic life in the city, which at the time was almost entirely centered on Lower Manhattan . The Commissioners' Plan of 1811 ,
25806-502: The parks commissioner and the Conservancy's president. The Central Park Conservancy was founded in 1980 as a nonprofit organization with a citizen board to assist with the city's initiatives to clean up and rehabilitate the park. The Conservancy took over the park's management duties from NYC Parks in 1998, though NYC Parks retained ownership of Central Park. The conservancy provides maintenance support and staff training programs for other public parks in New York City, and has assisted with
25993-401: The play equipment—opened near its southern end in 1926, and quickly became popular with poor immigrant families. The following year, Mayor Jimmy Walker commissioned landscape designer Hermann W. Merkel to create a plan to improve Central Park. Merkel's plans would combat vandalism and plant destruction, rehabilitate paths, and add eight new playgrounds, at a cost of $ 1 million. One of
26180-411: The pools should be kept a few degrees colder, allegedly because Moses believed African Americans did not like cold water. Although Moses had power over the construction of all New York City Housing Authority public housing projects and headed many other entities, it was his chairmanship of the Triborough Bridge Authority that gave him the most power. The Triborough Bridge (later officially renamed
26367-414: The price that the United States would pay for Alaska a few years later. In June 1856, Fernando Wood appointed a "consulting board" of seven people, headed by author Washington Irving , to inspire public confidence in the proposed development. Wood hired military engineer Egbert Ludovicus Viele as the park's chief engineer, tasking him with a topographical survey of the site. The following April,
26554-597: The project in November 1870. After Tweed's embezzlement was publicly revealed in 1871, leading to his imprisonment, Olmsted and Vaux were re-hired, and the Central Park Commission appointed new members who were mostly in favor of Olmsted. One of the areas that remained relatively untouched was the underdeveloped western side of Central Park, though some large structures would be erected in the park's remaining empty plots. By 1872, Manhattan Square had been reserved for
26741-532: The project, North Meadow was fenced in, and new trees and shrubs were added. The work took about four years. Another plan in the 1920s called for a playground in the northern section of Central Park, near the North Woods. Ultimately, the West 110th Street Playground was built at the site. Under NYC Parks commissioner Robert Moses , athletic fields were constructed in the North Meadow in the 1930s, and bocce , tennis , and volleyball facilities for adults were installed in
26928-656: The public can be traced, in the main, to ... Caro's magnificent biography". For example, Caro describes Moses's lack of sensitivity in the construction of the Cross-Bronx Expressway , and how he disfavored public transit . Much of Moses's reputation is attributable to Caro, whose book won both the Pulitzer Prize in Biography in 1975 and the Francis Parkman Prize (which is awarded by the Society of American Historians ), and
27115-443: The purchase of an additional 65 acres (26 ha) at the northern end of Central Park, from 106th to 110th Streets. The section of Central Park south of 79th Street was mostly completed by 1860. The park commissioners reported in June 1860 that $ 4 million had been spent on the construction to date. As a result of the sharply rising construction costs, the commissioners eliminated or downsized several features in
27302-451: The purported benefits of many of Moses's projects and further cast Moses as racist. In large part because of The Power Broker , Moses is today considered a controversial figure in the history of New York City as well as New York State. Moses was born in New Haven, Connecticut , on December 18, 1888, to parents of German Jewish descent, Isabella “Bella” (Cohen) and Emanuel Moses. He spent
27489-572: The reservoir to the north and the Lake and Conservatory Water to the south; and "South End" below the Lake and Conservatory Water. The park has five visitor centers: Charles A. Dana Discovery Center , Belvedere Castle , Chess & Checkers House, the Dairy , and Columbus Circle . The park has been described as the first landscaped park in the United States. It has natural-looking plantings and landforms , having been almost entirely landscaped when built in
27676-587: The ruin of the South Bronx and the amusement parks of Coney Island , caused the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants Major League baseball teams to relocate to Los Angeles and San Francisco respectively, and precipitated the decline of public transport from disinvestment and neglect. His building of expressways also hindered the proposed expansion of the New York City Subway from
27863-423: The scale of works with the high cost and the slow speed of public works in the decades following his era. The peak of Moses's construction occurred during the economic duress of the Great Depression , and despite the era's woes, Moses's projects were completed in a timely fashion and have been reliable public works since then, which compares favorably to the delays that New York City officials have had in redeveloping
28050-411: The school and convent at Mount St. Vincent's Academy . Clearing began shortly after the land commission's report was released in October 1855, and approximately 1,600 residents were evicted under eminent domain . Though supporters claimed that the park would cost just $ 1.7 million, the total cost of the land ended up being $ 7.39 million (equivalent to $ 242 million in 2023), more than
28237-423: The single greatest loss to the park's trees in thirty years. JPMorgan Chase later donated $ 1 million to replace the trees. A $ 150 million renovation of Lasker Rink was officially announced in 2018, requiring that the rink be closed between late 2021 and 2024. As part of the plan, the portion of the Loch and Harlem Meer under the lake would be restored to a more natural state, and a boardwalk would be added along
28424-482: The soil in the park was unnecessary. A succession of Tammany-affiliated Democratic mayors were indifferent toward Central Park. Several park advocacy groups were formed in the early 20th century. To preserve the park's character, the citywide Parks and Playground Association, and a consortium of multiple Central Park civic groups operating under the Parks Conservation Association, were formed in
28611-405: The southern edge of the meadow was located on a hill that afforded better views of the surrounding area, while the proposed tennis house would be located in a depression. The area gained notoriety in April 1989 due to the Central Park jogger case . A white female jogger was badly beaten and raped at night in the North Woods, when 30-32 youths from East Harlem were known to have been roaming through
28798-548: The state legislature passed a bill to authorize the appointment of four Democratic and seven Republican commissioners, who had exclusive control over the planning and construction process. Though Viele had already devised a plan for the park, the commissioners disregarded it and retained him to complete only the topographical surveys. The Central Park Commission began hosting a landscape design contest shortly after its creation. The commission specified that each entry contain extremely detailed specifications, as mandated by
28985-568: The success of the event. Moses refused to accept BIE requirements, including a restriction against charging ground rents to exhibitors, and the BIE in turn instructed its member nations not to participate. The United States had already staged the sanctioned Century 21 Exposition in Seattle in 1962. According to the rules of the organization, no one nation could host more than one fair in a decade. The major European democracies, as well as Canada, Australia, and
29172-457: The suggested modifications, underground irrigation pipes, were installed soon after Merkel's report was submitted. The other improvements outlined in the report, such as fences to mitigate plant destruction, were postponed due to the Great Depression . In 1934, Republican Fiorello La Guardia was elected mayor of New York City . He unified the five park-related departments then in existence. Newly appointed city parks commissioner Robert Moses
29359-513: The tectonic plates began to merge to form the supercontinent Pangaea . Cameron's Line , a fault zone that traverses Central Park on an east–west axis, divides the outcroppings of Hartland schist to the south and Manhattan schist to the north. Various glaciers have covered the area of Central Park in the past, with the most recent being the Wisconsin glacier which receded about 12,000 years ago. Evidence of past glaciers can be seen throughout
29546-479: The threat of a lawsuit. Moses left his position in May 1960. No park commissioner since then has been able to exercise the same degree of power, nor did NYC Parks remain in as stable a position in the aftermath of his departure. Eight commissioners held the office in the twenty years following his departure. The city experienced economic and social changes, with some residents moving to the suburbs. Interest in Central Park's landscape had long since declined, and it
29733-627: The time he left office, he had built 658 playgrounds in New York City alone, plus 416 miles (669 km) of parkways and 13 bridges. The proportion of public benefit corporations is greater in New York than in any other U.S. state , however, making them the prime mode of infrastructure building and maintenance in New York and accounting for 90% of the state's debt. Moses's life was most famously characterized in Robert Caro 's 1974 award-winning biography The Power Broker . The book highlighted his practice of starting projects certain to cost more than
29920-603: The water too cold. Nonetheless, no other source has corroborated the claim that heaters in any particular pool were deactivated or not included in the pool's design. In addition, Moses took a favorable view of the British Empire and a racism much broader than solely towards the African-American community, speaking of Empire as useful in stemming the "rise of the lesser breeds without the law". Some scholars have attempted to rehabilitate Moses's reputation by contrasting
30107-549: The work of unskilled laborers. In total, over 20,000 individuals helped construct Central Park. Because of extreme precautions taken to minimize collateral damage, five laborers died during the project, at a time when fatality rates were generally much higher. During the development of Central Park, Superintendent Olmsted hired several dozen mounted police officers, who were classified into two types of "keepers": park keepers and gate keepers. The mounted police were viewed favorably by park patrons and were later incorporated into
30294-421: The workings of state government. He created and led numerous semi-autonomous public authorities , through which he controlled millions of dollars in revenue and directly issued bonds to fund new ventures with little outside input or oversight. Moses's projects transformed the New York area and revolutionized the way cities in the U.S. were designed and built. As Long Island State Park Commissioner, Moses oversaw
30481-440: Was "of great importance as the first real Park made in this country—a democratic development of the highest significance". Construction of Central Park's design was executed by a gamut of professionals. Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux were the primary designers, assisted by board member Andrew Haswell Green , architect Jacob Wrey Mould , master gardener Ignaz Anton Pilat , and engineer George E. Waring Jr. Olmsted
30668-510: Was Moses' removal of the " Hoover valley " shantytown at the north end of Turtle Pond, which became the 30-acre (12 ha) Great Lawn. The western part of the Pond at the park's southeast corner became an ice skating rink called Wollman Rink , roads were improved or widened, and twenty-one playgrounds were added. These projects used funds from the New Deal program, and donations from the public. Moses removed Sheep Meadow 's sheep to make way for
30855-402: Was able to participate in sports such as ice-skating or rowing, or listen to concerts at the Mall's bandstand. Olmsted and Vaux were re-hired in mid-1865. Several structures were erected, including the Children's District, the Ballplayers House , and the Dairy in the southern part of Central Park. Construction commenced on Belvedere Castle, Harlem Meer, and structures on Conservatory Water and
31042-403: Was active in the settlement movement , with her own love of building. Robert Moses and his brother Paul attended several schools for their elementary and secondary education , the Dwight School and the Mohegan Lake School , a military academy near Peekskill . After graduating from Yale College (B.A., 1909) and Wadham College , Oxford (B.A., Jurisprudence, 1911; M.A., 1913), and earning
31229-483: Was also given powers over public housing that had eluded him under LaGuardia. When O'Dwyer was forced to resign in disgrace and was succeeded by Vincent R. Impellitteri , Moses was able to assume even greater behind-the-scenes control over infrastructure projects. One of Moses's first steps after Impellitteri took office was halting the creation of a citywide Comprehensive Zoning Plan underway since 1938 that would have curtailed his nearly unlimited power to build within
31416-430: Was appointed to Olmsted's position. Vaux resigned in 1863 because of what he saw as pressure from Green. As superintendent of the park, Green accelerated construction, though having little experience in architecture. He implemented a style of micromanagement , keeping records of the smallest transactions in an effort to reduce costs. Green finalized the negotiations to purchase the northernmost 65 acres (26 ha) of
31603-519: Was done to make it more difficult for future legislatures to allow access for commercial vehicles. Woolgar and Cooper refer to the claim about bridges as an "urban legend". Moses vocally opposed allowing Black war veterans to move into Stuyvesant Town , a Manhattan residential development complex created to house World War II veterans. In response to the biography, Moses defended his forced displacement of poor and minority communities as an inevitable part of urban revitalization: "I raise my stein to
31790-412: Was established, wherein more workers would be hired and paid at higher rates during the summers. For several months, the park commissioners faced funding issues, and a dedicated workforce and funding stream was not secured until June 1858. The landscaped Upper Reservoir was the only part of the park that the commissioners were not responsible for constructing; instead, the Reservoir would be built by
31977-407: Was given the task of cleaning up the park, and he summarily fired many of the Tammany-era staff. At the time, the lawns were filled with weeds and dust patches, while many trees were dying or already dead. Monuments had been vandalized, equipment and walkways were broken, and ironwork was rusted. Moses's biographer Robert Caro later said, "The once beautiful Mall looked like a scene of a wild party
32164-427: Was in apparent retaliation, based on specious claims that the proposed tunnel would undermine Castle Clinton's foundation. He also attempted to raze Castle Clinton itself, the historic fort surviving only after being transferred to the federal government. Moses now had no other option for a trans-river crossing than to build a tunnel. He commissioned the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel (now officially the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel ),
32351-526: Was named one of the 100 greatest non-fiction books of the twentieth century by the Modern Library . Upon its publication, Moses denounced the biography in a 23-page statement, to which Caro replied to defend his work's integrity. Caro's depiction of Moses's life gives him full credit for his early achievements, showing, for example, how he conceived and created Jones Beach and the New York State Park system, but also shows how Moses's desire for power came to be more important to him than his earlier dreams. Moses
32538-521: Was never completed, either. For the first few decades of Central Park's existence, it was forbidden to play most sports in Central Park, because Olmsted and Vaux believed that the park should be used for scenic enjoyment rather than recreation. However, because of growing recreational pressures, the Central Park commission opened North Meadow to sports by the late 19th century. The first recorded cricket matches were played in North Meadow by 1885, and immigrant families began hosting picnics in North Meadow by
32725-415: Was now mostly being used for recreation. Several unrealized additions were proposed for Central Park in that decade, such as a public housing development, a golf course, and a "revolving world's fair". The 1960s marked the beginning of an "Events Era" in Central Park that reflected the widespread cultural and political trends of the period. The Public Theater 's annual Shakespeare in the Park festival
32912-576: Was of Jewish origin and raised in a secularist manner inspired by the Ethical Culture movement of the late 19th century. He was a convert to Christianity and was interred in a crypt in an outdoor community mausoleum in Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York City following services at St. Peter's by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Bay Shore, New York . Various locations and roadways in New York State bear Moses's name. These include two state parks, Robert Moses State Park – Thousand Islands in Massena, New York and Robert Moses State Park – Long Island ,
33099-460: Was responsible for the overall plan, while Vaux designed some of the finer details. Mould, who worked frequently with Vaux, designed the Central Park Esplanade and the Tavern on the Green building. Pilat was the park's chief landscape architect, whose primary responsibility was the importation and placement of plants within the park. A "corps" of construction engineers and foremen, managed by superintending engineer William H. Grant, were tasked with
33286-412: Was said to have blocked Paul, an engineer, from being hired for any public service jobs including major infrastructure projects that Moses himself had spearheaded. Paul, whom Caro interviewed shortly before the former's death, claimed Robert had exerted undue influence on their mother to change her will in Robert's favor shortly before her death. Caro notes that Paul was on bad terms with their mother over
33473-496: Was settled in the Delacorte Theater , and summer performances were instituted on the Sheep Meadow and the Great Lawn by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera . During the late 1960s, the park became the venue for rallies and cultural events such as the "love-ins" and "be-ins" of the period. The same year, Lasker Rink opened in the northern part of the park; the facility served as an ice rink in winter and Central Park's only swimming pool in summer. By
33660-409: Was that of Parks Commissioner of New York City, a role he served from January 18, 1934, to May 23, 1960. The many offices and professional titles that Moses held gave him unusually broad power to shape urban development in the New York metropolitan region. These include, according to the New York Preservation Archive Project: During the 1920s, Moses sparred with Franklin D. Roosevelt , then head of
33847-418: Was the "Carriage Parade", a daily display of horse-drawn carriages that traversed the park. Park patronage grew steadily: by 1867, Central Park accommodated nearly three million pedestrians, 85,000 horses, and 1.38 million vehicles annually. The park had activities for New Yorkers of all social classes. While the wealthy could ride horses on bridle paths or travel in horse-drawn carriages, almost everyone
34034-417: Was the Dairy, which reopened as the park's first visitor center in 1979. The Sheep Meadow, which reopened the following year, was the first landscape to be restored. Bethesda Terrace and Fountain, the USS Maine National Monument , and the Bow Bridge were also rehabilitated. By then, the Conservancy was engaged in design efforts and long-term restoration planning, and in 1981, Davis and Barlow announced
34221-429: Was the first fully divided limited access highway in the world. Moses was a highly influential figure in the initiation of many of the reforms that restructured New York state's government during the 1920s. A 'Reconstruction Commission' headed by Moses produced a highly influential report that provided recommendations that would largely be adopted, including the consolidation of 187 existing agencies under 18 departments,
34408-514: Was the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the sixth-largest park in the city , containing 843 acres (341 ha), and the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated 42 million visitors annually as of 2016 . It is also one of the most filmed locations in the world. The creation of a large park in Manhattan was first proposed in the 1840s, and a 778-acre (315 ha) park approved in 1853. In 1858, landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won
34595-399: Was unconstitutional to impair existing contractual obligations, as the bondholders had the right of approval over such actions. The largest holder of TBTA bonds, and thus agent for all the others, was the Chase Manhattan Bank , headed then by David Rockefeller , the governor's brother. No suit was filed. Moses could have directed TBTA to go to court against the action, but having been promised
34782-420: Was used to clear the area than was used at the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War . More than 18,500 cubic yards (14,100 m ) of topsoil were transported from Long Island and New Jersey , because the original soil was neither fertile nor sufficiently substantial to sustain the flora specified in the Greensward Plan. Modern steam-powered equipment and custom tree-moving machines augmented
34969-410: Was willing to pay — was rejected by both pro- and anti-Moses officials, newspapers, and the public, as an unacceptable government subsidy of a private business enterprise. Moses envisioned New York's newest stadium being built in Queens' Flushing Meadows on the former (and as it turned out, future) site of the World's Fair , where it would eventually host all three of the city's major league teams of
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