Central Park's Impact on New York City
Julie Marino
Dr. Hey & Dr. Russo
Cor 390
July 26, 2013
Central Park’s Impact on New York City
Since the idea of Central Park started to come to fruition in 1853, Central Park has brought the City of New York controversy and a place where everyone can be together. Central Park has been a crucial part of New York City’s vast history and is one of the most visited spots in New York City today, by both tourists and residents a like. Central Park today features 843 acres of various fields, ponds, ice skating rink, a zoo, and playgrounds. Statistics say that every year, about 35 million people will visit Central Park (Collin).
Originally, the land that is now known as Central Park was inhabited by the Lenape Indians. The land that the Lenape Indians inhabited was taken over by the Dutch when they colonized and made the island of Manhattan New Amsterdam. In about 1850, the inhabitants of the island of Manhattan were beginning to move north and by doing so, they began to inhabit much more of the island than ever before. Many New Yorkers at this time decided that they needed a public park.
Some New Yorkers wanted the park as a place to compete with other great cities, like Paris, but other’s wanted it as a place to escape from the nasty city conditions that were taking place on the Southern tip of the island. An independent board of commissioners was set into place to oversee the creation of this new “central park”. In 1857, the commission oversaw just over 30 ideas to pick which would be the Central Park, as it is known today. “Out of 33 entries, the commissioners chose the Greensward plan by Frederick Law Olmsted, superintendent of the Park work crews and Calvert Vaux, the British architect who had convinced the commissioners to hold a design competition.” (Central Park Converservator). The design created by Vaux and Olmsted called for the nearly 700 acres to have roadways underneath and contains nearly 40 bridges.
The creation of the park created about 20,000 jobs (Blackmar). The creation of the park was incredibly vast and extensive, “destroying fences and other vestiges of previous human occupation, moving enormous amounts of earth, burying a sophisticated drainage system, transforming swampy areas into lakes, blasting through gneiss, amending the soil with animal waste and compost, transplanting tens of thousands of native and exotic trees and shrubs, and constructing roads, bridges, and buildings, such as the gothic Belvedere Castle.” (Fisher). The actual construction of the country took about 20 years to complete and the park was finally ready in 1873.
Fisher says of the modern Central Park, “ Although visitors sometimes think that Central Park preserves the original Manhattan that the Dutch ‘discovered’, the landscape architects’ plan did not call for the creation of an American wilderness park.... Most of their creation is not technically picturesque, but pastoral.” A pastoral landscape is described as rolling greens or grasses that can be grouped by outer trees.
Central Park, as it stands today, has developed throughout the years. In 1934 with the election of Fiorello LaGuardia, Robert Moses was put in charge of the New York parks department. Moses worked diligently to fix the once beautiful park by cleaning and restoring the park to its former glory. During Moses’ control, the city created one of Central Park’s most beloved areas, the Great Lawn. The Great Lawn was created by filling in the lower Reservoir that was not being used. (Central Park Conservatory).
There are several different parts to the Central Park. Some of this include: the Belvedere Castle, the Great Lawn, Sheep Lawn, the Zoo, the Reservoir, Ice Skating, the Central Park Carousel, and the Delacorte Theatre. In each of these places, there are thousands of different things for every person to do. During the summer, Shakespeare at the Park is an incredibly popular event that takes place in the Delacorte Theatre. The zoo, managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society, is one of the most popular stops for tourists and residents of Manhattan. Visitors also enjoy the ice skating, rock climbing, and carousel that are all featured in Central Park.
Today, “New York State has 72 state parks and two forest reserves.” (Feiss, 44). Central Park is currently 840 acres of vastly different areas. The actual park and its lands are currently controlled by the Central Park Conservancy, which is a non-profit organization. Central Park was created for a place for the rich to walk their dogs and their strollers, but today Central Park is so much more. Today, Central Park is a place for college kids to hang out on the Great Lawn or for the rich people to walk their dogs. Every day new things are being renovated, such as the Heckscher Playground and the Ballfields. In 2010, only three years ago, New Yorkers and other generous individuals donated up to $450 million dollars to the Central Park Conservancy (Conservancy) and that number continues to grow daily.
Works Cited
Blackmar, Elizabeth. “Central Park History.” Your Complete Guide to New York City’s Central Park. Web. 24 July 2013. <http://www.centralpark.com/guide/history.html>.
Feiss, Carl. “The Town Planning Review”. National Park and Monument Planning in the United States. 21, 1 (1950): 40-56. JSTOR. Web. 24 July 2013.
Fisher, Colin. “Nature in the City: Ubran Environmental History and Central Park.” Magazine of History 25.4 (2011): 27-31. ProQuest. Web. 24 July 2013.
“The Offical Website of Central Park – The History.” The Official Website of Central Park. Web. 24 Juliy 2013. <http://www.centralparknyc.org/visit/history/>.
Dr. Hey & Dr. Russo
Cor 390
July 26, 2013
Central Park’s Impact on New York City
Since the idea of Central Park started to come to fruition in 1853, Central Park has brought the City of New York controversy and a place where everyone can be together. Central Park has been a crucial part of New York City’s vast history and is one of the most visited spots in New York City today, by both tourists and residents a like. Central Park today features 843 acres of various fields, ponds, ice skating rink, a zoo, and playgrounds. Statistics say that every year, about 35 million people will visit Central Park (Collin).
Originally, the land that is now known as Central Park was inhabited by the Lenape Indians. The land that the Lenape Indians inhabited was taken over by the Dutch when they colonized and made the island of Manhattan New Amsterdam. In about 1850, the inhabitants of the island of Manhattan were beginning to move north and by doing so, they began to inhabit much more of the island than ever before. Many New Yorkers at this time decided that they needed a public park.
Some New Yorkers wanted the park as a place to compete with other great cities, like Paris, but other’s wanted it as a place to escape from the nasty city conditions that were taking place on the Southern tip of the island. An independent board of commissioners was set into place to oversee the creation of this new “central park”. In 1857, the commission oversaw just over 30 ideas to pick which would be the Central Park, as it is known today. “Out of 33 entries, the commissioners chose the Greensward plan by Frederick Law Olmsted, superintendent of the Park work crews and Calvert Vaux, the British architect who had convinced the commissioners to hold a design competition.” (Central Park Converservator). The design created by Vaux and Olmsted called for the nearly 700 acres to have roadways underneath and contains nearly 40 bridges.
The creation of the park created about 20,000 jobs (Blackmar). The creation of the park was incredibly vast and extensive, “destroying fences and other vestiges of previous human occupation, moving enormous amounts of earth, burying a sophisticated drainage system, transforming swampy areas into lakes, blasting through gneiss, amending the soil with animal waste and compost, transplanting tens of thousands of native and exotic trees and shrubs, and constructing roads, bridges, and buildings, such as the gothic Belvedere Castle.” (Fisher). The actual construction of the country took about 20 years to complete and the park was finally ready in 1873.
Fisher says of the modern Central Park, “ Although visitors sometimes think that Central Park preserves the original Manhattan that the Dutch ‘discovered’, the landscape architects’ plan did not call for the creation of an American wilderness park.... Most of their creation is not technically picturesque, but pastoral.” A pastoral landscape is described as rolling greens or grasses that can be grouped by outer trees.
Central Park, as it stands today, has developed throughout the years. In 1934 with the election of Fiorello LaGuardia, Robert Moses was put in charge of the New York parks department. Moses worked diligently to fix the once beautiful park by cleaning and restoring the park to its former glory. During Moses’ control, the city created one of Central Park’s most beloved areas, the Great Lawn. The Great Lawn was created by filling in the lower Reservoir that was not being used. (Central Park Conservatory).
There are several different parts to the Central Park. Some of this include: the Belvedere Castle, the Great Lawn, Sheep Lawn, the Zoo, the Reservoir, Ice Skating, the Central Park Carousel, and the Delacorte Theatre. In each of these places, there are thousands of different things for every person to do. During the summer, Shakespeare at the Park is an incredibly popular event that takes place in the Delacorte Theatre. The zoo, managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society, is one of the most popular stops for tourists and residents of Manhattan. Visitors also enjoy the ice skating, rock climbing, and carousel that are all featured in Central Park.
Today, “New York State has 72 state parks and two forest reserves.” (Feiss, 44). Central Park is currently 840 acres of vastly different areas. The actual park and its lands are currently controlled by the Central Park Conservancy, which is a non-profit organization. Central Park was created for a place for the rich to walk their dogs and their strollers, but today Central Park is so much more. Today, Central Park is a place for college kids to hang out on the Great Lawn or for the rich people to walk their dogs. Every day new things are being renovated, such as the Heckscher Playground and the Ballfields. In 2010, only three years ago, New Yorkers and other generous individuals donated up to $450 million dollars to the Central Park Conservancy (Conservancy) and that number continues to grow daily.
Works Cited
Blackmar, Elizabeth. “Central Park History.” Your Complete Guide to New York City’s Central Park. Web. 24 July 2013. <http://www.centralpark.com/guide/history.html>.
Feiss, Carl. “The Town Planning Review”. National Park and Monument Planning in the United States. 21, 1 (1950): 40-56. JSTOR. Web. 24 July 2013.
Fisher, Colin. “Nature in the City: Ubran Environmental History and Central Park.” Magazine of History 25.4 (2011): 27-31. ProQuest. Web. 24 July 2013.
“The Offical Website of Central Park – The History.” The Official Website of Central Park. Web. 24 Juliy 2013. <http://www.centralparknyc.org/visit/history/>.