View source for Central Park

{{Short description|Public park in Manhattan, New York}}
{{About|the public park in New York City}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use American English|date=May 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox park
| name = Central Park
| image = Global Citizen Festival Central Park New York City from NYonAir (15351915006).jpg
| image_size = 300px
| image_caption = Aerial view of southern Central Park in September 2014
| type = [[Urban park]]
| location = [[Manhattan]], New York City, U.S.
| area = {{convert|843|acre|ha mi2 km2}}
| mapframe-custom = {{Maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-align=center|frame-width=300|frame-height=300|zoom=11|frame-lat=40.782|frame-long=-73.965|type=shape|stroke-color=#000|stroke-width=1|id=Q160409|title=Central Park}}
| map_size = 
| map_caption = Interactive map showing location of Central Park
| coordinates = {{Coord|40|46|56|N|73|57|55|W|region:US-NY_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| created = 1857–1876
| owner = [[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|NYC Parks]]
| operator = [[Central Park Conservancy]]
| visitation_num = about 42 million annually
| status = Open year-round
| open = 6:00&nbsp;a.m. to 1:00&nbsp;a.m.
| public_transit = [[#Public transport|Subway and bus; see "Public transport"]]
| website = Official websites: [https://centralparknyc.org/ Central Park Conservancy] and [https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park NYC Parks]
| module = {{Infobox NRHP
 | embed                          = yes
 | name                           = 
 | nrhp_type                      = nhld
 | image                          = 
 | built                          = <!--1858-->
 | architect                      = [[Frederick Law Olmsted]] (1822–1903), [[Calvert Vaux]] (1824–1895)
 | designated_nrhp_type           = May 23, 1963
 | designated_other1              = New York State Register of Historic Places
 | designated_other1_abbr         = NYSRHP
 | designated_other1_date         = June 23, 1980<ref name="Cultural Resource Information System">{{cite web | title=Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS) | publisher=[[New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation]] | date=November 7, 2014 | url=https://cris.parks.ny.gov/ | access-date=July 20, 2023}}</ref>
 | designated_other1_number       = 06101.000663
 | designated_other1_num_position = bottom
 | designated_other2              = NYCL
 | designated_other2_link         = New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
 | designated_other2_date         = March 26, 1974{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1974|p=1 (PDF p. 2)}}
 | designated_other2_number       = 
 | designated_other2_color        = #FFE978
 | area                           = 
 | added                          = October 15, 1966<ref>{{NRISref|2007a|dateform=mdy}}</ref>
 | refnum                         = 66000538
}}
}}

'''Central Park''' is an [[urban park]] between the [[Upper West Side]] and [[Upper East Side]] neighborhoods of [[Manhattan]] in [[New York City]], and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the [[List of parks in New York City|sixth-largest park in the city]], containing {{convert|843|acre|ha|abbr=}}, and the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated 42&nbsp;million visitors annually {{as of|2016|lc=y}}. Central Park is owned by the [[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation]] but has been managed by the Central Park Conservancy since 1998 under a contract with the [[government of New York City]] in a [[public–private partnership]]. The conservancy, a non-profit organization, sets Central Park's annual operating budget and is responsible for care of the park.

The creation of a large park in Manhattan was first proposed in the 1840s, and a {{convert|778|acre|ha|adj=on}} park approved in 1853. In 1858, landscape architects [[Frederick Law Olmsted]] and [[Calvert Vaux]] won a [[Architectural design competition|design competition]] for the park with their "Greensward Plan". Construction began in 1857; existing structures and settlements, 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 a period of decline in the early 20th&nbsp;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&nbsp;century, refurbished many parts of the park starting in the 1980s.

The park's main attractions include [[the Ramble and Lake]], [[the Pond and Hallett Nature Sanctuary|Hallett Nature Sanctuary]], [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir]], [[Sheep Meadow]], [[Wollman Rink]], [[Central Park Carousel]], [[Central Park Zoo]], [[Central Park Mall]], [[Bethesda Terrace and Fountain|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 the Park (New York City)|Shakespeare in the Park]]. Central Park is traversed by a system of roads and walkways and is served by public transportation. Central Park is one of the most filmed locations in the world, and its design has inspired that of other parks. It was designated as a [[National Historic Landmark]] district in 1963 and a [[New York City scenic landmark]] in 1974.

==<span class="anchor" id="Geography"></span><span class="anchor" id="Design and layout"></span>Description==
{{Central Park map||zoom=13|width=300|height=300}}

Central Park is bordered by [[110th Street (Manhattan)|Central Park North at 110th Street]], [[59th Street (Manhattan)|Central Park South at 59th Street]], [[Eighth Avenue (Manhattan)|Central Park West at Eighth Avenue]], and [[Fifth Avenue]] on 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 {{convert|2.5|mi|km}}&nbsp;from north to south and {{convert|0.5|mi|km}}&nbsp;from west to east.<ref name="Conservancy Running Map">{{Cite web|url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/assets/pdfs/maps/CPC_RunningMap_2014.pdf|title=Central Park Running Map|date=2014|publisher=[[Central Park Conservancy]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123062243/http://www.centralparknyc.org/assets/pdfs/maps/CPC_RunningMap_2014.pdf|archive-date=November 23, 2018|access-date=April 1, 2019}}</ref>

===Design and layout===
Central Park is split into three sections: the North End extending above the [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir]], Mid-Park, between the reservoir to the north and [[the Lake (Central Park)|the Lake]] and [[Conservatory Water]] to the south, and South End below the Lake and Conservatory Water.<ref name="central-park-map">{{Cite web |title=Central Park Map |date=2014|publisher=Central Park Conservancy |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/assets/pdfs/maps/CPC_Map_2014_V2.pdf |access-date=April 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191005170140/http://www.centralparknyc.org/assets/pdfs/maps/CPC_Map_2014_V2.pdf|archive-date=October 5, 2019}}</ref> The park has five visitor centers: [[Harlem Meer|Charles A. Dana Discovery Center]], [[Belvedere Castle]], Chess & Checkers House, [[the Dairy]], and [[Columbus Circle]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Central Park Conservancy—Official Central Park Tours|website=NYC The Official Guide |url=https://www.nycgo.com/venues/central-park-conservancy-official-central-park-tours |access-date=April 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423202121/https://www.nycgo.com/venues/central-park-conservancy-official-central-park-tours |archive-date=April 23, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |publisher=Central Park Conservancy |title=Visitor Centers |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/visit/visitor-centers.html |access-date=April 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403214655/http://www.centralparknyc.org/visit/visitor-centers.html |archive-date=April 3, 2019}}</ref>

The park has been described as the first landscaped park in the United States.<ref name=CentralParkLargestUrbanAndFirstLandscapedPark>{{cite web|url=https://www.ny.com/articles/centralpark.html|title=History of Central Park, New York|first=Sarah |last=Waxman|publisher=ny.com|access-date=October 28, 2023}}</ref> It has natural-looking plantings and [[landform]]s, having been almost entirely landscaped when built in the 1850s and 1860s.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=57–58}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|p=150}} It has eight lakes and ponds that were created artificially by damming natural [[Seep (hydrology)|seeps]] and flows.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=35}} There are several wooded sections, lawns, meadows, and minor grassy areas. There are 21&nbsp;children's playgrounds,<ref name="Playgrounds">{{cite web|title=Central Park Playgrounds |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/facilities/playgrounds |access-date=April 13, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321200017/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/facilities/playgrounds |archive-date=March 21, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and {{convert|6.1|mi|km}} of drives.<ref name="Conservancy Running Map" /><ref name="Conservancy Running">{{cite web|url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/running.html |title=Running|publisher=Central Park Conservancy |access-date=April 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413211428/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/running.html|archive-date=April 13, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

Central Park is the [[List of New York City parks|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]],<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/01/nyregion/surveying-effort-alters-sizes-of-some-new-york-parks.html |title=Surveying Effort Alters Sizes of Some New York Parks|last=Foderaro|first=Lisa W|date=May 31, 2013|work=The New York Times|access-date=June 7, 2018|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612235356/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/01/nyregion/surveying-effort-alters-sizes-of-some-new-york-parks.html|archive-date=June 12, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> with an area of {{convert|843|acre|ha mi2 km2}}.<ref name="Conservancy">{{cite web|title=About Us|work=Central Park Conservancy |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/about/about-cpc/|access-date=March 25, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140326000647/http://www.centralparknyc.org/about/about-cpc/ |archive-date=March 26, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Frequently Asked Questions |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |url=http://www.nycgovparks.org/about/faq |access-date=February 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170220013947/https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/faq |archive-date=February 20, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref> Central Park constitutes its own United States [[census tract]], numbered 143. According to [[American Community Survey]] five-year estimates, the park was home to four females with a [[median age]] of 19.8.<ref>{{cite web|title=Census Tract 143, New York, NY|publisher=[[U.S. Census Bureau]] |url=https://censusreporter.org/profiles/14000US36061014300-census-tract-143-new-york-ny/ |access-date=July 11, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119120140/https://censusreporter.org/profiles/14000US36061014300-census-tract-143-new-york-ny/|archive-date=January 19, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Though the [[2010 United States census]] recorded 25 residents within the census tract, park officials have rejected the claim of anyone permanently living there.<ref>{{cite news|last=Feuer|first=Alan|date=March 25, 2011|work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/nyregion/26census.html?_r=1&|title=Census Apparently Did Check Behind Every Tree|access-date=April 11, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123151319/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/nyregion/26census.html?_r=1&|archive-date=November 23, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Visitors===
Central Park is the most visited [[urban park]] in the United States<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tpl.org/content_documents/ccpe_MostVisitedParks.pdf|title=America's Most Visited City Parks|date=June 2006|publisher=[[The Trust for Public Land]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060725034722/http://www.tpl.org/content_documents/ccpe_MostVisitedParks.pdf|archive-date=July 25, 2006|access-date=July 11, 2006}}</ref> and one of the most visited tourist attractions worldwide,<ref>{{cite web|title=The World's Most-visited Tourist Attractions|date=November 10, 2017|work=[[Travel + Leisure]]|url=https://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/worlds-most-visited-tourist-attractions |access-date=May 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190516193838/https://www.travelandleisure.com/slideshows/worlds-most-visited-tourist-attractions|archive-date=May 16, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> with 42&nbsp;million visitors in 2016.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Van Buren|first=Alex|title=12 Secrets of New York's Central Park|magazine=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]]|date=January 27, 2016|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/12-secrets-new-yorks-central-park-180957937/|access-date=May 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190520080513/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/12-secrets-new-yorks-central-park-180957937/|archive-date=May 20, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The number of unique visitors 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&nbsp;million visits between them.{{sfn|Central Park Conservancy|2011|p=9}} By comparison, there were 25&nbsp;million visitors in 2009,<ref name="Crain's New York Business 2009" /> and 12.3&nbsp;million in 1973.{{sfn|Central Park Conservancy|2011|p=12}}

The number of tourists as a proportion of total visitors is much lower: in 2009, one-fifth of the 25&nbsp;million park visitors recorded that year were estimated to be tourists.<ref name="Crain's New York Business 2009" /> The 2011 Conservancy report gave a similar ratio of park usage: only 14%&nbsp;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%&nbsp;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.{{sfn|Central Park Conservancy|2011|p=9}}

{{wide image|26 - New York - Octobre 2008.jpg|900px|Panoramic view of Central Park from [[Rockefeller Center]] in 2008|align-cap=center}}
{{wide image|Centralpark fg01.jpg|900px|Central Park in 2004|align-cap=center}}

== Governance ==
The park 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).<ref name="Conservancy" /> 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 the parks commissioner and the Conservancy's president.<ref name="Conservancy" /> 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.<ref name="NYTimes-Conservancy-1980" /><ref name="NYDN-Conservancy-1980" /> The Conservancy took over the park's management duties from NYC Parks in 1998, though NYC Parks retained ownership of Central Park.<ref name="NYTimes-Conservancy-1998" /> The conservancy provides maintenance support and staff training programs for other public parks in New York City, and has assisted with the development of new parks such as the [[High Line]] and [[Brooklyn Bridge Park]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Central Park Effect: Assessing the Value of Central Park's Contribution to New York City's Economy |date=November 2015 |url=http://assets.centralparknyc.org/pdfs/about/The_Central_Park_Effect.pdf |publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 16, 2019 |pages=45–46|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419153252/http://assets.centralparknyc.org/pdfs/about/The_Central_Park_Effect.pdf|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

Central Park is patrolled by its own [[New York City Police Department]] precinct, the 22nd&nbsp;(Central Park) Precinct,{{Efn|Officially, the precinct is known as the 22nd&nbsp;Precinct. However, it is publicly referred to as the Central Park Precinct, making it one of the few unnumbered NYPD precincts in New York City.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/17/nyregion/nypd-precincts.html |title=New York Has 77 Police Precincts. Why Do Their Numbers Go Higher?|last=Gorce|first=Tammy La|date=March 17, 2017|work=The New York Times|access-date=September 4, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904020423/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/17/nyregion/nypd-precincts.html|archive-date=September 4, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>}} at the 86th&nbsp;Street transverse. The precinct employs both regular police and auxiliary officers.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/bureaus/patrol/precincts/central-park-precinct.page|title=NYPD – Central Park Precinct|publisher=[[New York City Police Department]]|access-date=October 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170605024207/http://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/bureaus/patrol/precincts/central-park-precinct.page|archive-date=June 5, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The 22nd&nbsp;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&nbsp;rapes, 23&nbsp;robberies, nine&nbsp;felony assaults, five&nbsp;burglaries, 48&nbsp;grand larcenies, and no grand larcenies auto in 2023.<ref name="NYPD 22nd Precinct CS">{{cite web|url=https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_statistics/cs-en-us-022pct.pdf|title=22nd Precinct CompStat Report|publisher=New York City Police Department|access-date=July 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413193250/http://www1.nyc.gov/assets/nypd/downloads/pdf/crime_statistics/cs-en-us-022pct.pdf|archive-date=April 13, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The citywide [[New York City Parks Enforcement Patrol]] patrols Central Park, and the Central Park Conservancy sometimes hires seasonal Parks Enforcement Patrol officers to protect certain features such as the [[Conservatory Garden]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Croft|first=Geoffrey|title=City must PEP up and hire more park patrol officers|work=[[New York Daily News]]|date=September 2, 2009|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/city-pep-hire-park-patrol-officers-article-1.406500|access-date=April 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416163327/https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/city-pep-hire-park-patrol-officers-article-1.406500|archive-date=April 16, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2025, the Conservancy created the Central Park Conservancy Ranger Corps to handle quality-of-life issues and help homeless individuals.<ref>{{cite web | last=Ginsburg | first=Aaron | title=Central Park launches new Ranger Corps to encourage better public behavior | website=6sqft | date=May 22, 2025 | url=https://www.6sqft.com/central-park-launches-new-rangers-corps-to-encourage-better-public-behavior/ | access-date=May 24, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Clark | first=Roger | title=New ranger corps addresses quality-of-life issues in Central Park | website=Spectrum News NY1 | date=May 23, 2025 | url=https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2025/05/22/central-park--rangers--parks- | access-date=May 24, 2025}}</ref>

A free volunteer [[medical emergency]] service, the [[Central Park Medical Unit]], operates within Central Park. The unit operates a rapid-response patrol with bicycles, [[ambulance]]s, and an [[all-terrain vehicle]]. Before the unit was established in 1975, municipal EMS often took over 30&nbsp;minutes to respond to incidents in the park.<ref>{{cite web|last=Santora|first=Marc|title=Cruising the Park, Finding Trouble |work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|date=August 20, 2005|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/20/nyregion/cruising-the-park-finding-trouble.html|access-date=April 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416163554/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/20/nyregion/cruising-the-park-finding-trouble.html|archive-date=April 16, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Central Park Bolt.jpg|thumb|alt=Randel's surveying bolt driven into rock|John Randel Jr.'s surveying bolt]]
{{Split section|History of Central Park|discuss=Talk:Central Park#Split history section to new article?|date=March 2026}}
===Planning===
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]].{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=23, 25}} The [[Commissioners' Plan of 1811]], the outline for Manhattan's modern street grid, included several smaller open spaces but not Central Park.{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|p=9}} 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&nbsp;Street transverse, marking the location where West 65th&nbsp;Street would have intersected [[Sixth Avenue]].{{sfn|Todd|1982|p=73}}<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/unearthing-the-city-grid-that-would-have-been-in-central-park|title=Unearthing the City Grid That Would Have Been in Central Park|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|date=January 8, 2016|access-date=March 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190706141925/https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/unearthing-the-city-grid-that-would-have-been-in-central-park|archive-date=July 6, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Site====
[[File:Map of Seneca Village.jpg|thumb|alt=Egbert Viele's survey of Central Park |Map of the former [[Seneca Village]] from [[Egbert Ludovicus Viele]]'s survey for Central Park]]
By the 1840s, members of the city's elite were publicly calling for the construction of a new large park in Manhattan.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=23, 25}}<ref name="Reynolds pp. 320-321">{{harvnb|Reynolds|1994|ps=.|pp=320–321}}</ref> At the time, Manhattan's seventeen squares comprised a combined {{convert|165|acre|ha|abbr=}} of land, the largest of which was the {{convert|10|acre|ha|0|abbr=|adj=on}} [[The Battery (Manhattan)|Battery Park]] at Manhattan island's southern tip.{{sfn|Rosenzweig| Blackmar|1992|pp=18–19}} These plans were endorsed in 1844 by ''[[New York Post|New York Evening Post]]'' editor [[William Cullen Bryant]], and in 1851 by [[Andrew Jackson Downing]], one of the first American landscape designers.<ref name="Reynolds pp. 320-321" />{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|pp=11–12}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=15, 29–30}}

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 {{convert|160|acre|ha|abbr=|adj=on}} tract of land between 66th&nbsp;and 75th&nbsp;streets on 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.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W0AbAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA458|title=Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York|last=New York State Assembly|year=1911|volume=29|pages=451–453|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405050610/https://books.google.com/books?id=W0AbAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA458|archive-date=April 5, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Taylor|2009|p=258}}{{sfn|Berman|2003|p=17}} A bill to acquire Jones's Wood was invalidated as unconstitutional,{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|p=45}}{{sfn|Taylor|2009|p=259}} so attention turned to a second site: a {{convert|750|acre|ha|adj=on}} area known as "Central Park", bounded by 59th&nbsp;and 106th&nbsp;streets between Fifth and Eighth avenues.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|p=45}}{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|pp=12, 14}} [[Croton Aqueduct]] Board president Nicholas Dean, who proposed the Central Park site, chose it because the Croton Aqueduct's {{convert|35|acre|ha|abbr=|adj=on}}, {{convert|150|e6gal|e6L|abbr=|adj=on}} collecting reservoir would be in the geographical center.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|p=45}}{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|pp=12, 14}} In July 1853, the New York State Legislature passed the Central Park Act, authorizing the purchase of the present-day site of Central Park.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=16}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=51–53}}

The board of land commissioners conducted property assessments on more than 34,000 lots in the area,{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=81–83}} completing them by July 1855.{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|p=17}} While the assessments were ongoing, proposals to downsize the plans were vetoed by mayor [[Fernando Wood]].{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|p=17}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=55–56}}{{sfn|Taylor|2009|pp=261–262}} At the time, the site was occupied by free black people and Irish immigrants who had developed a property-owning community there since 1825.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/07/nyregion/uncovering-the-ruins-of-new-yorks-first-free-black-settlement.html |title=Uncovering the Ruins of an Early Black Settlement in New York|last=Williams|first=Keith|date=February 7, 2018|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 31, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331042658/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/07/nyregion/uncovering-the-ruins-of-new-yorks-first-free-black-settlement.html|archive-date=March 31, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/seneca-village-black-town-razed-central-park-article-1.2639611|title=A look at Seneca Village, the early black settlement obliterated by the creation of Central Park |last=Blakinger|first=Keri|date=May 17, 2016|work=New York Daily News|access-date=March 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160518101320/https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/seneca-village-black-town-razed-central-park-article-1.2639611|archive-date=May 18, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Most of the Central Park site's residents lived in small villages, such as Pigtown;{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=73–74}}<ref>{{cite magazine |date=1903|editor-last=Rines|editor-first=George Edwin|title=Central City – Central Park|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h2lMAAAAMAAJ&pg=PT388|publisher=The Americana Company|volume=4|journal=The Encyclopedia Americana |editor-last2=Beach|editor-first2=Frederick Converse}}</ref> [[Seneca Village]];<ref name="Martin 1997">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/31/arts/a-village-dies-a-park-is-born.html |title=A Village Dies, A Park Is Born |last=Martin|first=Douglas|date=January 31, 1997|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 11, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426202041/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/31/arts/a-village-dies-a-park-is-born.html|archive-date=April 26, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> or in the school and convent at [[College of Mount Saint Vincent|Mount St. Vincent's Academy]].{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=89–90}} Clearing began shortly after the land commission's report was released in October 1855,{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=81–83}}<ref>{{Cite news|title=The Central Park—The Assessment Completed |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1855/10/04/archives/the-central-parkthe-assessment-completed.html |date=October 4, 1855|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 1, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401013259/https://www.nytimes.com/1855/10/04/archives/the-central-parkthe-assessment-completed.html|archive-date=April 1, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and approximately 1,600 residents were evicted under [[eminent domain]].<ref name="Martin 1997" /><ref>{{cite web|title=Seneca Village |url=http://maap.columbia.edu/place/32.html|publisher=[[Columbia University]]|access-date=September 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190222051213/http://maap.columbia.edu/place/32.html|archive-date=February 22, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Berman|2003|p=19}} Though supporters claimed that the park would cost just $1.7&nbsp;million,{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=46–47}} the total cost of the land ended up being $7.39&nbsp;million (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US|7390000|1855|r=0}}}} in {{Inflation-year|USD}}), more than the price that [[Alaska Purchase|the United States would pay for Alaska]] a few years later.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=17}}<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.echonyc.com/~parks/books/bridges.html |title=Bridges of Central Park |last1=Reed|first1=Henry Hope|last2=McGee|first2=Robert M.|last3=Mipaas |first3=Esther|date=1990|publisher=Greensward Foundation |isbn=978-0-931311-06-2|access-date=May 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913214334/http://www.echonyc.com/~parks/books/bridges.html |archive-date=September 13, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Treaty with Russia for the Purchase of Alaska |publisher=Library of Congress|url=https://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Alaska.html |access-date=August 30, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150329025653/http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Alaska.html |archive-date=March 29, 2015}}</ref>

==== Design contest ====
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.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=96–97}}{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=18}} Wood hired military engineer [[Egbert Ludovicus Viele]] as the park's chief engineer, tasking him with a topographical survey of the site.{{sfn|Berman|2003|p=21}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=100–101}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/clip/23560870/|title=General Egbert E. Viele|date=April 23, 1902|work=[[Brooklyn Daily Eagle]]|access-date=March 30, 2019|page=3|via=Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com}}</ref> The following April, the state legislature passed a bill to authorize the appointment of four [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] and seven [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] commissioners,{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=96–97}}{{sfn|Berman|2003|p=20}} who had exclusive control over the planning and construction process.{{sfn|New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|1858|loc=PDF pp. 8–12}}<ref name="NYS-1911" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1860/03/13/archives/the-central-park-report-of-the-commissioners-of-the-central-park-in.html |title=The Central Park; Report of the Commissioners of the Central Park in Reply to the Inquiries of the State Senate|date=March 13, 1860|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 4, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404170137/https://www.nytimes.com/1860/03/13/archives/the-central-park-report-of-the-commissioners-of-the-central-park-in.html|archive-date=April 4, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Though Viele had already devised a plan for the park,{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|p=18}} the commissioners disregarded it and retained him to complete only the topographical surveys.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=102–103}}{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|p=20}} The Central Park Commission began hosting a landscape design contest shortly after its creation.{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|p=20}}{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=24–25}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=111–112}} The commission specified that each entry contain extremely detailed specifications, as mandated by the consulting board.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=111–112}}{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|p=21}}{{sfn|New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|1858|loc=PDF pp. 29–30}} Thirty-three firms or organizations submitted plans.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=111–112}}{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|p=21}}

In April 1858, the park commissioners selected [[Frederick Law Olmsted]] and [[Calvert Vaux]]'s "Greensward Plan" as the winning design.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1858/04/30/archives/the-central-park-plans.html |title=The Central Park Plans|date=April 30, 1858|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 1, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401013252/https://www.nytimes.com/1858/04/30/archives/the-central-park-plans.html|archive-date=April 1, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=117–120}}{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|pp=23–24}} Three other plans were designated as runners-up and featured in a city exhibit.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=117–120}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1858/05/13/archives/the-central-park-exhibition-of-the-unsuccessful-plans-for-the.html |title=The Central Park; Exhibition of the Unsuccessful Plans for the Central Park|date=May 13, 1858|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 1, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401013254/https://www.nytimes.com/1858/05/13/archives/the-central-park-exhibition-of-the-unsuccessful-plans-for-the.html|archive-date=April 1, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Reynolds p. 321">{{harvnb|Reynolds|1994|ps=.|p=321}}</ref>{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=130–135}} The plan eschewed symmetry, instead opting for a more picturesque design.<ref name="Reynolds p. 321" />{{sfn|Scobey|2002|p=20}} It was influenced by the pastoral ideals of landscaped cemeteries such as [[Mount Auburn Cemetery|Mount Auburn]] in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], and [[Green-Wood Cemetery|Green-Wood]] in Brooklyn.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=130–135}}{{sfn|Taylor|2009|p=266}} The design was also inspired by Olmsted's 1850 visit to [[Birkenhead Park]] in [[Birkenhead]], England,{{sfn|Olmsted|1852|p=83}} which is generally acknowledged as the first publicly funded civil park in the world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wirral.gov.uk/LGCL/100006/200073/670/content_0001110.html |title=The History of Birkenhead Park |work=Metropolitan Borough of Wirral |access-date=March 26, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080626164507/http://www.wirral.gov.uk/LGCL/100006/200073/670/content_0001110.html |archive-date=June 26, 2008 }}</ref>{{sfn|Brocklebank|2003|pp=32–33}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Foderaro|first=Lisa W.|date=October 30, 2019|title=The Parks That Made the Man Who Made Central Park|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/30/travel/footsteps-frederick-law-olmsted-parks.html|access-date=August 29, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> According to Olmsted, the park was "of great importance as the first real Park made in this country—a democratic development of the highest significance".{{sfn|Scobey|2002|p=20}}{{sfn|Taylor|2009|pp=267–268}}

{{Wide image|1868 Vaux ^ Olmsted Map of Central Park, New York City - Geographicus - CentralPark-CentralPark-1869.jpg|800px|alt=Greensward's Plan|The modified Greensward Plan for the park from 1868|align-cap=center}}

===Construction===
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.]]{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=51}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ci.columbia.edu/0240s/0244_3/0244_3_s3_text.html |title=The Architecture and Development of New York City|first=Andrew S.|last=Dolkart|access-date=October 20, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081205202859/http://ci.columbia.edu/0240s/0244_3/0244_3_s3_text.html|archive-date=December 5, 2008}}</ref> Olmsted 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.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=52}} Pilat was the park's chief landscape architect, whose primary responsibility was the importation and placement of plants within the park.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=52}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=170–172}} A "corps" of construction engineers and foremen, managed by superintending engineer William H. Grant, were tasked with the measuring and constructing architectural features such as paths, roads, and buildings.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=159–160}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21074748/william_h_grant_obituary_page_5/|title=William H. Grant, C.E|date=October 12, 1896|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 30, 2019|page=5|via=newspapers.com|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419152113/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/21074748/william_h_grant_obituary_page_5/|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Waring was one of the engineers working under Grant's leadership and was in charge of land drainage.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=163–165}}{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|pp=40–41}}

Central Park was difficult to construct because of the generally rocky and swampy landscape.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=57–58}} Around {{convert|5|e6ft3|m3||spell=in}} of soil and rocks had to be transported out of the park, and more gunpowder was used to clear the area than was used at the [[Battle of Gettysburg]] during the [[American Civil War]].{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|p=150}} More than {{convert|18500|yd3|m3}} 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.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=57–58}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|p=150}} Modern steam-powered equipment and custom tree-moving machines augmented the work of unskilled laborers.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|p=150}} In total, over 20,000 individuals helped construct Central Park.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|p=150}} 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.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=166–167}}

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.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=57–58}}{{sfn|New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|1865|pp=20–21 (PDF pp. 19–20)}}{{sfn|Taylor|2009|pp=288–289}} The mounted police were viewed favorably by park patrons and were later incorporated into a permanent patrol.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=57–58}} The regulations were sometimes strict.{{sfn|Taylor|2009|pp=288–289}} For instance, prohibited actions included [[Game of chance|games of chance]], speech-making, large congregations such as [[picnics]], or picking flowers or other parts of plants.{{sfn|Taylor|2009|pp=288–289}}{{sfn|Berman|2003|p=41}}<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30592170/|title=Ordinances of the Central Park|date=June 5, 1870 |work=[[New York Herald]]|access-date=March 30, 2019|page=12|via=newspapers.com}}</ref> These ordinances were effective: by 1866, there had been nearly eight million visits and only 110 arrests in the park's history.{{sfn|Homberger|1994|pp=88–89}}

==== Late 1850s ====
[[File:The Lake Central Park.jpg|upright=1.1|thumb|alt=The Lake in Central Part with a high-rise building in the background|The Lake, one of the first features of Central Park to be completed]]
In late August 1857, workers began building fences, clearing vegetation, draining the land, and leveling uneven terrain.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=161–162}}{{sfn|New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|1858|loc=PDF pp. 31–35}} By the following month, chief engineer Viele reported that the project employed nearly 700 workers.{{sfn|New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|1858|loc=PDF pp. 31–35}} Olmsted employed workers using [[day labor]], hiring men directly without any contracts and paying them by the day.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=159–160}} Many of the laborers were [[Irish diaspora|Irish immigrants]] or first-or-second generation [[Irish Americans]], and some [[German Americans|Germans]] and [[Italian Americans|Italians]];{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=173–175}} there were no black or female laborers.{{sfn|Taylor|2009|pp=282–283}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=176–177}} The workers were often underpaid,{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=176–177}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1857/12/11/archives/newyork-city-dr-charles-mackay-on-english-songs-and-songwriters.html |title=New York City; Dr Charles Mackay, on English Songs and Song-Writers|date=December 11, 1857|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 7, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190407020321/https://www.nytimes.com/1857/12/11/archives/newyork-city-dr-charles-mackay-on-english-songs-and-songwriters.html|archive-date=April 7, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and workers would often take jobs at other construction projects to supplement their income.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=178–179}} A pattern of seasonal hiring was established, wherein more workers would be hired and paid at higher rates during the summers.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=176–177}}

For several months, the park commissioners faced funding issues,<ref name="NYS-1911">{{cite book |chapter=Sixteenth Annual Report, 1911, of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society |title=First-thirtieth Annual Report ... 1896–1925 to the Legislature of the State of New York |year=1911 |publisher=American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=0KhIAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA474 474]}}</ref>{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=151–152}} and a dedicated workforce and funding stream was not secured until June 1858.<ref name="NYS-1911" /> The landscaped [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir|Upper Reservoir]] was the only part of the park that the commissioners were not responsible for constructing; instead, the Reservoir would be built by the Croton Aqueduct board. Work on the Reservoir started in April 1858.{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|pp=47–48}} The first major work in Central Park involved grading the driveways and draining the land in the park's southern section.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=31}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1858/11/11/archives/the-central-park-progress-of-the-workits-present-condition-and-the.html |title=The Central Park; Progress of the Work—Its Present Condition, and the Prospects of its being Opened to the Public|date=November 11, 1858|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 2, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411222607/https://www.nytimes.com/1858/11/11/archives/the-central-park-progress-of-the-workits-present-condition-and-the.html|archive-date=April 11, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The Lake in Central Park's southwestern section was the first feature to open to the public, in December 1858,{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=32–33}} followed by the Ramble in June 1859.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=166–167}}{{sfn|New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|1859|p=10 (PDF p. 11)}} The same year, the New York State Legislature authorized the purchase of an additional {{convert|65|acre|ha}} at the northern end of Central Park, from 106th&nbsp;to 110th&nbsp;Streets.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=32–33}}{{sfn|New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|1859|p=23 (PDF p. 25)}} The section of Central Park south of 79th&nbsp;Street was mostly completed by 1860.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1860/05/01/archives/central-park-matters-plan-of-work-for-the-year-summer-features-of.html |title=Central Park Matters; Plan of Work for the Year |date=May 1, 1860|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 4, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404170136/https://www.nytimes.com/1860/05/01/archives/central-park-matters-plan-of-work-for-the-year-summer-features-of.html|archive-date=April 4, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

The park commissioners reported in June 1860 that $4&nbsp;million had been spent on the construction to date.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1860/06/28/archives/the-central-park-investigation-examination-of-mr-olmsted.html |title=The Central Park Investigation; Examination of Mr. Olmsted|date=June 28, 1860|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 9, 2019|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> As a result of the sharply rising construction costs, the commissioners eliminated or downsized several features in the Greensward Plan.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=184–186}} Based on claims of cost mismanagement, the New York State Senate commissioned the Swiss engineer Julius Kellersberger to write a report on the park.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1860/11/23/archives/the-central-park-investigation-expenses-and-general-management.html |title=The Central Park Investigation; Expenses and General Management|date=November 23, 1860|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 9, 2019|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Kellersberger's report, submitted in 1861, stated that the commission's management of the park was a "triumphant success".{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=188–189}}{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|pp=37–38}}

{{wide image|Annual report of the Board of Commissioners of the Central Park (1858) (18246225410).jpg|800px|alt=Map showing improvements to the park in 1858|Map of improvements underway by 1858|align-cap=center}}

==== 1860s ====
[[File:Central Park 1862 crop.jpg|thumb|upright=1|alt=Bethesda Terrace under construction|[[Bethesda Terrace]] and Fountain under construction in 1862]]
[[File:NSAPINY9 EXTR.jpg|thumb|Ice skating in Central Park, 1862 lithograph by [[Currier and Ives]]]]
Olmsted often clashed with the park commissioners, notably with Chief Commissioner Green.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=184–186}}{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=64–65}} Olmsted resigned in June 1862, and Green was appointed to Olmsted's position.<ref name="NYTimes-Green-CP-1897">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1897/10/10/archives/illustrated-weekly-magazine-andrew-h-green-and-central-park.html |title=Andrew H. Green and Central Park|date=October 10, 1897 |work=The New York Times|access-date=April 2, 2019|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=190–192}} Vaux resigned in 1863 because of what he saw as pressure from Green.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=69}} As superintendent of the park, Green accelerated construction, though having little experience in architecture.<ref name="NYTimes-Green-CP-1897" /> He implemented a style of [[micromanagement]], keeping records of the smallest transactions in an effort to reduce costs.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=64–65}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=193–195}} Green finalized the negotiations to purchase the northernmost {{convert|65|acre}} of the park which was later converted into a "rugged" woodland and the Harlem Meer waterway.<ref name="NYTimes-Green-CP-1897" />{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=193–195}}

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.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=46}} Only three major structures were completed during the Civil War: the Music Stand and the [[Central Park Casino|Casino]] restaurant, both later demolished, and the [[Bethesda Terrace and Fountain]].{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|pp=58–59}} By late 1861, the park south of 72nd&nbsp;Street had been completed, except for various fences.{{sfn|New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|1861|p=16 (PDF p. 19)}} Work had begun on the northern section of the park but was complicated by a need to preserve the historic [[McGowan's Pass]].{{sfn|New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|1864|pp=7–8}} The Upper Reservoir was completed the following year.{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|p=42}}

During this period Central Park began to gain popularity.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=46}} One of the main attractions was the "Carriage Parade", a daily display of horse-drawn carriages that traversed the park.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=46}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|p=222}}{{sfn|Morris|1996|p=95}} Park patronage grew steadily: by 1867, Central Park accommodated nearly three million pedestrians, 85,000 horses, and 1.38&nbsp;million vehicles annually.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=46}} 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 was able to participate in sports such as ice-skating or rowing, or listen to concerts at the Mall's bandstand.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=47}}

Olmsted and Vaux were re-hired in mid-1865.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=71}} 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 the Lake.{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|pp=58–59}}{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=74}}

==== 1870–1876: completion ====
[[File:The Pennsylvania railroad- its origin, construction, condition, and connections. Embracing historical, descriptive, and statistical notices of cities, towns, villages, stations, industries, and (14573460329).jpg|thumb|left|alt=People on horseback and riding in carriages in the park|Gentry in the new park, {{circa}} 1870]]
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.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=77}} 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.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=77}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|p=263}} Subsequently, Olmsted and Vaux resigned again from the project in November 1870.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=77}} 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.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=78–79}}

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.<ref name="NYTimes-Improvement-1872">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1872/08/25/archives/central-park-improvement.html |title=Central Park Improvement|date=August 25, 1872|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 9, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190409175425/https://www.nytimes.com/1872/08/25/archives/central-park-improvement.html|archive-date=April 9, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> By 1872, Manhattan Square had been reserved for the [[American Museum of Natural History]], founded three years before at the [[Arsenal (Central Park)|Arsenal]]. A corresponding area on the East Side, originally intended as a playground, would later become the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]].<ref name="NYTimes-Improvement-1872" />{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=86–87}} 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 the administrative offices on the 86th&nbsp;Street transverse in 1872.{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|p=60}} Even though Olmsted and Vaux's partnership was dissolved by the end of 1872,{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|p=280}} the park was not officially completed until 1876.{{sfn|Taylor|2009|p=292}}

===Late 19th and early 20th centuries: first decline===
[[File:Belvedere Castle, Central Park.jpg|thumb|upright=1|alt=Belvedere Castle|[[Belvedere Castle]], completed 1869]]
[[File:Flickr - …trialsanderrors - Lower end of mall, Central Park, New York City, 1901.jpg|thumb|upright=1|alt=The tree-lined mall with people walking and others seated on benches on either side|Lower end of the mall, seen in 1901]]
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.{{sfn|Berman|2003|p=81}} Because of the heightened visitor count, neglect by the Tammany administration, and budget cuts demanded by taxpayers, the maintenance expenses for Central Park had reached a nadir by 1879.{{sfn|Berman|2003|p=41}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=281–283}} Olmsted blamed politicians, real estate owners, and park workers for Central Park's decline, though high maintenance costs were also a factor.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=264–266}} 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 the park as a recreational attraction.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=84–85}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=315–317}} Vehicles were allowed in the park from 1899 onward.<ref name="Reiss 2020">{{cite book | last=Reiss | first=Marcia | title=Lost New York | publisher=Rizzoli | date=March 24, 2020 | isbn=978-1-911641-37-7 | url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Lost_New_York/VQfWDwAAQBAJ?hl=en | access-date=February 14, 2026 | page=17}}</ref> 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 [[Coney Island]] beaches or [[Broadway theatre|Broadway theaters]] for a five-cent fare.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=386–387}}

In the late 19th&nbsp;century the landscape architect [[Samuel Parsons]] took the position of New York City parks superintendent. A onetime apprentice of [[Calvert Vaux]],{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=89–90}} Parsons helped restore the nurseries of Central Park in 1886.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1886/10/10/archives/renewing-central-park-detective-management-of-the-trees-and.html |title=Renewing Central Park; Detective Management of the Trees and Shrubbery to Be Remedied|date=October 10, 1886|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 9, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190409175428/https://www.nytimes.com/1886/10/10/archives/renewing-central-park-detective-management-of-the-trees-and.html|archive-date=April 9, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=91–93}} Under Parsons' leadership, two circles (now [[Duke Ellington Circle|Duke Ellington]] and [[Frederick Douglass Circle]]s) were constructed at the northern corners of the park.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1888/07/15/archives/new-central-park-plaza.html |title=New Central Park Plaza|date=July 15, 1888|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 14, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414210427/https://www.nytimes.com/1888/07/15/archives/new-central-park-plaza.html|archive-date=April 14, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=294–295}} He was removed in May 1911 following a lengthy dispute over whether an expense to replace the soil in the park was unnecessary.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=91–93}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/55203962/ |title=Samuel Parsons Dismissed|date=May 12, 1911|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=March 30, 2019|page=20 |via=Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423183947/https://www.newspapers.com/image/55203962/ |archive-date=April 23, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> A succession of Tammany-affiliated Democratic mayors were indifferent toward Central Park.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=99–100}}

Several park advocacy groups were formed in the early 20th&nbsp;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 the 1900s and 1910s.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=115–116}} These associations advocated against such changes to the park as the construction of a library,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1912/06/01/archives/to-oppose-library-in-central-park-we-object-even-to-art-museum.html |title=To Oppose Library in Central Park|date=June 1, 1912|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 11, 2019 |issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411184915/https://www.nytimes.com/1912/06/01/archives/to-oppose-library-in-central-park-we-object-even-to-art-museum.html|archive-date=April 11, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> sports stadium,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1919/12/16/archives/to-oppose-stadium-in-central-park-three-directors-of-parks-and.html |title=To Oppose Stadium in Central Park|date=December 16, 1919 |work=The New York Times|access-date=April 11, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411184908/https://www.nytimes.com/1919/12/16/archives/to-oppose-stadium-in-central-park-three-directors-of-parks-and.html|archive-date=April 11, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> a cultural center,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1923/11/28/archives/resist-plan-to-rob-park-of-412-acres-playgrounds-association-pro.html |title=Resist Plan to Rob Park of 41.2 Acres|date=November 28, 1923|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 11, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411184905/https://www.nytimes.com/1923/11/28/archives/resist-plan-to-rob-park-of-412-acres-playgrounds-association-pro.html|archive-date=April 11, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and an underground parking lot.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/01/07/archives/objects-to-a-park-garage-central-park-association-writes-protest-to.html |title=Objects to a Park Garage|date=January 7, 1927|work=The New York Times |access-date=April 11, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411190030/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/01/07/archives/objects-to-a-park-garage-central-park-association-writes-protest-to.html|archive-date=April 11, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> A third group, the Central Park Association, was created in 1926.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=115–116}} The Central Park Association and the Parks and Playgrounds Association were merged into the Park Association of New York City two years later.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/05/14/archives/park-bodies-merge-in-new-association-to-speed-city-plans-nathan.html|title=Park Bodies Merge In New Association To Speed City Plans|date=May 14, 1928|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 11, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411184907/https://www.nytimes.com/1928/05/14/archives/park-bodies-merge-in-new-association-to-speed-city-plans-nathan.html|archive-date=April 11, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Heckscher Playground]]—named after philanthropist [[August Heckscher]], who donated the play equipment—opened near its southern end in 1926,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/06/22/archives/to-raise-3000000-for-central-park-august-heckschers-proposal-is.html |title=To Raise $3,000,000 For Central Park|date=June 22, 1926|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=April 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411184905/https://www.nytimes.com/1926/06/22/archives/to-raise-3000000-for-central-park-august-heckschers-proposal-is.html|archive-date=April 11, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=395–397}} and quickly became popular with poor immigrant families.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=395–397}} The following year, Mayor [[Jimmy Walker]] commissioned landscape designer Hermann W. Merkel to create a plan to improve Central Park.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=99–100}} Merkel's plans would combat vandalism and plant destruction, rehabilitate paths, and add eight new playgrounds, at a cost of $1&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30440263/|title=New Central Park Outlined in Plans|date=December 20, 1927|work=New York Daily News|access-date=March 30, 2019|page=215 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref>{{sfn|Herrick|1928|p=5 (PDF p. 6)}} One of the suggested modifications, underground irrigation pipes, were installed soon after Merkel's report was submitted.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=99–100}}<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/03/29/archives/favors-irrigation-for-central-park-city-takes-first-step-in-its.html |title=Favors Irrigation For Central Park |date=March 29, 1927|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 9, 2019 |issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190409220558/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/03/29/archives/favors-irrigation-for-central-park-city-takes-first-step-in-its.html|archive-date=April 9, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The other improvements outlined in the report, such as fences to mitigate plant destruction, were postponed due to the [[Great Depression]].{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=101–102}}

=== 1930s to 1950s: Moses rehabilitation ===
[[File:Fountain on the mall in Central Park on Sunday 8d22217v.jpg|thumb|Central Park in September 1942]]
In 1934, Republican [[Fiorello La Guardia]] was elected [[List of mayors of New York City|mayor of New York City]]. He unified the five park-related departments then in existence. Newly appointed city parks commissioner [[Robert Moses]] was given the task of cleaning up the park, and he summarily fired many of the Tammany-era staff.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=103–105}} 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.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=103–105}}{{sfn|Caro|1974|p=334}} Moses's biographer [[Robert Caro]] later said, "The once beautiful Mall looked like a scene of a wild party the morning after. Benches lay on their backs, their legs jabbing at the sky..."{{sfn|Caro|1974|p=334}}

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.{{sfn|Stern|Gilmartin|Mellins|1987|p=710}}{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=106–109}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=450–451}} The park [[menagerie]] was transformed into the modern [[Central Park Zoo]], and a rat extermination program was instituted within the zoo.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=106–109}} Another dramatic change was Moses' removal of the "[[Hoover valley]]" shantytown at the north end of Turtle Pond, which became the {{convert|30|acre|ha|abbr=|adj=on}} Great Lawn.{{sfn|Stern|Gilmartin|Mellins|1987|p=710}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=450–451}} The western part of the Pond at the park's southeast corner became an ice skating rink called [[Wollman Rink]],{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=106–109}} roads were improved or widened,{{sfn|Caro|1974|p=984}} and twenty-one playgrounds were added.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=450–451}} These projects used funds from the [[New Deal]] program, and donations from the public.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=450–451}} Moses removed [[Sheep Meadow]]'s sheep to make way for the Tavern on the Green restaurant.{{sfn|Caro|1974|p=984}}<ref name="NYTimes-Sheep-1934">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/03/18/archives/central-parks-sheep-join-the-fold-in-prospect-park.html |title=Central Park's Sheep Join the Fold in Prospect Park|date=March 18, 1934|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 9, 2019 |issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190409220559/https://www.nytimes.com/1934/03/18/archives/central-parks-sheep-join-the-fold-in-prospect-park.html |archive-date=April 9, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

Renovations in the 1940s and 1950s include a restoration of the Harlem Meer completed in 1943,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1943/12/08/archives/central-park-section-reopened-to-the-public.html |title=Central Park Section Reopened to the Public|date=December 8, 1943|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 11, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411190024/https://www.nytimes.com/1943/12/08/archives/central-park-section-reopened-to-the-public.html|archive-date=April 11, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and a new boathouse completed in 1954.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1954/03/12/archives/new-305000-boathouse-at-central-park-lake-will-be-opened-today.html |title=New $305,000 Boathouse at Central Park Lake Will Be Opened Today|date=March 12, 1954|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 16, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416215133/https://www.nytimes.com/1954/03/12/archives/new-305000-boathouse-at-central-park-lake-will-be-opened-today.html|archive-date=April 16, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Loeb Boat House 1939">{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/highlights/12360 |work=Central Park Highlights|title=Loeb Boat House|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416215624/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/highlights/12360 |archive-date=April 16, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Conservancy Loeb Boathouse">{{cite web |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/loeb-boathouse.html |title=Loeb Boathouse|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417003341/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/loeb-boathouse.html|archive-date=April 17, 2019}}</ref> Moses began construction on several other recreational features in Central Park, such as playgrounds and ball fields.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=110–111}} One of the more controversial projects proposed during this time was a 1956 dispute over a parking lot for Tavern in 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.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=110–111}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/04/25/archives/parking-lot-foes-routed-by-moses-construction-of-parking-lot-begun.html |title=Parking Lot Foes Routed By Moses|last=Schumach |first=Murray|date=April 25, 1956|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 11, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411184904/https://www.nytimes.com/1956/04/25/archives/parking-lot-foes-routed-by-moses-construction-of-parking-lot-begun.html|archive-date=April 11, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> 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 the threat of a lawsuit.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=110–111}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/04/27/archives/court-stops-job-in-central-park-hearing-on-parking-lot-due.html |title=Court Stops Job In Central Park|date=April 27, 1956|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 11, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411184903/https://www.nytimes.com/1956/04/27/archives/court-stops-job-in-central-park-hearing-on-parking-lot-due.html|archive-date=April 11, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== 1960s and 1970s: "Events Era" and second decline ===
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.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=112–113}} The city experienced economic and social changes, with some residents moving to the suburbs.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|p=476}}<ref name="centralparknyc history2">{{cite web |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/about/history.html |title=History|date=August 18, 2009 |publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=December 20, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140310211751/http://www.centralparknyc.org/about/history.html|archive-date=March 10, 2014}}</ref> Interest in Central Park's landscape had long since declined, and it was now mostly being used for recreation.<ref>{{cite news|last=Gregg|first=John|date=April 29, 1962 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30726005/ |title=Manhattan's Changing|work=New York Daily News|access-date=March 30, 2019|page=52 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> Several unrealized additions were proposed for Central Park in that decade, such as a public housing development,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/05/07/archives/housing-plan-for-central-park-scored-as-absurd-and-outrage.html |title=Housing Plan for Central Park; Scored as 'Absurd' and 'Outrage' |date=May 7, 1964 |work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418180855/https://www.nytimes.com/1964/05/07/archives/housing-plan-for-central-park-scored-as-absurd-and-outrage.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> a golf course,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/11/19/archives/golf-in-central-park-is-rejected-by-morris.html |title=Golf in Central Park Is Rejected by Morris|date=November 19, 1964|work=The New York Times |access-date=April 18, 2019 |issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418180857/https://www.nytimes.com/1964/11/19/archives/golf-in-central-park-is-rejected-by-morris.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and a "revolving world's fair".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/10/20/archives/a-revolving-worlds-fair-in-central-park-proposed.html |title=A 'Revolving World's Fair' In Central Park Proposed|date=October 20, 1966 |work=The New York Times |access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418180853/https://www.nytimes.com/1966/10/20/archives/a-revolving-worlds-fair-in-central-park-proposed.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

The 1960s marked the beginning of an "Events Era" in Central Park that reflected the widespread cultural and political trends of the period.{{sfn|Rogers|2018|p=20}} [[The Public Theater]]'s annual [[Shakespeare in the Park]] festival was settled in the [[Delacorte Theater]],<ref>{{Cite news|last=Calta|first=Louis|date=May 20, 1971 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/20/archives/papp-altering-central-park-theater.html |title=Papp Altering Central Park Theater|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418023356/https://www.nytimes.com/1971/05/20/archives/papp-altering-central-park-theater.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and summer performances were instituted on the Sheep Meadow and the Great Lawn by the [[New York Philharmonic Orchestra]] and the [[Metropolitan Opera]].{{Refn|See, for example: {{cite web|last=Strongin|first=Theodore|title=Concert in Park Heard by 73,500|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|date=August 18, 1965|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1965/08/18/archives/concert-in-park-heard-by-73500-ozawa-leads-philharmonic-in-the.html|access-date=April 18, 2019|postscript=none}}; {{cite web|last=Wilson|first=John S.|title=Barbra Streisand's Free Sing-In Jams Sheep Meadow in the Park|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|date=June 18, 1967|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/06/18/archives/barbra-streisands-free-singin-jams-sheep-meadow-in-the-park-barbra.html|access-date=April 18, 2019}}}} During the late 1960s, the park became the venue for rallies and cultural events such as the [[Central Park be-in|"love-ins" and "be-ins"]] of the period.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|p=489}} 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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/12/22/archives/lindsay-and-hoving-give-new-skating-rink-a-whirl.html |title=Lindsay and Hoving Give New Skating Rink a Whirl|date=December 22, 1966|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 19, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

By 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.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/06/08/archives/central-park-condition-decried-preliminary-estimate.html |title=Central Park Condition Decried|last=Hudson|first=Edward|date=June 8, 1973|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418180852/https://www.nytimes.com/1973/06/08/archives/central-park-condition-decried-preliminary-estimate.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The Central Park Community Fund was subsequently created based on the recommendation of a report from a [[Columbia University]] professor.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/11/20/archives/central-park-called-badly-managed-report-urges-a-board-of-guardians.html |title=Central Park Called Badly Managed;|last=Gerston |first=Jill|date=November 20, 1974|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418180904/https://www.nytimes.com/1974/11/20/archives/central-park-called-badly-managed-report-urges-a-board-of-guardians.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The Fund then commissioned a study of the park's management and suggested the appointment of both a NYC Parks administrator and a board of citizens.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/11/12/archives/special-management-plan-urged-to-combat-central-parks-decay-against.html |title=Special Management Plan Urged To Combat Central Park's Decay|last=Maitland |first=Leslie|date=November 12, 1978|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418180857/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/11/12/archives/special-management-plan-urged-to-combat-central-parks-decay-against.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1979, Parks Commissioner [[Gordon Davis]] established the Office of Central Park Administrator and appointed [[Elizabeth Barlow Rogers|Elizabeth Barlow]], the executive director of the Central Park Task Force, to the position.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Dembart|first=Lee|date=February 28, 1979 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/02/28/archives/new-central-park-overseer-elizabeth-browning-barlow.html |title=New Central Park Overseer |work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418180856/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/02/28/archives/new-central-park-overseer-elizabeth-browning-barlow.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Slagle 1983">{{cite news|title=The Greening of Central Park|last=Slagle|first=Alton|date=February 6, 1983 |work=New York Daily News|pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30728624/ 7], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30728655/ 55]|via=newspapers.com}}</ref> The Central Park Conservancy, a nonprofit organization with a citizen board, was founded the following year.<ref name="NYTimes-Conservancy-1980">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/12/14/archives/mayor-koch-sets-up-conservancy-for-central-park-three-appointed-by.html |title=Mayor Koch Sets Up Conservancy for Central Park|last=Glueck|first=Grace|date=December 14, 1980|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019 |issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418185030/https://www.nytimes.com/1980/12/14/archives/mayor-koch-sets-up-conservancy-for-central-park-three-appointed-by.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NYDN-Conservancy-1980">{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30728501/|title=Central Park gets its own fund-raisers|date=December 18, 1980 |work=New York Daily News|access-date=March 30, 2019|page=181|via=newspapers.com}}</ref>

===1970s to 2000s: restoration===
{{multiple image|direction=vertical|align=right|width=220
|image1=great-lawn-before250.jpg|alt caption1=Great Lawn before renovations showing large areas of dead grass|caption1=The Great Lawn before renovations in the late 1970s
|image2=Great-Lawn.jpg|alt caption2= Great Lawns and five baseball diamonds after restoration |caption2=The Great Lawn after renovations in the 1980s}}

Under the leadership of 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.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30728554/|title=Pruning Central Park|last=Larkin|first=Kathy |date=May 6, 1983|work=New York Daily News|access-date=March 30, 2019|page=69|via=newspapers.com}}</ref> The first structure to be renovated was the Dairy, which reopened as the park's first visitor center in 1979.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/16/archives/1870-dairy-in-the-park-reopening-victim-of-fiscal-crisis.html |title=1870 Dairy In the Park Reopening|date=November 16, 1979 |work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418185025/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/16/archives/1870-dairy-in-the-park-reopening-victim-of-fiscal-crisis.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The Sheep Meadow, which reopened the following year, was the first landscape to be restored.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1980/09/25/archives/central-parks-sheep-meadow-where-the-grass-is-greener-is-reopened.html |title=Central Park's Sheep Meadow, Where the Grass Is Greener, Is Reopened|date=September 25, 1980|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418025349/https://www.nytimes.com/1980/09/25/archives/central-parks-sheep-meadow-where-the-grass-is-greener-is-reopened.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Bethesda Terrace and Fountain, the [[USS Maine National Monument|USS ''Maine'' National Monument]], and the [[Bow Bridge (Central Park)|Bow Bridge]] were also rehabilitated.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Murphy |first1=Jean Parker |last2=Ottavino |first2=Kate Burns |date=1986 |title=The Rehabilitation of Bethesda Terrace: The Terrace Bridge and Landscape, Central Park, New York |journal=[[APT Bulletin]] |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=24–38 |doi=10.2307/1494116 |jstor=1494116}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Champe |first1=Peter|last2=Rabinowitz|first2=Mark|date=1999|title=Restoring the Minton Tile Ceiling, Bethesda Terrace Arcade, Central Park, New York City|journal=[[APT Bulletin]] |volume=30|issue=2–3 |pages=11–16 |doi=10.2307/1504635 |jstor=1504635}}</ref><ref name="Carmody 1981">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/10/14/world/10-year-restoration-planned-for-central-park.html |title=10-Year Restoration Planned for Central Park|last=Carmody|first=Deirdre|date=October 14, 1981 |work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418185024/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/10/14/world/10-year-restoration-planned-for-central-park.html |archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> By then, the Conservancy was engaged in design efforts and long-term restoration planning,<ref name="Carmody 1984">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/13/nyregion/central-park-renews-its-details-and-vistas-in-a-burst-of-repairs.html |title=Central Park Renews Its Details and Vistas in a Burst of Repairs|last=Carmody |first=Deirdre|date=October 13, 1984|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418190536/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/10/13/nyregion/central-park-renews-its-details-and-vistas-in-a-burst-of-repairs.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and in 1981, Davis and Barlow announced a 10-year, $100&nbsp;million "Central Park Management and Restoration Plan".<ref name="Carmody 1981" /> The long-closed Belvedere Castle was renovated and reopened in 1983,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/21/nyregion/new-york-day-by-day-crown-for-a-castle.html |title=New York Day by Day; Crown for a Castle|last1=Johnston |first1=Laurie|date=September 21, 1983|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019|last2=Anderson|first2=Susan Heller|issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418190535/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/21/nyregion/new-york-day-by-day-crown-for-a-castle.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30729022/|title=Thanks for the facelift|last=La Rosa|first=Paul |date=September 22, 1983|work=New York Daily News|access-date=March 30, 2019|page=158|via=newspapers.com}}</ref> while the Central Park Zoo closed for a full reconstruction that year.<ref name="Slagle 1983" /><ref name="Carmody 1984" /> To reduce the maintenance effort, large gatherings such as free concerts were canceled.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=518–519}}

On completion of the planning stage in 1985, the Conservancy launched its first campaign<ref name="centralparknyc history2" /> and mapped out a 15-year restoration plan.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/28/nyregion/the-city-unveils-a-blueprint-for-renovating-central-park.html |title=The City Unveils a Blueprint for Renovating Central Park|last=Carmody|first=Deirdre |date=April 28, 1985|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418215303/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/28/nyregion/the-city-unveils-a-blueprint-for-renovating-central-park.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Over the next several years, the campaign restored landmarks in the southern part of the park, such as [[Grand Army Plaza (Manhattan)|Grand Army Plaza]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/28/arts/review-architecture-a-restored-grand-army-plaza-with-a-new-coat-for-the-general.html?pagewanted=1 |title=Review/Architecture; A Restored Grand Army Plaza, With a New Coat for the General |last=Goldberger |first=Paul|date=June 28, 1990|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 14, 2010 |issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140521055157/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/28/arts/review-architecture-a-restored-grand-army-plaza-with-a-new-coat-for-the-general.html?pagewanted=1|archive-date=May 21, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> and the police station at the 86th&nbsp;Street transverse;<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/04/realestate/streetscapes-central-park-stable-for-police-station-restoration-1870-jewel.html |title=Streetscapes: The Central Park Stable; For a Police Station, Restoration of an 1870 Jewel |last=Gray|first=Christopher|date=September 4, 1988|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418215258/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/09/04/realestate/streetscapes-central-park-stable-for-police-station-restoration-1870-jewel.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> while Conservatory Garden in the northeastern corner of the park was restored to a design by [[Lynden B. Miller]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kaufman|first=Joanne|date=October 20, 2009 |title=She Creates Urban Edens |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204518504574416761822659336 |access-date=January 16, 2020 |work=[[Wall Street Journal]] |issn=0099-9660|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200116140942/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970204518504574416761822659336 |archive-date=January 16, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/11/nyregion/garden-in-central-park-is-reborn-after-neglect.html |title=Garden in Central Park Is Reborn After Neglect|last=Lyall|first=Sarah|date=June 11, 1987|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418150339/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/11/nyregion/garden-in-central-park-is-reborn-after-neglect.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=144–145}} Real estate developer [[Donald Trump]] renovated the Wollman Rink in 1987 after plans to renovate it were delayed repeatedly.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/15/nyregion/trump-to-run-2-ice-skating-rinks-in-central-park.html |title=Trump to Run 2 Ice-Skating Rinks in Central Park|last=Anderson|first=Susan Heller|date=October 15, 1987|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418211025/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/10/15/nyregion/trump-to-run-2-ice-skating-rinks-in-central-park.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> The following year, the Zoo reopened after a $35&nbsp;million, four-year renovation.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Zoo Crew|last=Faye Kaplan|first=Lisa|date=August 18, 1988|work=White Plains Journal-News |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30733765/ 23], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30733848/ 24] |via=newspapers.com}}</ref>

Work on the northern end of the park began in 1989.<ref name="Howe 1993">{{Cite news |date=October 31, 1993 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/31/nyregion/neighborhood-report-central-park-a-rebirth-for-upper-park.html |title=Neighborhood Report: Central Park; A Rebirth For Upper Park |last=Howe|first=Marvine |work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418215300/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/31/nyregion/neighborhood-report-central-park-a-rebirth-for-upper-park.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> A$51&nbsp;million campaign, announced in 1993,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Gray|first=Christopher|date=May 16, 1993 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/16/realestate/streetscapes-central-park-restoration-recalls-1930-s-battle-ballfields.html |title=Streetscapes: Central Park; Restoration Recalls the 1930s Battle of the Ballfields |work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418215306/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/16/realestate/streetscapes-central-park-restoration-recalls-1930-s-battle-ballfields.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> resulted in the restoration of bridle trails,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Gray|first=Christopher |date= January 2, 1994 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/02/realestate/streetscapes-central-park-s-bridle-paths-challenge-restoring-long-neglected.html |title=Streetscapes/Central Park's Bridle Paths; The Challenge of Restoring Long-Neglected Trails |work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418215301/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/02/realestate/streetscapes-central-park-s-bridle-paths-challenge-restoring-long-neglected.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> the Mall,{{sfn|Central Park Conservancy|2014|p=22}} the Harlem Meer,<ref name="Kennedy 1993">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/09/realestate/a-nature-center-blooms-in-central-park-woodlands.html |title=A Nature Center Blooms in Central Park Woodlands|last=Kennedy|first=Shawn G.|date=May 9, 1993|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418215300/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/09/realestate/a-nature-center-blooms-in-central-park-woodlands.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and the North Woods,<ref name="Howe 1993" /> and the construction of the Dana Discovery Center on the Harlem Meer.<ref name="Kennedy 1993" /> This was followed by the Conservancy's overhaul of the {{convert|55|acres|abbr=on}} near the [[Great Lawn and Turtle Pond]], which was completed in 1997.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/09/nyregion/city-emerald-great-lawn-reopens-will-its-fans-love-it-to-death.html |title=City Emerald; Great Lawn Reopens. Will Its Fans Love It to Death?|last=Martin |first=Douglas|date=October 9, 1997|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418215305/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/10/09/nyregion/city-emerald-great-lawn-reopens-will-its-fans-love-it-to-death.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The Upper Reservoir was decommissioned as a part of the city's water supply system in 1993,{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|p=43}}<ref name="nyt19930506">{{Cite news|last=Roberts|first=Sam |title=131-Year-Old Reservoir Is Deemed Obsolete |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/06/nyregion/131-year-old-reservoir-is-deemed-obsolete.html |date=May 6, 1993|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 20, 2020 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612163427/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/06/nyregion/131-year-old-reservoir-is-deemed-obsolete.html |archive-date=June 12, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> and was renamed after former U.S. first lady [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis]] the next year.{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|p=43}}<ref name="nyt19940723">{{Cite news |last=Kifner|first=John |title=Central Park Honor for Jacqueline Onassis |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/23/nyregion/central-park-honor-for-jacqueline-onassis.html |date=July 23, 1994|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 20, 2020|issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181125114122/https://www.nytimes.com/1994/07/23/nyregion/central-park-honor-for-jacqueline-onassis.html|archive-date=November 25, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> During the mid-1990s, the Conservancy hired additional volunteers and implemented a zone-based system of management throughout the park.<ref name="centralparknyc history2" /> The Conservancy assumed much of the park's operations in early 1998.<ref name="NYTimes-Conservancy-1998">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/12/nyregion/private-group-signs-central-park-deal-to-be-its-manager.html |title=Private Group Signs Central Park Deal To Be Its Manager |last=Martin |first=Douglas |date=February 12, 1998|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418215258/https://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/12/nyregion/private-group-signs-central-park-deal-to-be-its-manager.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

Renovations continued through the first decade of the 21st&nbsp;century, and a project to restore the pond was commenced in 2000.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/03/nyregion/neighborhood-report-central-park-fish-must-find-new-homes-pond-gets-makeover.html |title=Neighborhood Report: Central Park; Fish Must Find New Homes As Pond Gets a Makeover|last=Lee|first=Denny|date=September 3, 2000|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 19, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419024459/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/03/nyregion/neighborhood-report-central-park-fish-must-find-new-homes-pond-gets-makeover.html|archive-date=April 19, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> Four years later, the Conservancy replaced a chain-link fence with a replica of the original cast-iron fence that surrounded the Upper Reservoir.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Gray|first=Christopher |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/20/realestate/streetscapes-central-park-reservoir-good-fence-makes-neighbors-feel-good.html |title=Streetscapes/The Central Park Reservoir; A Good Fence Makes The Neighbors Feel Good |date=June 20, 2004|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 19, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419024458/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/20/realestate/streetscapes-central-park-reservoir-good-fence-makes-neighbors-feel-good.html|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> It started refurbishing the ceiling tiles of the Bethesda Arcade,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/nyregion/thecity/16beth.html |title=Restoring Vaux's Vision, One Tile at a Time|last=Mooney|first=Jake|date=July 16, 2006|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 19, 2019|issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419024458/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/16/nyregion/thecity/16beth.html|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> which was completed in 2007.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/news/press-releases?id=19863|title=Central Park's Bethesda Terrace Arcade Reopens|date=March 2, 2007|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101005814/http://www.nycgovparks.org/news/press-releases?id=19863|archive-date=November 1, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Soon after, the Central Park Conservancy began restoring the Ramble and Lake,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dunlap|first=David W.|date=July 18, 2008 |url=https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/behind-the-dam-one-fierce-holdout/|title=Behind the Dam, One Fierce Holdout|work=City Room|publisher=The New York Times Company|access-date=April 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419024458/https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/18/behind-the-dam-one-fierce-holdout/|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> in a project that was completed in 2012.{{sfn|Central Park Conservancy|2014|p=56}} Bank Rock Bridge was restored,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/oak-bridge.html |title=Oak Bridge at Bank Rock Bay|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=October 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012045236/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/oak-bridge.html|archive-date=October 12, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/an-old-bridge-reconstructed-is-unveiled-in-central-park/ |title=An Old Bridge, Reconstructed, Is Unveiled in Central Park|last=Lee|first=Jennifer 8. |date=September 30, 2009 |work=City Room|publisher=The New York Times Company|access-date=April 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419024458/https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/an-old-bridge-reconstructed-is-unveiled-in-central-park/|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and the Gill, which empties into the lake, was reconstructed to approximate its dramatic original form.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/site/DocServer/CampaignPressRelease.pdf?docID=143 |title=Central Park Conservancy Announces The Campaign For Central Park|publisher=Central Park Conservancy |date=2006|access-date=April 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071003070133/http://www.centralparknyc.org/site/DocServer/CampaignPressRelease.pdf?docID=143 |archive-date=October 3, 2007}}</ref> The final feature to be restored was the East Meadow, which was rehabilitated in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/nyregion/conservancy-marks-milestone-in-restoring-central-park.html |title=Conservancy Marks Milestone in Restoring Central Park|last=Foderaro|first=Lisa W. |date=September 20, 2011|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=April 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413221727/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/nyregion/conservancy-marks-milestone-in-restoring-central-park.html|archive-date=April 13, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

===2010s to present===
In 2014, the [[New York City Council]] proposed a study on the viability of banning vehicular traffic from the park's drives.<ref>{{cite web|last=Dutes|first=Sheldon|title=Cars May Be Banned From Central Park|publisher=[[NBC New York]]|date=October 8, 2014|url=http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Central-Park-Car-Ban-Proposal-City-Council-278596801.html|access-date=September 12, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160718041338/http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Central-Park-Car-Ban-Proposal-City-Council-278596801.html|archive-date=July 18, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The next year, mayor [[Bill de Blasio]] announced that West and East drives north of 72nd&nbsp;Street would be closed to vehicular traffic, because the city's data showed that closing the roads did not adversely impact traffic flows.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://7online.com/traffic/central-park-prospect-park-loops-to-be-closed-to-traffic-on-weekdays/791323/|title=Central Park, Prospect Park loops to be closed to traffic on weekdays|date=June 18, 2015|work=7 Online|access-date=June 22, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701121349/http://7online.com/traffic/central-park-prospect-park-loops-to-be-closed-to-traffic-on-weekdays/791323/|archive-date=July 1, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> Subsequently, in June 2018, the remaining drives south of 72nd&nbsp;Street were closed to vehicular traffic.<ref name="Walker 2018">{{cite web|url=https://ny.curbed.com/2018/6/27/17507830/central-park-new-york-car-free|title=At last, Central Park is permanently car-free|last=Walker|first=Ameena|date=June 27, 2018|publisher=[[Curbed NY]]|access-date=October 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181006234944/https://ny.curbed.com/2018/6/27/17507830/central-park-new-york-car-free|archive-date=October 6, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="ABC-Car-free-2018">{{cite web|url=https://abc7ny.com/3657602/|title=Central Park goes car-free as traffic ban takes effect|date=June 26, 2018|publisher=[[WABC-TV]]|access-date=October 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181006235131/https://abc7ny.com/3657602/|archive-date=October 6, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Several structures were also renovated in the 2010s. Belvedere Castle was closed in 2018 for an extensive renovation, reopening in June 2019.<ref>{{cite web|title=Central Park's Castle Gets a $12 Million Fairy-Tale Makeover|work=The New York Times |date=July 12, 2019|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/12/nyregion/central-park-belvedere-castle.html|issn=0362-4331|access-date=July 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713021613/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/12/nyregion/central-park-belvedere-castle.html|archive-date=July 13, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://ny.curbed.com/2019/6/18/18683851/central-park-belvedere-castle-restoration-reopening-date|title=Central Park's Belvedere Castle will reopen June 28|last=Rosenberg|first=Zoe|date=June 18, 2019|publisher=Curbed NY |access-date=June 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618195447/https://ny.curbed.com/2019/6/18/18683851/central-park-belvedere-castle-restoration-reopening-date|archive-date=June 18, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gothamist.com/2019/06/18/belvedere_castle_2019.php|title=Central Park's Belvedere Castle Reopening After Restoration|date=June 18, 2019|work=[[Gothamist]]|access-date=June 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618180137/https://gothamist.com/2019/06/18/belvedere_castle_2019.php|archive-date=June 18, 2019}}</ref> Later in 2018, it was announced that the Delacorte Theater would be closed from 2020 to 2022 for a $110&nbsp;million rebuild.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/31/theater/delacorte-theater-shakespeare-in-the-park.html |title=A Restoration for Shakespeare's Home in Central Park|last=Pogrebin|first=Robin|date=October 31, 2018|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 19, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419024458/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/31/theater/delacorte-theater-shakespeare-in-the-park.html|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The Central Park Conservancy further announced that Lasker Rink would be closed for a $150&nbsp;million renovation;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-pol-lasker-pool-rink-central-park-20180717-story.html |title=Central Park's Lasker pool and ice rink set for $150 million makeover|last=Durkin|first=Erin|date=July 18, 2018|work=New York Daily News|access-date=April 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417155022/https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-pol-lasker-pool-rink-central-park-20180717-story.html|archive-date=April 17, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> demolition of the existing rink began in 2021.<ref>{{cite web|last=Weaver|first=Shaye|date=2021-03-19|title=See how different Central Park's Lasker Rink will look after its reconstruction|url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/see-how-different-central-parks-lasker-rink-will-look-after-its-reconstruction-031921|access-date=2021-03-19|website=Time Out New York}}</ref>

In March 2020, in response to the [[2019–20 coronavirus pandemic|coronavirus pandemic]], temporary [[field hospital]]s were set up within the park to treat overflow patients from area hospitals.<ref>{{cite web|title=Tent hospital being constructed in New York City's Central Park|publisher=[[WCBS-TV]]|date=March 29, 2020|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/video/tent-hospital-being-constructed-in-new-york-citys-central-park/|access-date=March 30, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/30/us/new-york-coronavirus-cases-deaths/index.html |title=Central Park becomes a field hospital for New York, where coronavirus deaths have topped 1,000|last1=Holcombe|first1=Madeline|last2=Yan|first2=Holly|date=March 30, 2020|publisher=CNN|access-date=March 30, 2020}}</ref> 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 expulsion]]s of migrants, which had been implemented during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref name=nyt-2023-05-08>{{Cite news|last=Rubinstein|first=Dana|date=May 8, 2023|title=Racetracks, Parks, Offices: A Frantic Search for Migrant Housing|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/08/nyregion/migrants-shelter-flatiron-nyc.html|access-date=May 12, 2023|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="Gloria Pazmino 2023">{{cite web | last=Gloria Pazmino | first=Samantha Beech | title=New York City mayor announces plan to transport willing migrants to locations outside the city ahead of expected surge | website=CNN | date=May 6, 2023 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/05/us/nyc-tent-housing-migrant-surge/index.html | access-date=May 12, 2023}}</ref> A renovation of the Chess and Checkers House was completed in June 2023,<ref name="Wassef 2023 d709">{{cite web | last=Wassef | first=Mira | title=Central Park's Chess and Checkers House gets makeover | website=PIX11 | date=June 27, 2023 | url=https://pix11.com/news/local-news/central-parks-chess-and-checkers-house-reopens-after-remodel/ | access-date=June 28, 2023}}</ref> and a renovation of the Delacorte Theater began later that year.<ref>{{cite web | last=Hickey | first=Magee | title=Delacorte Theater closes for renovations | website=PIX11 | date=September 4, 2023 | url=https://pix11.com/news/local-news/manhattan/delacorte-theater-closes-for-renovations/ | access-date=October 11, 2024}}</ref> In addition, [[pickleball]] courts were added to Wollman Rink in 2023 and became permanent the next year.<ref name="Rahmanan 2024 a309">{{cite web | last=Rahmanan | first=Anna | title=You can play pickleball at Central Park's Wollman Rink this summer | website=Time Out New York | date=April 22, 2024 | url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/you-can-play-pickleball-at-central-parks-wollman-rink-this-summer-042224 | access-date=April 22, 2024}}</ref><ref name="Barron 2024 n969">{{cite web | last=Barron | first=James | title=Pickleball Gets a Permanent Spot at Wollman Rink | website=The New York Times | date=April 22, 2024 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/22/nyregion/pickleball-wollman-rink.html | access-date=April 22, 2024}}</ref> The Central Park Conservancy allocated $64&nbsp;million in early 2024 to fix sidewalks on 108 blocks immediately surrounding the park.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Kodé|first1=Anna|last2=Srivastava|first2=Maansi|date=March 15, 2024|title=Fixing Central Park's Bumpy Sidewalks|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/15/realestate/central-park-sidewalk-restoration.html|access-date=March 18, 2024|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Later that year, the conservancy announced plans to redesign the park's drives to provide bike lanes and pedestrian paths of consistent width.<ref name="Spivack q670">{{cite web |last=Spivack |first=Caroline |date=November 19, 2024 |title=Central Park's well-used drives will soon get a makeover |url=https://www.crainsnewyork.com/transportation/central-park-roads-will-get-upgrades-pedestrians-cyclists |access-date=November 19, 2024 |website=Crain&#039;s New York Business}}</ref><ref name="Barron t309">{{cite web |last=Barron |first=James |date=November 19, 2024 |title=How to Make Central Park Safer for Pedestrians |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/19/nyregion/central-park-drives-redesign.html |access-date=November 19, 2024 |website=The New York Times}}</ref> 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.<ref name="Barron t309" />

[[Davis Center]], which replaced the old Lasker Rink, was completed in April 2025.<ref name="Clark q158">{{cite web |last=Clark |first=Roger |date=April 25, 2025 |title=Blending into nature: New north end for Central Park as Davis Center opens |url=https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2025/04/24/central-park--davis-center--swimming--ice-skating |access-date=April 25, 2025 |website=Spectrum News NY1}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Kimmelman |first=Michael |date=2025-04-23 |title=A Stunning New Pool in Central Park Helps Heal Old Wounds |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/23/arts/design/central-park-pool-harlem.html |access-date=2025-04-25 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The renovated Delacorte Theater reopened that July.<ref>{{cite web |last=Culgan |first=Rossilynne Skena |date=July 15, 2025 |title=First look: Peek inside the newly renovated Delacorte Theater in Central Park |url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/first-look-peek-inside-the-newly-renovated-delacorte-theater-in-central-park-071525 |access-date=July 16, 2025 |website=Time Out New York}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Tran |first=Diep |date=July 15, 2025 |title=The Public Theater Reopens the Delacorte Theater, With Sandra Oh, Peter Dinklage, Jesse Tyler Ferguson Delivering Shakespeare |url=https://playbill.com/article/the-public-theater-reopens-the-delacorte-theater-with-sandra-oh-peter-dinklage-jesse-tyler-ferguson-delivering-shakespeare |access-date=July 16, 2025 |website=Playbill}}</ref> A renovation of the [[Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre]] was announced in early 2026,<ref>{{cite web | last=Mishkin | first=Mike | title=A Beloved Central Park Landmark Is About to Get a Multimillion-Dollar Makeover | website=iLovetheUpperWestSide.com | date=March 18, 2026 | url=https://www.ilovetheupperwestside.com/a-beloved-central-park-landmark-is-about-to-get-a-multimillion-dollar-makeover/ | access-date=March 20, 2026}}</ref> along with a renovation of Conservancy Water and the adjacent Kerbs Boathouse.<ref>{{cite web | last=Levingston | first=Miranda | title=Central Park's Model Boat Basin To Be Drained For Multi‑Year Rehab | website=Central Park | date=2026-05-15 | url=https://patch.com/new-york/central-park/central-parks-model-boat-basin-be-drained-multi-year-rehab | access-date=2026-05-17}}</ref>

==<span class="anchor" id="Natural features"></span>Landscape features==
===Geology===
[[File:Rat rock east face Feb jeh.jpg|thumb|upright=1|alt=East side of Rat Rock with high rise buildings in the background|East side of [[Rat Rock (Central Park)|Rat Rock]]]]
[[File:Glacial erratic in Central Park (alongside The Lake near Bow Bridge) (February 2026).jpg|220px|thumb|Glacial erratic next to The Lake]]
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 [[outcrop]]pings. The other two types, [[Fordham gneiss]] (an older deeper layer) and [[Inwood marble]] (metamorphosed [[limestone]] which overlays the [[gneiss]]), do not surface in the park.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=220–221}}{{sfn|McCully|2006|p=6}}{{sfn|Merguerian|Merguerian|2004|p=1}} Fordham gneiss, which consists of metamorphosed [[igneous rock]]s, 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&nbsp;million years ago, when the tectonic plates began to merge to form the supercontinent [[Pangaea]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2004NE/finalprogram/abstract_70544.htm |title=Deformational History Of The Manhattan Rocks And Its Relationship With The State Of In-Situ Stress In The New York City Area, New York|date=March 25, 2004|last1=Shah|first1=A.N.|last2=Chang|first2=C.C. |last3=Kim|first3=K.|publisher=Geological Society of America|volume=36|issue=2|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181118121521/https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2004NE/finalprogram/abstract_70544.htm |archive-date=November 18, 2018}}</ref> [[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.{{sfn|Merguerian|Merguerian|2004|pp=7–8}}

Various glaciers have covered the area of Central Park in the past, with the most recent being the [[Wisconsinan glaciation|Wisconsin glacier]] which receded about 12,000&nbsp;years ago. Evidence of past glaciers can be seen throughout the park in the form of [[glacial erratic]]s (large boulders dropped by the receding glacier) and north–south glacial striations visible on stone outcroppings.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=220–221}}<ref name="Broad 2018">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/05/science/how-the-ice-age-shaped-new-york.html |title=How the Ice Age Shaped New York|last=Broad|first=William J|date=June 5, 2018|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 15, 2019 |issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190508055054/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/05/science/how-the-ice-age-shaped-new-york.html|archive-date=May 8, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/history/geology|title=Geological History of NYC Parks|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504193725/https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/history/geology|archive-date=May 4, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Olmsted and Vaux took advantage of the natural rock formations, leaving many large glacial erratics where they were deposited.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{cite web |last1=Sain-Baird |first1=Jessica |title=How Geology Influenced Central Park's Design |url=https://www.centralparknyc.org/articles/geology-influenced-design#:~:text=Have%20you%20ever%20noticed%E2%80%94or,east%20traffic%20from%20the%20landscape. |website=Central Park Conservancy Magazine |publisher=Central Park Conservancy |access-date=1 March 2026 |date=September 7, 2017 }}</ref> Alignments of glacial erratics, called "boulder trains", are present throughout Central Park.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/14/nyregion/the-very-cold-case-of-the-glacier.html |title=The Very Cold Case of the Glacier|last=Collins|first=Glenn|date=September 14, 2005|work=The New York Times |access-date=April 15, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171214012226/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/14/nyregion/the-very-cold-case-of-the-glacier.html|archive-date=December 14, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The most notable of these outcroppings is [[Rat Rock (Central Park)|Rat Rock]] (also known as Umpire Rock), a circular outcropping at the southwestern corner of the park.<ref name="Broad 2018" />{{sfn|Sherman|1994|pp=226–228}} It measures {{convert|55|ft|m}} wide and {{convert|15|ft|m}} tall with different east, west, and north faces.{{sfn|Sherman|1994|pp=226–228}}<ref name="Bleyer 2007">{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/nyregion/thecity/07boul.html |title=The Zen of the Rock|last=Bleyer|first=Jennifer|date=October 7, 2007|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=April 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419153254/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/nyregion/thecity/07boul.html|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Bouldering|Boulderers]] sometimes congregate there.<ref name="Bleyer 2007" />  A single [[Kettle (landform)|glacial pothole]] with yellow clay is near the southwest corner of the park.{{sfn|Merguerian|Merguerian|2004|p=18}}{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=224}} 

The underground geology of Central Park was altered by the construction of several subway lines underneath it, and by the [[New York City Water Tunnel No.&nbsp;3]] approximately {{convert|700|ft|m|abbr=}} underground. Excavations for the project have uncovered [[pegmatite]], [[feldspar]], [[quartz]], [[biotite]], and several [[metal]]s.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=225–226}}

=== <span class="anchor" id="Wooded areas"></span><span class="anchor" id="Lawns"></span>Wooded areas and lawns ===
[[File:2886-Central Park-The Ramble.JPG|thumb|upright=1|alt=Trees and a pathway in the Ramble|Wooded area of [[The Ramble and Lake]]]]
There are three wooded areas in Central Park: [[North Woods and North Meadow|North Woods]], [[The Ramble and Lake|the Ramble]], and [[The Pond and Hallett Nature Sanctuary|Hallett Nature Sanctuary]].{{sfn|Andropogon Associates|1989|pp=2–3}} These areas function as small forest patches with canopy layers, understory trees and shrubs that create cooler, shaded microclimates compared to its surrounding area of the city.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Landscapes of Central Park |url=https://www.centralparknyc.org/articles/landscapes-of-central-park |access-date=2025-11-20 |website=Central Park Conservancy |language=en}}</ref> North Woods, the largest of the woodlands, is at the northwestern corner of Central Park.{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|pp=44–45}}<ref name="Plitt 2017">{{cite web |url=https://ny.curbed.com/maps/central-park-new-york-city-things-to-do|title=20 hidden gems of Central Park |last=Plitt|first=Amy|date=July 1, 2017|publisher=Curbed NY|access-date=March 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328213838/https://ny.curbed.com/maps/central-park-new-york-city-things-to-do|archive-date=March 28, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Conservancy North Woods">{{cite web |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/north-woods.html |title=North Woods |publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423232833/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/north-woods.html|archive-date=April 23, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> It covers about {{convert|90|acre|ha|abbr=}} adjacent to North Meadow.{{sfn|Andropogon Associates|1989|pp=37–38}} The name sometimes applies to other attractions in the park's northern end; these adjacent features plus the area of North Woods can be {{convert|200|acre|ha|abbr=}}.<ref name="Howe 1993" /> North Woods contains the {{convert|55|acre|ha|abbr=|adj=on}} Ravine, a forest with [[deciduous]] trees on its northwestern slope, and the Loch, a small stream that winds diagonally through North Woods.<ref name="Conservancy North Woods" />{{sfn|Andropogon Associates|1989|p=39}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/greening/nature-preserves/site?FWID=51|title=Central Park Preserve: The North Woods|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203211115/https://www.nycgovparks.org/greening/nature-preserves/site?FWID=51|archive-date=February 3, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Ramble is in the southern third of the park next to the Lake.<ref name="central-park-map" />{{sfn|Andropogon Associates|1989|pp=44–45}}<ref name="Conservancy Ramble">{{cite web |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/ramble.html |title=The Ramble |publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420154820/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/ramble.html|archive-date=April 20, 2019}}</ref> Covering {{convert|36|to|38|acre|ha|0|abbr=}}, it contains a series of winding paths.<ref name="Conservancy Ramble" /> The area contains a diverse selection of vegetation and other flora, which attracts a plethora of birds.{{sfn|Andropogon Associates|1989|pp=44–45}}<ref name="Conservancy Ramble" /> At least 250&nbsp;species of birds have been spotted in the Ramble over the years.<ref name="Conservancy Ramble" /><ref name="Kilgannon 2011">{{cite web|last=Kilgannon|first=Corey|date=May 7, 2011|title=Bird-Watchers in Central Park Flock to the Ramble|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/nyregion/bird-watchers-in-central-park-flock-to-the-ramble.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422002329/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/nyregion/bird-watchers-in-central-park-flock-to-the-ramble.html|archive-date=April 22, 2019|access-date=April 21, 2019|work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Historically, the Ramble was known as a place for private homosexual encounters due to its seclusion.<ref name="Foderaro 2012">{{cite web |last=Foderaro|first=Lisa W. |date=September 14, 2012|title=In Central Park, an Uneasy Coexistence Grows Uneasier |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/14/nyregion/in-central-park-an-uneasy-coexistence-grows-uneasier.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422002326/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/14/nyregion/in-central-park-an-uneasy-coexistence-grows-uneasier.html|archive-date=April 22, 2019|url-status=live|access-date=April 21, 2019 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The Ramble has been through extensive ecological restoration, which included removing invasive plants, replacing soils in heavily eroded areas, and planting native trees and shrubs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Restoration of the Ramble |url=https://www.centralparknyc.org/restoration/ramble |access-date=2025-11-20 |website=Central Park Conservancy |language=en}}</ref>

The Hallett Nature Sanctuary is at the southeastern corner of Central Park.<ref name="central-park-map" />{{sfn|Andropogon Associates|1989|pp=48–49}}{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|pp=30–31}} It is the smallest wooded area at {{convert|4|acre|ha|abbr=}}.<ref name="Conservancy Hallett">{{cite web|url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/hallett-nature-sanctuary.html |title=Hallett Nature Sanctuary|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424212707/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/hallett-nature-sanctuary.html|archive-date=April 24, 2019}}</ref> Originally known as the Promontory, it was renamed after civic activist and birder [[George Hervey Hallett Jr.]] in 1986.{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|pp=30–31}}<ref name="Conservancy Hallett" /><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/01/nyregion/new-york-day-by-day-in-honor-of-a-civic-leader.html |title=New York Day by Day; In Honor of a Civic Leader|last1=Anderson|first1=Susan Heller|date=July 1, 1986 |work=The New York Times |access-date=April 23, 2019|last2=Dunlap|first2=David W.|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423232835/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/01/nyregion/new-york-day-by-day-in-honor-of-a-civic-leader.html |archive-date=April 23, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The Hallett Sanctuary was closed to the public in the 1930s, and it was renovated and restored starting in 2001.<ref name="Smith 2016 d959">{{cite web | last=Smith | first=Jeff | title=Secret, closed-off section of Central Park called 'Hallett Nature Sanctuary' reopens for first time since 1930s | website=ABC7 New York | date=May 11, 2016 | url=https://abc7ny.com/hallett-nature-sanctuary-central-park-reopens-to-the-public-new-york-city/1332228/ | access-date=August 28, 2024}}</ref> The sanctuary opened for periodic guided tours in 2013 and for public open hours in 2016.<ref name="Smith 2016 d959" /><ref>{{Cite news|title=A Secret Section of Central Park Reopens |last=Barron|first=James|date=May 10, 2016 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/11/nyregion/a-secret-section-of-central-park-reopens.html|access-date=April 23, 2019 |work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423232831/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/11/nyregion/a-secret-section-of-central-park-reopens.html|archive-date=April 23, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

Recent restoration work in both the Hallett Nature Sanctuary has been focused on removing invasive plants, rebuilding soils, stabilizing slope, replanting oaks, hickories and other historical native tree species<ref>{{Cite web |title=Restoration of the Hallett Nature Sanctuary |url=https://www.centralparknyc.org/restoration/hallett |access-date=2025-11-20 |website=Central Park Conservancy |language=en}}</ref> to help support healthier woodland conditions. After restoration, the Conservancy introduced limited public access to reduce trampling and to protect the recovering habitat.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hallett Nature Sanctuary |url=https://www.centralparknyc.org/locations/hallett-nature-sanctuary |access-date=2025-11-20 |website=Central Park Conservancy |language=en}}</ref>

The Central Park Conservancy classifies its remaining green space into four types of lawns, labeled alphabetically based on usage and the amount of maintenance needed. There are seven high-priority "A Lawns", collectively covering {{convert|65|acre|ha}}, that are heavily used: [[Sheep Meadow]], [[Great Lawn and Turtle Pond|Great Lawn]], North Meadow, East Meadow, [[Conservatory Garden]], [[Heckscher Ballfields]], and the Lawn Bowling and Croquet Greens near Sheep Meadow. These are permanently surrounded by fences, are constantly maintained, and are closed during the off-season. Another 16 lawns, covering {{convert|37|acre|ha}}, are classed as "B Lawns" and are fenced off only during off-seasons, while an additional {{convert|69|acre|ha}} are "C Lawns" and are only occasionally fenced off. The lowest-prioritized type of turf, "D Lawns", cover {{convert|162|acre|ha}} and are open year-round with few barriers or access restrictions.{{sfn|Central Park Conservancy|2016|pp=34–37 (PDF pp. 19–20)}}

===Watercourses===
{{multiple image
| align        = center
| direction    = horizontal
| width        = 
| image1       = Central Park New York October 2016 004.jpg
| alt caption1 = A body of water called the Harlem Meer with buildings in the background
| caption1     = [[Harlem Meer]]
| image2       = Central Park loch (83183).jpg
| caption2     = The Loch
| image3       = Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir.jpg
| alt caption3 = The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir with buildings in the background to the left
| caption3     = [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir]] in the park
| image4       = Central Park - Loeb Boathouse (48377219127).jpg
| alt caption4 = Loeb Boathouse in the background with rowboats tied together in the foreground
| caption4     = Loeb Boathouse Cafe
| total_width  = 850
}}

Central Park is home to numerous bodies of water.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=35}}<ref name="Reynolds p. 321" /> The northernmost lake, [[Harlem Meer]], is near the northeastern corner of the park and covers nearly {{convert|11|acre}}.<ref name="Harlem Meer">{{cite web |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/harlem-meer.html |title=Harlem Meer|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403231259/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/harlem-meer.html|archive-date=April 3, 2019}}</ref>{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|pp=46–48}} Located in a wooded area of [[oak]], [[cypress]], and [[beech]] trees, it was named after Harlem, one of Manhattan's first suburban communities, and was built after the completion of the southern portion of the park. Harlem Meer allows [[catch and release]] fishing.<ref name="Harlem Meer" /> It is fed by two interconnected water features: [[North Woods and North Meadow#The Pool and Loch|the Pool]], a pond within the North Woods fed by drinking water,<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Central Park Conservancy|title=The Pool|url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/pool.html|access-date=July 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714135147/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/pool.html|archive-date=July 14, 2019}}</ref> and [[North Woods and North Meadow#The Pool and Loch|the Loch]], a small stream with three cascades that winds through the North Woods.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|title=The Loch|url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/loch.html|access-date=July 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190714135147/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/loch.html|archive-date=July 14, 2019}}</ref>{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|pp=44–45}} These are all adapted from a single watercourse called Montayne's Rivulet, originally fed from a natural spring but later replenished by the city's water system.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/realestate/scenes-from-a-wild-youth-streetscapescentral-park.html |title=Scenes From a Wild Youth – Streetscapes/Central Park|last=Gray|first=Christopher|date=May 26, 2011 |work=The New York Times|access-date=April 4, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404170143/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/realestate/scenes-from-a-wild-youth-streetscapescentral-park.html|archive-date=April 4, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=48}} [[Lasker Rink]] is above the mouth of the Loch where it drains into the Harlem Meer.{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|p=47}}<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1962/02/24/archives/central-park-to-get-swimming-pool-and-ice-rink-combined-110th-st.html |title=Central Park to Get Swimming Pool and Ice Rink; Combined 110th St. Facilities Will Cost $l,800,000 |date=February 24, 1962|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 19, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

South of Harlem Meer and the Pool is Central Park's largest lake, the [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir]], known as the Central Park Reservoir before 1994.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cardwell|first=Diane|title=Central Park Reservoir Fountain Returns to Life|work=City Room|publisher=The New York Times Company|date=July 30, 2007|url=https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/30/central-park-reservoir-fountain-is-given-life-again/|access-date=April 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404224525/https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/30/central-park-reservoir-fountain-is-given-life-again/|archive-date=April 4, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> It was constructed between 1858 and 1862. Covering an area of {{convert|106|acre}} between 86th&nbsp;and 96th&nbsp;streets, the reservoir reaches a depth of more than {{convert|40|ft}} in places and contains about {{convert|1|e9usgal|e9l|abbr=off|sp=us}} of water.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|title=Reservoir|url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/reservoir.html|access-date=April 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419153251/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/reservoir.html|archive-date=April 19, 2019}}</ref>{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|pp=42–44}} The Onassis Reservoir was created as a new, landscaped storage reservoir to the north of the [[Croton Aqueduct]]'s rectangular receiving reservoir.{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|p=42}} Because of the Onassis Reservoir's shape, East Drive was built as a straight path, with little clearance between the reservoir to the west and Fifth Avenue to the east.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=50}} It was decommissioned in 1993{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|p=43}}<ref name="nyt19930506" /> and renamed after [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis]] the following year, after her death.{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|p=43}}<ref name="nyt19940723" />

The [[Turtle Pond (Central Park)|Turtle Pond]] is at the southern edge of the Great Lawn. The pond was originally part of the Croton receiving reservoir.<ref name="Turtle Pond">{{cite web |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/turtle-pond.html |title=Turtle Pond|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404175001/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/turtle-pond.html|archive-date=April 4, 2019}}</ref>{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|pp=40–41}} The receiving reservoir was drained starting in 1930,{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|p=439}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/04/15/archives/400-trucks-filling-central-park-basin-task-of-dumping-1000000-cubic.html |title=400 Trucks Filling Central Park Basin|date=April 15, 1930|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 26, 2019|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and the dry reservoir bed was temporarily used as a homeless encampment when filling stopped during the Great Depression.{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|pp=40–41}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=441–442}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/29/realestate/streetscapes-central-park-s-hooverville-life-along-depression-street.html |title=Streetscapes: Central Park's 'Hooverville'; Life Along 'Depression Street'|last=Gray|first=Christopher|date=August 29, 1993|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 26, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190606044501/https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/29/realestate/streetscapes-central-park-s-hooverville-life-along-depression-street.html|archive-date=June 6, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The Great Lawn was completed in 1937 on the site of the reservoir.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|p=451}} Until 1987, it was known as Belvedere Lake, after the castle at its southwestern corner.<ref name="Turtle Pond" />{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|pp=40–41}}

[[The Lake (Central Park)|The Lake]], south of the 79th Street transverse, covers nearly {{convert|18|acre}}.<ref name="The Lake">{{cite web|url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/lake.html |title=The Lake|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404174950/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/lake.html|archive-date=April 4, 2019}}</ref> Originally, it was part of the [[Sawkill]] Creek, which flowed near the American Museum of Natural History.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=32}}{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|p=33}} The Lake was among the first features to be completed, opening to skaters in December 1858.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=32–33}} It was intended to accommodate boats in the summer and ice skaters in winter.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=32–33}}<ref name="The Lake" /> The Loeb Boathouse, on the eastern shore of the Lake, rents out rowboats, kayaks, and gondolas, and houses a restaurant.<ref name="Loeb Boat House 1939" /><ref name="Conservancy Loeb Boathouse" />{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|p=34}} The Lake is spanned by Bow Bridge at its center,{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|p=34}} and its northern inlet, Bank Rock Bay, is spanned by the Bank Rock or Oak Bridge.<ref>{{cite web|title=Oak Bridge at Bank Rock Bay|publisher=Central Park Conservancy |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/oak-bridge.html|access-date=April 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012045236/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/oak-bridge.html|archive-date=October 12, 2017}}</ref>{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|p=33}} Ladies' Pond, spanned by two bridges on the western end of the Lake, was infilled in the 1930s.{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|p=33}}

Directly east of the Lake is [[Conservatory Water]],<ref name="central-park-map" /> on the site of an unbuilt formal garden.{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|pp=36–37}} The shore of Conservatory Water contains the Kerbs Memorial Boathouse,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/860|title=Jeanne E. Kerbs|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416215622/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/860|archive-date=April 16, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> where patrons can rent and navigate model boats.{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|pp=36–37}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/conservatory-water.html |title=Conservatory Water|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416215620/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/conservatory-water.html|archive-date=April 16, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/06/nyregion/new-yorkers-co-266095.html |title=New Yorkers & Co.|date=August 6, 1995|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 19, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526142212/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/06/nyregion/new-yorkers-co-266095.html|archive-date=May 26, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the park's southeast corner is [[The Pond (Central Park)|the Pond]], with an area of {{convert|3.5|acre}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/pond.html |title=The Pond |publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404174955/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/pond.html|archive-date=April 4, 2019}}</ref>{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|p=28}} The Pond was adapted from part of the former DeVoor's Mill Stream, which used to flow into the [[East River]] at the modern-day neighborhood of [[Turtle Bay, Manhattan|Turtle Bay]].{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=35}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/11/nyregion/tracing-the-waterways-beneath-the-sidewalks-of-new-york.html |title=Tracing the Waterways Beneath the Sidewalks of New York |last=Dwyer |first=Jim|date=May 11, 2017|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 4, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404170140/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/11/nyregion/tracing-the-waterways-beneath-the-sidewalks-of-new-york.html|archive-date=April 4, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The western section of the Pond was converted into Wollman Rink in 1950.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=106–109}}{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|pp=29–30}}<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/12/18/archives/new-skating-rink-in-central-park-to-be-opened-to-public-thursday.html |title=New Skating Rink in Central Park To Be Opened to Public Thursday|date=December 18, 1950 |work=The New York Times|access-date=April 23, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423234208/https://www.nytimes.com/1950/12/18/archives/new-skating-rink-in-central-park-to-be-opened-to-public-thursday.html|archive-date=April 23, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Wildlife{{Anchor|Fauna}} ==
Central Park is [[biodiversity|biologically diverse]]. A 2013 survey of park species by [[William E. Macaulay Honors College]] found 571 total species,<ref name="Foderaro 2013">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/science/census-of-central-park-finds-new-tenants.html |title=Canvassing Central Park and Finding New Tenants|last=Foderaro|first=Lisa W|date=August 27, 2013|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 16, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416163342/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/28/science/census-of-central-park-finds-new-tenants.html|archive-date=April 16, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Macaulay BioBlitz">{{cite web|url=https://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/bioblitz/files/2014/09/CentralParkBioBlitz2013-Results-Highlights-Feb14-update.docx|title=2013 Central Park BioBlitz Results Highlights – BioBlitz|date=September 22, 2014|publisher=Macaulay Honors College, City University of New York|access-date=April 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416161935/https://eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu/bioblitz/files/2014/09/CentralParkBioBlitz2013-Results-Highlights-Feb14-update.docx|archive-date=April 16, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> including 173&nbsp;species that were not previously known to live there.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/topic/central-park-animals-2013-9/|title=Roll Call in the Ramble |last=Bonanos|first=Christopher|date=September 30, 2013|work=New York Magazine|access-date=April 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131001082742/http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/topic/central-park-animals-2013-9/|archive-date=October 1, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Another survey from 2007 found 583 species of plants.<ref name="DeCandido 2007">{{cite journal | last1=DeCandido | first1=Robert | last2=Calvanese | first2=Neil | last3=Alvarez | first3=Regina V. | last4=Brown | first4=Matthew I. | last5=Nelson | first5=Tina M. | title=The Naturally Occurring Historical and Extant Flora of Central Park, New York City, New York 1857–2007 | journal=The Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society | volume=134 | issue=4 | date=2007 | issn=1095-5674 | doi=10.3159/07-RA-002.1 | pages=552–569 | bibcode=2007JTBS..134..552D | url=http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.3159/07-RA-002.1 | access-date=November 20, 2025| url-access=subscription }}</ref>[[File:Northern cardinal female in CP (02035).jpg|thumb|upright=1|alt=Female northern cardinal perched on a branch looking to its left|Female [[northern cardinal]], one of the bird species found in Central Park]]
Central Park contains various migratory birds during their spring and fall migration on the [[Atlantic Flyway]].{{sfn|Buckley|2018|p=35}} The first official list of birds observed in Central Park, which numbered 235&nbsp;species, was published in ''[[Forest and Stream]]'' in 1886 by [[Augustus G. Paine Jr.]] and Lewis B. Woodruff.<ref>{{cite magazine|date=June 10, 1886|title=List of birds of Central Park|journal=[[Forest and Stream]]|volume=XXVI|issue=20 |pages=386–387|publisher=The Forest and Stream Publishing Company}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|first=Eugene|last=Kinkead|date=August 26, 1974|title=The Birds of Central Park|magazine=[[The New Yorker]]|volume=XXVI|issue=20 |page=78 |url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1974/08/26/1974_08_26_078_TNY_CARDS_000310343#ixzz14RUiiUAl|access-date=May 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201193909/http://www.newyorker.com/archive/1974/08/26/1974_08_26_078_TNY_CARDS_000310343#ixzz14RUiiUAl |archive-date=February 1, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> Overall, 303&nbsp;bird species have been seen in the park since the first official list of records was published,{{sfn|Buckley|2018|p=35}} and an estimated 200&nbsp;species are spotted every season.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.audubon.org/news/the-insiders-guide-birding-central-park-new-york-city|title=The Insider's Guide to Birding in Central Park, New York City|date=June 2, 2017|publisher=[[National Audubon Society]]|access-date=April 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416161930/https://www.audubon.org/news/the-insiders-guide-birding-central-park-new-york-city|archive-date=April 16, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> No single group is responsible for tracking Central Park's bird species.{{sfn|Buckley|2018|p=34}} Some of the more famous birds include a male [[red-tailed hawk]] called [[Pale Male]], who made his perch on an apartment building overlooking Central Park in 1991.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/01/nyregion/01palemale.html |title=Reprise: The Fifth Avenue Ballad of Pale Male and Lola|last=Lueck|first=Thomas J|date=April 1, 2008|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=April 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416163347/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/01/nyregion/01palemale.html|archive-date=April 16, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://thewildlife.wbur.org/2014/11/06/spying-on-the-worlds-most-famous-hawk/|title=Spying On The World's Most Famous Hawk: Pale Male|last=Croke|first=Vicki|date=November 6, 2014|publisher=[[WBUR]]|access-date=April 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416161935/http://thewildlife.wbur.org/2014/11/06/spying-on-the-worlds-most-famous-hawk/|archive-date=April 16, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> A [[mandarin duck]] nicknamed [[Mandarin Patinkin]] received international media attention in late 2018 and early 2019<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/03/nyregion/hot-duck-mandarin-central-park.html |title=The Hot Duck That Won't Go Away |last=Jacobs|first=Julia|date=December 3, 2018|work=The New York Times|access-date=December 6, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206230341/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/03/nyregion/hot-duck-mandarin-central-park.html|archive-date=December 6, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> due to its colorful appearance and the species' presence outside its native range in [[East Asia]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/gorgeous-mandarin-duck-rarely-seen-in-us-mysteriously-appears-in-central-park|title=Gorgeous Mandarin Duck, Rarely Seen In U.S., Mysteriously Appears In Central Park|last=Carlson|first=Jen|date=October 11, 2018 |work=Gothamist|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206230345/https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/gorgeous-mandarin-duck-rarely-seen-in-us-mysteriously-appears-in-central-park|archive-date=December 6, 2019 |access-date=December 6, 2019}}</ref> Another bird, an [[Eurasian eagle-owl]] named [[Flaco (owl)|Flaco]], gained attention in 2023 when he escaped from the [[Central Park Zoo]] after his enclosure was vandalized.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 3, 2023 |title=Owl escapes from Central Park Zoo, eludes NYPD, zookeepers |url=https://apnews.com/article/new-york-city-owls-4237450ea90e6de138b4946dfddf2245 |access-date=February 14, 2023 |website=AP NEWS |language=en |archive-date=February 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211115954/https://apnews.com/article/new-york-city-owls-4237450ea90e6de138b4946dfddf2245 |url-status=live }}</ref> More infamously, [[Eugene Schieffelin]] released 100&nbsp;imported [[Common starling|European starlings]] in Central Park in 1890–1891, which led to them becoming an [[invasive species]] across North America.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-invasive-species-we-can-blame-on-shakespeare-95506437/|title=The Invasive Species We Can Blame On Shakespeare |last=Zielinski|first=Sarah |date=October 4, 2011|work=Smithsonian|access-date=April 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416161933/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-invasive-species-we-can-blame-on-shakespeare-95506437/ |archive-date=April 16, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://daily.jstor.org/all-the-birds-from-shakespeare-in-central-park/|title=All the Birds from Shakespeare in Central Park!|last=Lamb |first=Juliet |date=June 9, 2016|work=[[JSTOR Daily]]|access-date=April 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416161934/https://daily.jstor.org/all-the-birds-from-shakespeare-in-central-park/|archive-date=April 16, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

Central Park has approximately ten species of mammals {{as of|2013|lc=y}}.<ref name="Macaulay BioBlitz" /> [[Bat]]s, a nocturnal order, have been found in dark crevices.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bats|publisher=[[Government of New York City]]|url=https://www1.nyc.gov/site/wildlifenyc/animals/bats.page | access-date=June 15, 2020}}</ref> Because of the prevalence of [[raccoon]]s, the Parks Department posts [[rabies]] advisories.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/14/nyregion/raccoons-in-central-park-draw-crowds-and-warnings-to-stay-away.html |title=Raccoons in Central Park Draw Crowds, and Warnings to Stay Away|last=Nir|first=Sarah Maslin|date=November 13, 2016|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 16, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416161934/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/14/nyregion/raccoons-in-central-park-draw-crowds-and-warnings-to-stay-away.html|archive-date=April 16, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Eastern gray squirrel]]s, [[eastern chipmunk]]s, and [[Virginia opossum]]s inhabit the park.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/answers-about-central-park-wildlife-part-3/|title=Answers About Central Park Wildlife, Part 3|last=Winn|first=Marie|date=July 25, 2008|work=City Room|publisher=The New York Times Company|access-date=April 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416161935/https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/answers-about-central-park-wildlife-part-3/|archive-date=April 16, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> A 2019 squirrel census found there were 2,373 Eastern gray squirrels in Central Park.<ref>{{Unbulleted list citebundle|
{{Cite news|last=Newman|first=Andy|date=October 6, 2018|title=Why Count All the Squirrels in Central Park? Why the Heck Not|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/06/nyregion/squirrels-central-park.html|access-date=July 11, 2023|issn=0362-4331}}
| {{cite web |date=June 20, 2019 |title=How many squirrels live in NYC's Central Park? We finally have the answer |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/06/squirrel-census-new-york-city-central-park/ |access-date=August 26, 2019 |publisher=National Geographic}}
| {{cite web | last=Vazquez | first=Jennifer | title=A 'Nutty' Census Aims to Count Squirrel Population in New York City's Central Park | website=NBC New York | date=October 2, 2018 | url=https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nutty-census-count-squirrel-population-central-park-new-york-ny-studies-animal-environment/1821174/ | access-date=July 11, 2023}}
| {{cite web | last=Daley | first=Jason | title=Volunteers Counted All the Squirrels in Central Park | website=Smithsonian Magazine | date=June 24, 2019 | url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-census-counted-all-squirrels-central-park-180972480/ | access-date=July 11, 2023}}}}</ref> Central Park has also been home to [[coyote]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Coyotes in Central Park |url=https://www.centralparknyc.org/coyotes-in-central-park |access-date=2024-09-15 |website=Central Park Conservancy |language=en}}</ref>

There are 223&nbsp;[[invertebrate]] species in Central Park.<ref name="Macaulay BioBlitz" /> ''[[Nannarrup hoffmani]]'', a [[centipede]] species discovered in Central Park in 2002, is one of the smallest centipedes in the world at about {{convert|0.4|in|mm}} long.<ref>{{Cite news|title=A New Kind of New Yorker, One With 82 Legs |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/24/nyregion/a-new-kind-of-new-yorker-one-with-82-legs.html |last=Stewart|first=Barbara |date=July 24, 2002|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 16, 2019 |issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814110057/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/24/nyregion/a-new-kind-of-new-yorker-one-with-82-legs.html |archive-date=August 14, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> The more prevalent [[Asian long-horned beetle]] is an invasive species that has infected trees in Long Island and Manhattan, including in Central Park.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nycgovparks.org/news/daily-plant?id=19491 |title=The Daily Plant|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329025234/https://www.nycgovparks.org/news/daily-plant?id=19491 |archive-date=March 29, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2002/02/17/beetles-infest-2-trees-in-central-park/|title=Beetles infest 2 trees in Central Park|date=February 17, 2002|access-date=November 14, 2014|work=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129014229/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2002-02-17/news/0202170297_1_trees-beetle-central-park|archive-date=November 29, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> A variety of butterflies and moths are found in Central Park, often found inhabiting the local flora. The [[Callopistria mollissima|pink-shaded fern moth]] (''Callopistria mollissima''), a native moth to New York, is found among [[Amauropelta noveboracensis|New York ferns]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=New York Trees |url=https://www.sugiproject.com/blog/new-york-native-trees |access-date=November 20, 2025}}</ref> 

Turtles, fish, and frogs live in Central Park.<ref name="Macaulay BioBlitz" /> There are five turtle species: [[red-eared slider]]s, [[Chelydridae|snapping turtles]], [[painted turtle]]s, [[Sternotherus|musk turtles]], and [[box turtle]]s.<ref name="Turtle Pond" /> Most of the turtles live in Turtle Pond, and many of these are former pets that were released into the park.<ref name="Foderaro 2013" /> The fish are scattered more widely, but they include several freshwater species,<ref name="NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation 2014">{{cite web|url=https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/61596.html |title=Central Park Lake|date=November 7, 2014 |publisher=[[New York State Department of Environmental Conservation]] |access-date=April 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417155030/https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/61596.html|archive-date=April 17, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> such as the [[Snakehead (fish)|snakehead]], an invasive species.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/30/searching-for-the-snakehead-fish-fierce-and-entirely-unwelcome/|title=In Central Park, Hunt for an Intruder, the Snakehead Fish, Is On|last=Santora|first=Marc |date=April 30, 2013|work=City Room|publisher=The New York Times Company|access-date=April 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417155021/https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/30/searching-for-the-snakehead-fish-fierce-and-entirely-unwelcome/|archive-date=April 17, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Catch and release fishing is allowed in the Lake, Pond, and Harlem Meer.<ref name="NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation 2014" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/visit/programs/catch-and-release-fishing.html |title=Catch-and-Release Fishing|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417155025/http://www.centralparknyc.org/visit/programs/catch-and-release-fishing.html |archive-date=April 17, 2019}}</ref> Central Park is a habitat for two amphibian species: the [[American bullfrog]] and the [[Lithobates clamitans|green frog]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Winn |first=Marie |year=2008 |title=Central Park in the Dark: More Mysteries of Urban Wildlife |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |isbn=978-0-374-12011-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QIeOAVDgdcAC&pg=PA139 |page=139}}</ref> The park contained snakes in the late 19th century,<ref>{{Cite news |date=December 25, 1895|title=They All Saw Snakes at Once; but the Reptiles Were in Glass Jars and Real |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1895/12/25/archives/they-all-saw-snakes-at-once-but-the-reptiles-were-in-glass-jars-and.html|access-date=June 28, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> though Marie Winn, who wrote about wildlife in Central Park, said in a 2008&nbsp;interview that the snakes had died off.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/answers-about-central-park-wildlife/ |title=Answers About Central Park Wildlife |last=Winn |first=Marie |date=July 23, 2008|work=City Room |publisher=The New York Times Company |access-date=April 16, 2019}}</ref>

== Trees and plants{{Anchor|Flora}} ==
[[File:5 11 2022 Central Park from above looking north.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of Central Park canopy ]]
According to a 2011 survey, Central Park had more than 20,000 trees,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Robbins |first=Liz |date=May 30, 2011 |title=2 Enthusiasts Compose Map of Central Park Trees |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/nyregion/2-enthusiasts-compose-map-of-central-park-trees.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416161929/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/nyregion/2-enthusiasts-compose-map-of-central-park-trees.html |archive-date=April 16, 2019 |access-date=April 16, 2019 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=July 7, 2011 |title=Mapping (Almost) Every Tree In Central Park |url=https://www.npr.org/2011/07/07/137340619/mapping-almost-every-tree-in-central-park |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416161933/https://www.npr.org/2011/07/07/137340619/mapping-almost-every-tree-in-central-park |archive-date=April 16, 2019 |access-date=April 16, 2019 |publisher=[[NPR]]}}</ref><ref name="Conservancy Trees2">{{cite web |title=Tree Guide |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/tree-guide/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416145303/http://www.centralparknyc.org/tree-guide/ |archive-date=April 16, 2019 |access-date=April 16, 2019 |publisher=Central Park Conservancy}}</ref> representing a decrease from the 26,000 trees that were recorded in the park in 1993.<ref name="Pollak 2013">{{Cite news |last=Pollak |first=Michael |date=January 11, 2013 |title=Answers to Questions About New York |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/nyregion/answers-to-questions-about-new-york.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416161932/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/nyregion/answers-to-questions-about-new-york.html |archive-date=April 16, 2019 |access-date=April 16, 2019 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> More than 170 tree species grow throughout the park, including a mixture of long established native species and ornamental species.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=What Are Central Park's Most Colorful Fall Trees? |url=https://www.centralparknyc.org/articles/most-colorful-fall-trees |access-date=2025-11-20 |website=Central Park Conservancy |language=en}}</ref> 

Central Park contains ten "great tree" clusters that are specially recognized by NYC Parks. These include four individual [[Ulmus americana|American elms]] and one American elm grove; the 600&nbsp;[[pine]] trees in the [[Arthur Ross Pinetum]]; a [[Nyssa sylvatica|black tupelo]] in the Ramble; 35&nbsp;[[Prunus × yedoensis|Yoshino cherries]] on the east side of the Onassis Reservoir; one of the park's oldest [[Platanus × hispanica|London planes]] at 96th&nbsp;Street; and a ''[[Tetradium]]'' (formerly ''Euodia'') at Heckscher Playground.{{sfn|Barnard|2002|pp=32–35}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Central Park Great Trees |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/facilities/great-trees |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321195910/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/facilities/great-trees |archive-date=March 21, 2019 |access-date=April 16, 2019 |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation}}</ref> The American elms in Central Park are the largest remaining stands in the [[Northeastern United States]], protected by their isolation from the [[Dutch elm disease]] that devastated the tree throughout its native range.<ref name="Pollak 2013" />

In Central Park's earliest years, two [[Plant nursery|plant nurseries]] were maintained within the park boundaries: a demolished nursery near the Arsenal, and the still-extant Conservatory Garden.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=55–56}} Central Park Conservancy later took over regular maintenance of the park's flora, allocating gardeners to one of 49&nbsp;"zones" for maintenance purposes.<ref>{{cite web |date=December 26, 2016 |title=Zone Management in Central Park |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/about/blog/zone-management.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416161935/http://www.centralparknyc.org/about/blog/zone-management.html |archive-date=April 16, 2019 |access-date=April 16, 2019 |publisher=Central Park Conservancy}}</ref>

=== Tree diversity and ecological importance ===
[[File:Central Park During Peak Fall Foliage.jpg|thumb|Central Park Fall Foliage]]
Central Park contains a diversity of trees. Each autumn, many of the park's native and ornamental trees create distinct leaf colors that reflect their physiology. Sugar maples (''[[Acer saccharum]]'') and red maples (''[[Acer rubrum]]'') develop saturated oranges and reds, while sweetgums, larches, and tupelos have deep purple colors, attracting migratory birds and urban wildlife.<ref name=":0" /> Central Park is home to oak species, including red oak (''[[Quercus rubra]]''), willow oak (''[[Quercus phellos|Q. phellos]]''), swamp white oak (''[[Quercus bicolor|Q. bicolor]]''), chestnut oak (''[[Quercus montana|Q. montana]]''), and non-native species Turkey oak (''[[Quercus cerris|Q. cerris]]'').<ref>{{Cite web |title=A New Map of New York's Central Park {{!}} International Oak Society |url=https://www.internationaloaksociety.org/content/new-map-new-york's-central-park |access-date=2025-11-21 |website=www.internationaloaksociety.org}}</ref> The park's catalogued trees also include rare species such as the Tetradium (''[[Tetradium daniellii]]'') at Heckscher Playground<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |title=Bloom & Tree Guide |url=https://www.centralparknyc.org/plants |access-date=2025-11-21 |website=Central Park Conservancy |language=en}}</ref> and a black tupelo (''[[Nyssa sylvatica]]'') in the Ramble.<ref name="auto" />

Central Park's tree canopy shades paved surfaces, releases moisture into the air, and reduces localized temperature spikes during the summer heat events. The park's trees also capture matter and absorb pollutants that accumulate in dense urban environments.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How Central Park Keeps New York City Healthy |url=https://www.centralparknyc.org/articles/park-city-healthy |access-date=2025-11-20 |website=Central Park Conservancy |language=en}}</ref> Their organic debris such as branches, leaves, and wood chips, is recycles through a composting program that enriches soils throughout the park, helping sustain plant life and reduce the need for external fertilizers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Environmental Sustainability in Central Park, New York City |url=https://www.centralparknyc.org/environmental-sustainability-at-the-central-park-conservancy |access-date=2025-11-21 |website=Central Park Conservancy |language=en}}</ref> These ecological services are supported by a team of arborists who monitor the park's tree health year-round, responding to storm damage, pets, and long-term environmental stressors.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Branching Out: The Arborists Behind (and in) Central Park's Trees |url=https://www.centralparknyc.org/articles/the-arborists-behind-and-in-central-parks-trees |access-date=2025-11-21 |website=Central Park Conservancy |language=en}}</ref>

Historical plant lists dating from the 19th century highlight that Central Park once supported a broader range of naturally occurring native tree species. Trees native to central New York include [[Acer rubrum|red maple]] (''Acer rubrum''), [[white spruce]] (''Picea glauca''), and [[Larix laricina|tamarack]] (''Laric laricina'').<ref>{{Cite web |title=Native Flowers, Grasses, Shrubs, Trees, and Vines |url=https://extapps.dec.ny.gov/docs/lands_forests_pdf/factnatives.pdf}}</ref> Over time, soil disturbance, landscape alterations and the spread of invasive plants have contributed to the decline of native species within the park's tree community.<ref name="Loeb 1993">{{Cite journal |last=Loeb |first=Robert |date=1993-07-01 |title=Long Term Arboreal Change in a Landscaped Urban Park: Central Park, New York |url=https://doi.org/10.48044/jauf.1993.038 |journal=Arboriculture & Urban Forestry |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=238–249 |doi=10.48044/jauf.1993.038 |issn=1935-5297}}</ref> Many of the park's tree species experience soil-related stresses that affect the long-term survival. Compacted soils, shallow root zones, and reduced leaf-litter accumulation are favorable to species with strong tolerance to urban soil limitations, influencing which species survived through the years.<ref name="Loeb 1993" /> Several tree species once found in Central Park, including [[Quercus subg. Quercus|white oak]] (''Quercus alba'') and [[Prunus serotina|black cherry]] (''Prunus serotina''), are no longer present. These losses are linked to large scale habitat alteration, such as the elimination of wet meadow and woodland habitats, soil disturbance, pavement expansion, and the introduction of invasive understory plants that outcompete young native trees.<ref name="DeCandido 2007" />

== Landmarks and structures ==

=== Plazas and entrances ===
[[File:USS Maine (ACR-1) Monument Columbus Circle NYC.JPG|thumb|upright=1|alt=The USS ''Maine'' National Monument| The [[USS Maine National Monument|USS ''Maine'' National Monument]] at Merchants' Gate in the park]]
Central Park is surrounded by a {{convert|29025|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}}, {{convert|3|ft|10|in|cm|adj=mid|-high}} stone wall. It initially contained 18 unnamed gates.{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|p=49}} In April 1862, the Central Park commissioners adopted a proposal to name each gate with "the vocations to which this city owes its metropolitan character", such as miners, scholars, artists, or hunters.{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|p=49}}<ref>{{cite news |last=Pollak |first=Michael|title=What Is Jamaica, Queens, Named After?|work=The New York Times |date=July 6, 2014|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/06/nyregion/what-is-jamaica-queens-named-after.html |access-date=April 21, 2019 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330032410/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/06/nyregion/what-is-jamaica-queens-named-after.html|archive-date=March 30, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The park grew to contain 20 named gates by the late 20th century,<ref name="Conservancy Gates" />{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1974|p=6 (PDF p. 7)}} four of which are accessed from plazas at each corner of the park.<ref name="central-park-map" /><ref name="Conservancy Gates">{{cite web |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/named-gates.html |title=Named Gates|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402033704/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/named-gates.html|archive-date=April 2, 2019}}</ref> No named gates were added between 1862 and 2022,<ref name="Small 2022 x115">{{cite web | last=Small | first=Zachary | title=Decades After the Central Park Jogger Attack, a City Marks Its Mistake | website=The New York Times | date=December 12, 2022 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/12/arts/design/central-park-five-gate.html | access-date=January 19, 2024 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> when the Gate of the Exonerated at Lenox Avenue and Central Park North was dedicated in honor of the [[Central Park Five]].<ref name="Kristina Sgueglia 2022 i926">{{cite web | last=Kristina Sgueglia | first=Nicki Brown | title=A Central Park entrance named for the exonerated 'Central Park Five' is unveiled | website=CNN | date=December 19, 2022 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/19/us/central-park-five-gate-exonerated/index.html | access-date=January 19, 2024}}</ref>

Columbus Circle is a circular plaza at the southwestern corner, at the junction of Central Park West/Eighth Avenue, [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]], and 59th&nbsp;Street (Central Park South).<ref name="central-park-map" /><ref name=":14a">{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/highlights/7738 |work=Central Park Highlights|title=Columbus Circle|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |access-date=April 2, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190402033705/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/highlights/7738 |archive-date=April 2, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Built in the 1860s,<ref name=":14a" /> it contains the Merchant's Gate entrance to the park,<ref name="Conservancy Gates" /> and its largest feature is the 1892 [[Columbus Monument (New York City)|Columbus Monument]]<ref name=":14a" /><ref>{{Cite news|title=The Voyager In Marble |date=October 13, 1892 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1892/10/13/104148386.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1892/10/13/104148386.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live |access-date=October 13, 2017|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> and was the subject of controversies in the 2010s.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Rosenberg|first=Zoe|date=August 23, 2017 |publisher=Curbed NY |url=https://ny.curbed.com/2017/8/23/16189330/chirstopher-columbus-circle-statue-removal |title=Elected officials call for removal of Christopher Columbus statue near Central Park|access-date=October 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015150312/https://ny.curbed.com/2017/8/23/16189330/chirstopher-columbus-circle-statue-removal|archive-date=October 15, 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2017/08/30/columbus-statue-controversy/|title=Columbus Day Parade Organizers Fight To Keep Statue In Columbus Circle |date=August 30, 2017 |publisher=WCBS-TV |access-date=October 15, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015095151/http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2017/08/30/columbus-statue-controversy/|archive-date=October 15, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The 1913 USS ''Maine'' National Monument is just outside the park entrance.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Monument To Maine Heroes Ready For Unveiling |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/05/25/100267546.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/05/25/100267546.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live |date=May 25, 1913|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 14, 2017|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

The square Grand Army Plaza is on the southeastern corner, at the junction with Fifth Avenue and 59th&nbsp;Street.<ref name="central-park-map" /> Its largest feature is the ''[[Pulitzer Fountain]]'', which was completed in 1916 along with the plaza itself.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/grand-army-plaza-m062/monuments/1291|title=Pulitzer Fountain|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402033726/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/grand-army-plaza-m062/monuments/1291|archive-date=April 2, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The plaza contains the ''[[William Tecumseh Sherman (Saint-Gaudens)|William Tecumseh Sherman]]'' statue, dedicated in 1903.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/grand-army-plaza-m062/monuments/1442|title=William Tecumseh Sherman|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402033810/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/grand-army-plaza-m062/monuments/1442|archive-date=April 2, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

Duke Ellington Circle, at the northeastern corner, forms the junction between Fifth Avenue and Central Park North/110th&nbsp;Street.<ref name="central-park-map" /> It contains the [[Duke Ellington]] Memorial, dedicated in 1997.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/1781|title=Duke Ellington Memorial|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402033704/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/1781|archive-date=April 2, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Duke Ellington Circle is adjacent to the Pioneers' Gate.<ref name="Conservancy Gates" />

Frederick Douglass Circle is on the northwestern corner, at the junction with Central Park West/Eighth Avenue and Central Park North/110th&nbsp;Street.<ref name="central-park-map" /> It was named for Douglass in 1950.<ref>{{Cite news|date=September 18, 1950|title=City Circle Named in Negro's Honor; 9 Descendants of Frederick Douglass Attend Ceremony at Central Park Corner|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1950/09/18/89746989.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1950/09/18/89746989.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live|access-date=March 26, 2021|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The center of the circle contains a memorial to [[Frederick Douglass]], dedicated in 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/2098|title=Frederick Douglass Memorial|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402033724/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/2098|archive-date=April 2, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

===<span class="anchor" id="Visitor attractions"></span><span class="anchor" id="Points of interest"></span><span class="anchor" id="Attractions"></span><span class="anchor" id="Notable structures"></span>Structures===
<!-- [[Central Park jogger case]] links here -->
[[File:Metropolitan Museum of Art entrance NYC.JPG|thumb|upright=1|alt=Main facade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art|[[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]'s [[The Met Fifth Avenue|Fifth Avenue building]]]]
[[File:Bethesda Fountain, Central Park, New York, USA-1Aug2010.jpg|thumb|upright=1|alt=Bethesda Terrace and Fountain with people walking on the Central Park Mall|[[Bethesda Terrace and Fountain]]]]
[[File:Gapstow Bridge.jpg|thumb|upright=1|[[List of arches and bridges in Central Park|Gapstow Bridge]] in fall|alt=A stone bridge above a lake, with autumn foliage on either side]]
[[File:Imagine memorial with flowers, Strawberry Fields, Central Park, NYC (February 2026).jpg|190px|thumb|Memorial to [[John Lennon]]]]
The [[Harlem Meer|Dana Discovery Center]] was built in 1993 at the northeast section of the park, on the north shore of the [[Harlem Meer]].<ref name="central-park-map" /><ref name="Plitt 2017" />{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|p=47}} [[Blockhouse No. 1]], the oldest extant structure within Central Park, and built before the park's creation, sits in the northwest section of the park. It was erected as part of [[Fort Clinton (Central Park)|Fort Clinton]] during the [[War of 1812]].<ref name="Plitt 2017" /><ref>{{cite web |title=The Blockhouse – Historical Sign |date=April 23, 2008|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |url=http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=7713 |access-date=March 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080423092000/http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=7713|archive-date=April 23, 2008}}</ref>{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|p=47}} The Blockhouse is near McGowan's Pass, rocky outcroppings that also once contained [[Fort Fish]] and [[Nutter's Battery]].{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|p=46}} The [[Lasker Rink]], a skating rink and swimming pool facility, formerly occupied the southwest corner of the Harlem Meer.{{sfn|Kadinsky|2016|pp=47–48}} The [[Conservatory Garden]], the park's only formal garden, is entered through the Vanderbilt Gate at Fifth Avenue and 105th Street.<ref name="central-park-map" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/conservatory-garden.html |title=Conservatory Garden|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402043331/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/conservatory-garden.html|archive-date=April 2, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Tarr Family Playground]], [[North Meadow Recreation Center]], tennis courts, and East Meadow sit between the Loch to the north and the reservoir to the south.<ref name="central-park-map" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/north-meadow-recreation-center.html |title=North Meadow Recreation Center|publisher=Central Park Conservancy |access-date=April 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190404183612/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/north-meadow-recreation-center.html|archive-date=April 4, 2019}}</ref> The [[North Woods and North Meadow|North Woods]] takes up the rest of the northern third of the park. The areas in the northern section of the park were developed later than the southern section and are not as heavily used, so there are several unnamed features.{{sfn|Andropogon Associates|1989|p=37}} The park's northern portion was intended as the "natural section" in contrast to the landscaped "pastoral section" to the south.<ref name="Reynolds p. 321" />

The area between the 86th&nbsp;and 96th&nbsp;Street transverses is mostly occupied by the [[Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir|Onassis Reservoir]]. Directly south of the Reservoir is the Great Lawn and Turtle Pond. The Lawn is bordered by the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]]'s [[The Met Fifth Avenue|Fifth Avenue building]] to the east, Turtle Pond to the south, and Summit Rock to the west.<ref name="central-park-map" /> Summit Rock, the highest point in Central Park at {{convert|137.5|ft|m}},{{sfn|Berman|2003|p=29}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/highlights/12391 |work=Central Park Highlights|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|title=Vista Rock & Tunnel|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190404195825/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/highlights/12391 |archive-date=April 4, 2019|url-status=live|access-date=April 4, 2019}}</ref> abuts [[Diana Ross Playground]] to the south and the Seneca Village site, occupied by the Toll Family playground, to the north.<ref name="central-park-map" /> Turtle Pond's western shore contains Belvedere Castle, Delacorte Theater, the Shakespeare Garden, and [[Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre|Marionette Theatre]].<ref name="central-park-map" /> The section between the 79th&nbsp;Street transverse and Terrace Drive at 72nd&nbsp;Street contains three main natural features: the forested Ramble, the L-shaped Lake, and Conservatory Water. [[Cherry Hill (Central Park)|Cherry Hill]] is to the south of the Lake, while [[Cedar Hill (Central Park)|Cedar Hill]] is to the east.<ref name="central-park-map" /><ref name="Plitt 2017" />

The southernmost part of Central Park, below Terrace Drive, contains several children's attractions and other flagship features.<ref name="central-park-map" /> It contains many of the structures built in Central Park's initial stage of construction, designed in the [[Victorian Gothic]] style.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1974|p=7 (PDF p. 8)}} Directly facing the southeastern shore of the Lake is a bi-level hall called Bethesda Terrace, which contains an elaborate fountain on its lower level.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1974|p=7 (PDF p. 8)}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/1991|title=Bethesda Terrace|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |access-date=April 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410150604/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/1991 |archive-date=April 10, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Reynolds p. 322">{{harvnb|Reynolds|1994|ps=.|p=322}}</ref> Bethesda Terrace connects to [[Central Park Mall]], a landscaped walkway and the only formal feature in the Greensward Plan.<ref name="central-park-map" />{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1974|p=7 (PDF p. 8)}} Near the southwestern shore of the Lake is [[Strawberry Fields (memorial)|Strawberry Fields]], a memorial to [[John Lennon]] who was [[Murder of John Lennon|murdered nearby]];<ref name="central-park-map" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/strawberry-fields.html |title=Strawberry Fields|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410150600/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/strawberry-fields.html|archive-date=April 10, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Sheep Meadow, a lawn originally intended for use as a parade ground;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/highlights/10761 |title=Sheep Meadow|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410150609/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/highlights/10761 |archive-date=April 10, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and Tavern on the Green, a restaurant.<ref name="central-park-map" /> The southern border of Central Park contains the "Children's District",<ref name="NYC Parks Carousel">{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/highlights/12390 |work=Central Park Highlights|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|title=The Carousel|access-date=April 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190410150607/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/highlights/12390 |archive-date=April 10, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> an area that includes Heckscher Playground, the [[Central Park Carousel]], the [[Ballplayers House]], and the Chess and Checkers House.<ref name="central-park-map" /><ref name="NYC Parks Carousel" /> Wollman Rink/[[Victorian Gardens]], the Central Park Zoo and Children's Zoo, the Arsenal, and the Pond and Hallett Nature Sanctuary are nearby.<ref name="central-park-map" /><ref name="Plitt 2017" /> The Arsenal, a red-brick building designed by [[Martin E. Thompson]] in 1851, has been NYC Parks' headquarters since 1934.<ref name="Reynolds p. 325">{{harvnb|Reynolds|1994|ps=.|p=325}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=History of the Arsenal |url=https://nycgovparks.org/about/history/the-arsenal |access-date=April 25, 2022 |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation}}</ref>

There are 21&nbsp;children's playgrounds in Central Park. The largest, at {{convert|3|acre|ha|spell=in}}, is Heckscher Playground.<ref name="Playgrounds" /> Central Park includes [[List of arches and bridges in Central Park|36&nbsp;ornamental bridges]], each of a different design.<ref name="Reed 1990">[[Henry Hope Reed Jr.|Henry Hope Reed]], Robert M. McGee and Esther Mipaas. ''The Bridges of Central Park.'' (Greensward Foundation) 1990.</ref>{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|pp=45–46}}<ref name="Reynolds p. 325" /> The bridges are generally designed in the [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]] or [[Romanesque Revival architecture|Romanesque Revival]] styles and are made of wood, stone, or cast iron.<ref name="Reynolds p. 325" /> "Rustic" shelters and other structures were originally spread out through the park. Most have been demolished over the years, and several have been restored.<ref name="Reynolds p. 325" /><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/13/nyregion/new-york-day-by-day-central-park-shelter.html |title=New York Day by Day; Central Park Shelter|last1=Johnston|first1=Laurie|date=August 13, 1983|work=The New York Times |access-date=April 19, 2019|last2=Anderson|first2=Susan Heller|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419033334/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/13/nyregion/new-york-day-by-day-central-park-shelter.html |archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/about/blog/central-parks-rustic-architecture.html |title=The Story Behind Central Park's Rustic Architecture|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419033339/http://www.centralparknyc.org/about/blog/central-parks-rustic-architecture.html|archive-date=April 19, 2019|work=Central Park Conservancy Blog}}</ref> The park contains around 9,500 benches in three styles, of which nearly half have small engraved tablets of some kind, installed as part of Central Park's "Adopt-a-Bench" program. These engravings typically contain short personalized messages and can be installed for at least $10,000 apiece. "Handmade rustic benches" can cost more than half a million dollars and are only granted when the honoree underwrites a major park project.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/19/nyregion/4223-central-park-benches-with-stories-to-tell.html |title=4,223 Central Park Benches With Stories to Tell|last=Kleinfield |first=N. R.|date=June 17, 2016 |work=The New York Times |access-date=May 14, 2019|issn=0362-4331 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423161956/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/19/nyregion/4223-central-park-benches-with-stories-to-tell.html |archive-date=April 23, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/06/29/central-park-benches/|title=For $10,000 You Can Share Your Story On A Bench In Central Park|date=June 29, 2016 |publisher=WCBS-TV|access-date=May 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514005925/https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/06/29/central-park-benches/ |archive-date=May 14, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

{{wide image|NYC Turtlepond.jpg|600px|alt=Panoramic view including Delacorte Theater, Great Lawn and Turtle Pond|[[Delacorte Theater]], [[Great Lawn and Turtle Pond]], from [[Belvedere Castle]]|align-cap=center}}

===Art and monuments===
====Sculptures====
{{Main|Public art in Central Park}}

[[File:Bethesda Fountain angel sunny winter day.JPG|thumb|upright=1|alt=Bethesda Fountain angel at the center of a brick plaza| ''Angel of the Waters'' (1873) in [[Bethesda Fountain]]]]
Twenty-nine sculptures have been erected within Central Park's boundaries.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1974|p=7 (PDF p. 8)}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thirteen.org/metrofocus/2012/09/lives-remembered-in-the-statues-and-monuments-of-central-park/ |title=The Lives Behind the Statues and Monuments of Central Park|date=September 19, 2012|publisher=[[WNET]]|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151029151528/http://www.thirteen.org/metrofocus/2012/09/lives-remembered-in-the-statues-and-monuments-of-central-park/|archive-date=October 29, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments|title=Central Park Monuments |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321195900/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments |archive-date=March 21, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Most of the sculptures were not part of the Greensward Plan, but were nevertheless included to placate wealthy donors when appreciation of art increased in the late 19th&nbsp;century.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=89–90}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=329–331}}{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|pp=68–69}} Though Vaux and Mould proposed 26&nbsp;statues in the Terrace in 1862, these were eliminated because they were too expensive.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=329–331}} More sculptures were added through the late 19th&nbsp;century, and by 1890s, there were 24&nbsp;in the park.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|p=332}}

Several busts of authors and poets are on Literary Walk adjacent to the Central Park Mall.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1974|p=7 (PDF p. 8)}}{{sfn|Berman|2003|p=59}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/mall-literary-walk.html |title=The Mall and Literary Walk|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160510085304/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/mall-literary-walk.html|archive-date=May 10, 2016}}</ref> Another cluster of sculptures, around the Zoo and Conservancy Water, are statues of characters from children's stories. A third sculpture grouping primarily depicts "subjects in nature" such as animals and hunters.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1974|p=7 (PDF p. 8)}}

Several sculptures stand out because of their geography and topography.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1974|p=7 (PDF p. 8)}} ''[[List of sculptures in Central Park#Fictional characters|Alice in Wonderland Margaret Delacorte Memorial]]'' (1959), a sculpture of [[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland|Alice]], is at [[Conservatory Water]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/13|title=Alice in Wonderland|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524032949/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/13|archive-date=May 24, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/05/06/archives/wonderland-to-be-dedicated.html |title=Wonderland' to Be Dedicated|date=May 6, 1959|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 19, 2020|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> ''Angel of the Waters'' (1873), by [[Emma Stebbins]], is the centerpiece of Bethesda Fountain;<ref name="Reynolds p. 322" />{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=329–331}} it was the first large public sculpture commission for an American woman<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/114|title=Bethesda Fountain|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417025700/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/114|archive-date=April 17, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and the only statue included in the original park design.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=329–331}} ''[[Statue of Balto|Balto]]'' (1925), a statue of [[Balto]], the sled dog who became famous during the [[1925 serum run to Nome]], is near East Drive and East 66th&nbsp;Street.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/75|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|title=Balto|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327195017/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/75|archive-date=March 27, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[King Jagiello Monument]]'' (1939), a bronze monument installed in 1945, is at the east end of [[Great Lawn and Turtle Pond, Central Park|Turtle Pond]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/highlights/13318 |work=Central Park Highlights|title=King Jagiello Monument|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628182325/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/highlights/13318 |archive-date=June 28, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[Women's Rights Pioneers Monument]]'' (2020), a monument of [[Sojourner Truth]], [[Susan B. Anthony]], and [[Elizabeth Cady Stanton]],<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hines|first=Morgan|date=August 26, 2020|title='We have broken the bronze ceiling': First monument to real women unveiled in NYC's Central Park|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2020/08/26/new-york-central-park-statue-womens-rights-pioneers-monument-up/5632949002/|access-date=August 26, 2020|website=[[USA Today]]|language=en-US}}</ref> was the city's first statue to depict a female historical figure.<ref>{{cite web|last=Kolodny|first=Sarah|title=First Statue of Real Women to Debut in Central Park in 2020|publisher=[[NBC New York]]|date=July 24, 2018|url=http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/First-Ever-Statue-Depicting-Real-Women-Coming-to-Central-Park-in-2020-489028501.html|access-date=April 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421001814/https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/First-Ever-Statue-Depicting-Real-Women-Coming-to-Central-Park-in-2020-489028501.html|archive-date=April 21, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Central Park's first-ever female statue is coming in 2020|work=Time Out New York|date=July 24, 2018|url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/central-parks-first-ever-female-statue-is-coming-in-2020-072418|access-date=April 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421001814/https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/central-parks-first-ever-female-statue-is-coming-in-2020-072418|archive-date=April 21, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Structures and exhibitions====
[[File:Central Park New York May 2017 004.jpg|thumb|upright=1|alt=An obelisk named Cleopatra's Needle|[[Cleopatra's Needle (New York City)|Cleopatra's Needle]], the park's oldest human-made structure]]
[[Cleopatra's Needle (New York City)|Cleopatra's Needle]], a red [[granite]] [[obelisk]] west of the Metropolitan Museum of Art,<ref name="central-park-map" /> is the oldest human-made structure in Central Park.<ref name="Conservancy Obelisk">{{cite web|url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/obelisk.html |title=Obelisk|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424124927/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/obelisk.html|archive-date=April 24, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The needle in Central Park is one of three [[Cleopatra's Needle]]s that were originally erected at the Temple of [[Ra]] in [[Heliopolis (ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]] in [[Ancient Egypt]] around 1450&nbsp;BC by the [[Pharaoh]] [[Thutmose&nbsp;III]].<ref name="Conservancy Obelisk" /><ref>{{cite enc-nyc2|page=271}}</ref><ref name="Gray 2014">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/01/realestate/the-new-york-history-of-an-egyptian-obelisk.html |title=A Very Difficult Crosstown Move|last=Gray|first=Christopher|date=May 29, 2014|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 7, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711010230/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/01/realestate/the-new-york-history-of-an-egyptian-obelisk.html|archive-date=July 11, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[hieroglyph]]s were inscribed about 200 years later by Pharaoh [[Rameses&nbsp;II]] to glorify his military victories. The needles are so named because they were later moved to in front of the [[Caesarium]] in [[Alexandria]], a temple originally built by [[Cleopatra&nbsp;VII]] of Egypt in honor of [[Mark Antony]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Frank Leslie's New York journal|volume=1–2|page=292|date=1855|hdl=2027/njp.32101074880459}}</ref> The needle in Central Park arrived in late 1880 and was dedicated early the following year.<ref name="Conservancy Obelisk" /><ref name="Gray 2014" />

The [[Strawberry Fields (memorial)|Strawberry Fields memorial]], near Central Park West and 72nd&nbsp;Street,<ref name="central-park-map" /> is a memorial commemorating John Lennon, who was murdered outside the nearby [[The Dakota|Dakota]] apartment building. The city dedicated Strawberry Fields in Lennon's honor in April 1981,<ref>{{cite web|title=The City; Central Park Section To Honor Lennon|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|date=April 17, 1981|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/17/nyregion/the-city-central-park-section-to-honor-lennon.html|access-date=April 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414141700/https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/17/nyregion/the-city-central-park-section-to-honor-lennon.html|archive-date=April 14, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and the memorial was completely rebuilt and rededicated on what would have been Lennon's 45th&nbsp;birthday, October&nbsp;9, 1985.<ref>{{cite web|last=Dowd|first=Maureen|title=Strawberry Fields 'Garden Of Peace' Opens Today|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|date=October 9, 1985|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/09/nyregion/strawberry-fields-garden-of-peace-opens-today.html|access-date=April 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414141658/https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/09/nyregion/strawberry-fields-garden-of-peace-opens-today.html|archive-date=April 14, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Countries from all around the world contributed trees, and Italy donated the "Imagine" mosaic in the center of the memorial. It has since become the site of impromptu memorial gatherings for other notables.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|title=Strawberry Fields|url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/strawberry-fields.html|access-date=August 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831091218/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/strawberry-fields.html|archive-date=August 31, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/764|title=Imagine|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190921000530/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments/764|archive-date=September 21, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

For 16 days in 2005, Central Park was the setting for [[Christo and Jeanne-Claude]]'s installation ''[[The Gates]]'', an exhibition that had been planned since 1979.<ref name="Guggenheim 2003">{{cite web |url=https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/13788|title=The Gates, Project for Central Park, New York City. Drawing in 2 parts|date=December 1, 2002|publisher=[[Guggenheim Museum]]|access-date=April 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190430220754/https://www.guggenheim.org/artwork/13788|archive-date=April 30, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>  Although the project was the subject of mixed reactions, it was a major attraction for the park while it was open, drawing over a million people.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2005/TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS/02/25/gates.closing/|title=Central Park's 'Gates' to close this weekend|date=February 25, 2005 |publisher=[[CNN]]|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200406185322/http://www.cnn.com/2005/TRAVEL/DESTINATIONS/02/25/gates.closing/|archive-date=April 6, 2020|access-date=April 15, 2019}}</ref>

===Restaurants===

Central Park contains two indoor restaurants. [[Tavern on the Green]], at [[Central Park West]] and West 67th&nbsp;Street, was built in 1870 as a [[Pen (enclosure)|sheepfold]] and was converted into a restaurant in 1934.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=106–109}}{{sfn|Caro|1974|p=984}}<ref name="NYTimes-Sheep-1934" /> The Tavern on the Green was expanded between 1974 and 1976;<ref name="CNN.com 2010 w811">{{cite web | title=End of an era for New York's Tavern on the Green | website=CNN.com | date=January 1, 2010 | url=https://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/01/01/tavern.on.green.closing/index.html | access-date=March 11, 2024}}</ref> it was closed in 2009 and reopened five years later after a renovation.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/eats/tavern-green-open-april-24-dinner-article-1.1743113 |first=Beth |last=Stebner|title=Tavern on the Green to open April 24 for dinner; to add brunch, lunch in May|work=New York Daily News|access-date=May 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329002503/https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/eats/tavern-green-open-april-24-dinner-article-1.1743113|archive-date=March 29, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The Loeb Boathouse restaurant is at the Loeb Boathouse, on the Lake, near Fifth Avenue between 74th&nbsp;and 75th&nbsp;streets.<ref name="Loeb Boat House 1939" /><ref name="Conservancy Loeb Boathouse" /> Though the boathouse was constructed in 1954,<ref name="Conservancy Loeb Boathouse" /> its restaurant opened in 1983.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/09/nyregion/40-seat-restaurant-to-open-in-loeb-boathouse.html |title=40 Seat Restaurant to Open in Loeb Boathouse |last=Carmody|first=Deirdre|date=January 9, 1983|work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331|access-date=April 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417010356/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/01/09/nyregion/40-seat-restaurant-to-open-in-loeb-boathouse.html|archive-date=April 17, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Activities==

===Tours===
[[File:New York. Central Park. Carriage (4249565692).jpg|thumb|upright=1|alt=A horse-drawn carriage by the park|Horse-drawn carriage by the park]]
In the late 19th&nbsp;century, West and East Drives was a popular place for carriage rides, though only five percent of the city was able to afford a carriage. One of the main attractions in the park's early years was the introduction of the "Carriage Parade", a daily display of horse-drawn carriages that traversed the park.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|p=46}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=400–401}}{{sfn|Morris|1996|p=95}} The introduction of the automobile caused the carriage industry to die out by World War&nbsp;I,{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=400–401}} though the carriage-horse tradition was revived in 1935.<ref name="Newsweek41307">{{cite web |first=Jessica|last=Bennett |title=Should Carriage Horses Be Banned?|work=[[Newsweek]]|date=September 25, 2007|url=https://www.newsweek.com/should-carriage-horses-be-banned-100229|access-date=April 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421020140/https://www.newsweek.com/should-carriage-horses-be-banned-100229|archive-date=April 21, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The carriages have become a symbolic institution of the city; for instance, in a much-publicized event after the [[September 11 attacks]], Mayor [[Rudy Giuliani]] went to the stables to ask the drivers to go back to work to help return a sense of normality.<ref name="Newsweek41307" />

Some activists, celebrities, and politicians have questioned the ethics of the carriage-horse industry and called for its end.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/16/AR2007121602021.html |title=Bill Could Halt New York Carriage Horses|last=Richburg|first=Keith B.|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=December 17, 2007|access-date=August 23, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081008011711/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/16/AR2007121602021.html|archive-date=October 8, 2008|url-status=live}}</ref> The history of accidents involving spooked horses came under scrutiny in the 2000s and 2010s after reports of horses collapsing and even dying.<ref>{{cite web|last=Durkin|first=Erin|title=Central Park carriage horse collapses, prompts NYCLASS to demand investigation|work=New York Daily News|date=February 27, 2017|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/central-park-carriage-horse-collapses-nyclass-calls-probe-article-1.2983680|access-date=April 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190421020140/https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/manhattan/central-park-carriage-horse-collapses-nyclass-calls-probe-article-1.2983680|archive-date=April 21, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Grove|first=Lloyd|title=Can PETA Stop Horse-Drawn Carriages in Central Park?|work=[[New York (magazine)|New York Magazine]]|date=January 31, 2008|url=http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/45116/|access-date=April 21, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328231358/http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/45116/|archive-date=March 28, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Supporters of the trade say it needs to be reformed rather than shut down.<ref>See, for example: {{cite web|title=Horse Pucky|work=[[The New York Sun]]|url=http://www.nysun.com/editorials/horse-pucky/67271/|date=November 30, 2007|access-date=April 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612162730/https://www.nysun.com/editorials/horse-pucky/67271/|archive-date=June 12, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Some replacements have been proposed, including electric vintage cars.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/central-park-conservancy-cars-poor-alternative-horses-article-1.1759280|title=Central Park Conservancy says cars are poor alternative to horses|work=New York Daily News|date=April 17, 2014 |access-date=May 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612142318/http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/central-park-conservancy-cars-poor-alternative-horses-article-1.1759280|archive-date=June 12, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Bill de Blasio, in his successful 2013 mayoral campaign, pledged to eliminate horse carriage tours if he was elected;<ref>{{cite web|title=Animal Rights Becomes Surprise Topic in New York Mayoral Race|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|date=April 13, 2013 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/13/nyregion/animal-rights-becomes-surprise-topic-in-new-york-mayoral-race.html|access-date=April 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413211600/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/13/nyregion/animal-rights-becomes-surprise-topic-in-new-york-mayoral-race.html|archive-date=April 13, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> {{as of|August 2018|lc=y}}, had only succeeded in relocating the carriage pick-up areas.<ref>{{cite web|title=In His 5th Year as Mayor, de Blasio Finally Acts on Horse-Carriage Pledge|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|date=August 30, 2018 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/30/nyregion/deblasio-horse-carriage-nyc.html|access-date=April 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413211424/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/30/nyregion/deblasio-horse-carriage-nyc.html|archive-date=April 13, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Cycle rickshaw|Pedicabs]] operate mostly in the southern part of the park, as horse carriages do. The pedicabs have been criticized: there have been reports of pedicab drivers charging exorbitant fares of several hundred dollars.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pedicab riders shocked by bills topping $200, $400, even $600|publisher=WABC-TV|date=January 19, 2018|url=https://abc7ny.com/2968749/|access-date=June 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701140707/https://abc7ny.com/2968749/|archive-date=July 1, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2013/07/new-york-city-pedicab-scam-how-not-to-get-scammed-by-a-pedicab-driver.html |title=Five Ways to Avoid Getting Scammed by an Unscrupulous Pedicab Driver|last=Peters|first=Justin|date=July 16, 2013|work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate Magazine]]|access-date=April 13, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413211425/https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2013/07/new-york-city-pedicab-scam-how-not-to-get-scammed-by-a-pedicab-driver.html|archive-date=April 13, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Recreation===
The [[#Scenic drives|park's drives]], which are {{convert|6.1|mi|km}} long, are used heavily by runners, joggers, pedestrians, bicyclists, and inline skaters.<ref name="Conservancy Running Map" /><ref name="Conservancy Running" /> The park drives contain [[protected bike lane]]s<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/bikemap-2019.pdf|title=NYC DOT – Bicycle Maps|date=2019|publisher=[[New York City Department of Transportation]]|access-date=May 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514162629/https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/bikemap-2019.pdf|archive-date=May 14, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and are used as the home course for the racing series of the [[Century Road Club Association]], a [[USA Cycling]]-sanctioned amateur cycling club.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.crca.net/racing/|title=Racing|publisher=[[Century Road Club Association]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160116152118/http://www.crca.net/racing/|archive-date=January 16, 2016|access-date=January 9, 2016}}</ref> In 2021, [[e-scooters]] were legalized in New York, including in Central Park.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 13, 2021 |title=Electric Scooters in New York. Rental vs Buying! Tips and Tricks! |url=https://www.centralparktours.net/blog/electric-scooters-in-central-park/ |access-date=July 24, 2021 |website=Central Park Tours |language=en}}</ref> The park is used for professional running, and the [[New York Road Runners]] designated a {{convert|5|mi|km|abbr=|adj=on}} running loop within Central Park.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.runningroutes.nyrr.org/centralpark|title=Central Park|publisher=[[New York Road Runners]] Running Routes|access-date=April 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419033336/https://www.runningroutes.nyrr.org/centralpark|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[New York City Marathon]] course uses several miles of drives within Central Park and finishes outside Tavern on the Green;<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tcsnycmarathon.org/race-day/course|title=The Course|date=August 6, 2014|publisher=TCS [[New York City Marathon]]|access-date=April 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416134439/https://www.tcsnycmarathon.org/race-day/course|archive-date=April 16, 2019}}</ref> from 1970 through 1975, the race was held entirely in Central Park.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.podiumrunner.com/culture/history-of-nyc-marathon/|title=The Making of Today's Iconic 5-Borough NYC Marathon|last1=Juva|first1=Theresa|last2=Monico|first2=Nicolle|work=Podium Runner|date=October 29, 2018|access-date=April 28, 2020|archive-date=July 27, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727190958/https://www.podiumrunner.com/culture/history-of-nyc-marathon/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

There are 26&nbsp;[[baseball field]]s in Central Park: eight on the Great Lawn, six at Heckscher Ballfields near Columbus Circle, and twelve in the North Meadow.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/facilities/baseball|title=Central Park Baseball Fields |publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321195914/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/facilities/baseball |archive-date=March 21, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/baseball.html |title=Baseball |publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417155021/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/baseball.html|archive-date=April 17, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NYC Parks Fields and Courts">{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/permits/field-and-court/issued/M010 |title=Field and Court Usage Report for Central Park|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417155024/https://www.nycgovparks.org/permits/field-and-court/issued/M010 |archive-date=April 17, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> 12&nbsp;[[tennis]] courts, six non-regulation [[Association football|soccer]] fields (which overlap with the North Meadow ball fields), four basketball courts, and a recreation center are in the North Meadow.<ref name="NYC Parks Fields and Courts" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/north-meadow.html |title=North Meadow|publisher=Central Park Conservancy |access-date=April 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417155023/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/north-meadow.html|archive-date=April 17, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> An additional soccer field and four basketball courts are at Great Lawn.<ref name="NYC Parks Fields and Courts" /> Four [[beach volleyball|volleyball]] courts are in the southern part of the park.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/facilities/volleyball|title=Central Park Volleyball Courts|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation |access-date=April 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321195959/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/facilities/volleyball|archive-date=March 21, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

Central Park has two [[ice skating]] rinks: Wollman Rink in its southern portion and Lasker Rink in its northern portion.<ref>{{cite web|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|title=Ice Skating |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/ice-skating.html|access-date=August 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831125419/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/ice-skating.html|archive-date=August 31, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> During summer, the former is the site of [[Victorian Gardens]] seasonal amusement park,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/victorian-gardens-amusement-park.html |title=Victorian Gardens Amusement Park |publisher=Central Park Conservancy |access-date=April 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417155032/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/victorian-gardens-amusement-park.html|archive-date=April 17, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and the latter converts to an outdoor [[swimming pool]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/facilities/outdoor-pools/lasker-pool|title=Central Park Outdoor Pools|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 17, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321200010/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/facilities/outdoor-pools/lasker-pool|archive-date=March 21, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/lasker.html |title=Lasker Rink and Pool |publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417155021/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/lasker.html|archive-date=April 17, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

Central Park's [[glaciated rock]] outcroppings attract climbers, especially boulderers, but the quality of the stone is poor, and the climbs present so little challenge that it has been called "one of America's most pathetic boulders".{{sfn|Sherman|1994|pp=226–228}} The two most renowned spots for boulderers are Rat Rock and Cat Rock. Other rocks frequented by climbers, mostly at the south end of the park, include Dog Rock, Duck Rock, Rock N' Roll Rock, and Beaver Rock.<ref>{{cite web|last=Wren|first=Christopher S.|title=A Summit in Central Park|work=The New York Times|date=July 21, 1999|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/21/nyregion/a-summit-in-central-park-boulder-gives-climbers-a-taste-of-the-mountain.html|access-date=April 21, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190531223215/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/21/nyregion/a-summit-in-central-park-boulder-gives-climbers-a-taste-of-the-mountain.html|archive-date=May 31, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Concerts and performances===
[[File:SS Venue and Crowd.JPG|thumb|upright=1|alt=The covered stage known as Summerstage with a band entertaining a crowd of people|[[Summerstage]] in Central Park features free musical concerts throughout the summer.]]
Central Park has been the site of concerts almost since its inception. Originally, they were hosted in the Ramble, but these were moved to the Concert Ground next to the Mall in the 1870s.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/history/concerts|title=History of Concerts in Parks|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419033334/https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/history/concerts|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The weekend concerts hosted in the Mall drew tens of thousands of visitors from all social classes.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=225–227}} Since 1923, concerts have been held in [[Naumburg Bandshell]], a [[Shell (theater)|bandshell]] of [[Indiana limestone]] on [[Central Park Mall|the Mall]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/19/realestate/streetscapes-naumburg-bandshell-everyone-but-donor-s-family-wants-it-gone.html |title=Streetscapes: The Naumburg Bandshell; Everyone but the Donor's Family Wants It Gone|last=Gray|first=Christopher|date=February 19, 1989|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 19, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419033337/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/02/19/realestate/streetscapes-naumburg-bandshell-everyone-but-donor-s-family-wants-it-gone.html|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Named for banker [[Elkan Naumburg]], who funded its construction, the bandshell has deteriorated over the years but has never been fully restored.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/25/nyregion/central-parks-marred-band-shell-gets-a-golden-pick-me-up.html |title=Gold Touches Up Sullied Band Shell in Central Park|last=Gregory|first=Kia|date=June 24, 2014|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 19, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419033340/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/25/nyregion/central-parks-marred-band-shell-gets-a-golden-pick-me-up.html|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The oldest free classical music concert series in the United States—the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts, founded in 1905—is hosted in the bandshell.<ref name="Concerts-Conservancy" /> Other large concerts include ''[[The Concert in Central Park]]'', a [[benefit concert|benefit performance]] by [[Simon & Garfunkel]] in 1981,{{sfn|Eliot|2010|p=174}} and [[Garth: Live from Central Park]], a free concert by [[Garth Brooks]] in 1997.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bergren|first=Joe|title=Flashback: Garth Brooks Makes History With 1997 Central Park Concert|publisher=[[KTVB]]|date=August 7, 1997|url=https://www.ktvb.com/article/entertainment/entertainment-tonight/flashback-garth-brooks-makes-history-with-1997-central-park-concert/277-462482639|access-date=June 16, 2020}}</ref>

Several arts groups are dedicated to performing in Central Park.<ref name="Concerts-Conservancy">{{Cite web|url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/concerts.html |title=Concerts|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419091512/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/concerts.html|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> These include [[Central Park Brass]], which performs concert series,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/09/arts/arts-briefing.html |title=Arts Briefing|last=Gelder|first=Lawrence Van|date=June 9, 2004|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 19, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419043300/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/09/arts/arts-briefing.html|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and the [[New York Classical Theatre]], which produces an annual series of plays.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/14/theater/free-shows-to-see-in-new-york-this-summer.html |title=Free Shows to See in New York This Summer |last=Piepenburg|first=Erik|date=July 14, 2017|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 19, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419033342/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/14/theater/free-shows-to-see-in-new-york-this-summer.html|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

There are several regular summer events. The Public Theater presents free open-air theater productions, such as [[Shakespeare in the Park (New York City)|Shakespeare in the Park]], in the Delacorte Theater.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/31/arts/shakespeare-in-the-park.html |title=Shakespeare in the Park|last=Lee|first=A. C|date=May 31, 2013|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 19, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419034733/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/31/arts/shakespeare-in-the-park.html|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/shakespeare-in-the-park|title=The complete guide to Shakespeare in the Park in NYC|work=Time Out New York|access-date=April 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419033333/https://www.timeout.com/newyork/theater/shakespeare-in-the-park|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The City Parks Foundation offers Central Park [[Summerstage]], a series of free performances including music, dance, spoken word, and film presentations, often featuring famous performers.<ref name="Concerts-Conservancy" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/music/central-park-summerstage|title=Your guide to SummerStage 2019|work=Time Out New York|access-date=April 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419033334/https://www.timeout.com/newyork/music/central-park-summerstage|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Additionally, the [[New York Philharmonic]] gives an open-air concert on the Great Lawn yearly during the summer,<ref name="Concerts-Conservancy" /> and from 1967 until 2007, the Metropolitan Opera presented two operas in concert each year.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gretschel|first=Johanna|title=Jenny Simpson Aims For Sixth Title, Course Record At 5th Avenue Mile|work=FloTrack|date=October 5, 2017|url=http://www.flotrack.org/article/61403-jenny-simpson-aims-for-sixth-title-course-record-at-5th-avenue-mile|access-date=October 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012152718/http://www.flotrack.org/article/61403-jenny-simpson-aims-for-sixth-title-course-record-at-5th-avenue-mile|archive-date=October 12, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Every August since 2003, the Central Park Conservancy has hosted the Central Park Film Festival, a series of free film screenings.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.metro.us/things-to-do/new-york/central-park-movie-nights-2018|title=Here's the schedule for Central Park Movie Nights 2018|date=July 10, 2018|work=Metro US|access-date=August 1, 2019}}</ref>

==Transportation==
Central Park incorporates a system of pedestrian walkways, scenic drives, bridle paths, and transverse roads to aid traffic circulation,{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1974|p=6 (PDF p. 7)}} and it is easily accessible via several subway stations and bus routes.<ref name="manbus" />

===Public transport===
[[File:5 Av Subway Station entrance.jpg|thumb|upright=1|alt=Subway entrance just outside Central Park|Entrance to the [[Fifth Avenue–59th Street (BMT Broadway Line)|Fifth Avenue–59th Street]] subway station just outside Central Park]]
The New York City Subway's [[IND&nbsp;Eighth Avenue Line]] ({{NYCS trains|Eighth center}}) runs along the western edge of the park. Most of the Eighth Avenue Line stations on Central Park West serve only the local {{NYCS trains|Eighth center local day|time=nolink}}, while the [[59th&nbsp;Street–Columbus Circle station]] is additionally served by the express {{NYCS trains|Eighth center express|time=nolink}} and the [[IRT&nbsp;Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line]] ({{NYCS trains|Broadway-Seventh local day}}). The [[IRT&nbsp;Lenox Avenue Line]] ({{NYCS trains|Lenox south}}) has a station at {{stl|NYCS|Malcolm X Plaza}}. From there the line curves southwest under the park and heads west under 104th&nbsp;Street. On the southeastern corner of the park, the [[BMT&nbsp;Broadway Line]] ({{NYCS trains|Broadway&nbsp;60th}}) has a station at [[Fifth Avenue–59th Street (BMT Broadway Line)|Fifth Avenue and 59th&nbsp;Street]].<ref name="submap" /> The [[63rd&nbsp;Street lines]] ({{NYCS trains|63rd&nbsp;Lexington header}}) pass underneath without stopping,<ref name="submap">{{NYCS const|map}}</ref> and the line contains a single ventilation shaft within the park, west of Fifth Avenue and 63rd&nbsp;Street.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=225–226}}

Various bus routes pass through Central Park or stop along its boundaries. The [[M10 and M20 buses|M10]]&nbsp;bus stops along Central Park West, while the [[M5 (New York City bus)|M5]]&nbsp;and part of the [[M7 (New York City bus)|M7]]&nbsp;runs along Central Park South, and the {{NYC bus link|M2|M3|M4|prose=y}} run along Central Park North. The [[M1 (New York City bus)|M1]], M2, M3, and M4&nbsp;run southbound along Fifth Avenue with corresponding northbound bus service on Madison Avenue. The {{NYC bus link|M66|M72|M79 SBS}} ([[Select Bus Service]]), {{NYC bus link|M86 SBS|M96|M106|prose=y}} buses use the transverse roads across Central Park. The {{NYC bus link|M12|M20|M104|prose=y}} only serve Columbus Circle on the south end of the park, and the {{NYC bus link|M31|M57|prose=y}} run on [[57th Street (Manhattan)|57th&nbsp;Street]] two blocks from the park's south end but do not stop on the boundaries of the park.<ref name="manbus">{{cite NYC bus map|M}}</ref>

Some of the buses running on the edge of Central Park replaced former [[Tram|streetcar]] routes that [[List of streetcar lines in Manhattan|formerly traveled across Manhattan]]. These streetcar routes included the Sixth Avenue line, which became the M5 bus, and the Eighth Avenue line, which became the M10.{{sfn|Meyers|2005|p=32}} Only one streetcar line traversed Central Park: the 86th&nbsp;Street Crosstown Line, the predecessor to the M86&nbsp;bus.{{sfn|Meyers|2005|p=65}}

===Transverse roads===
[[File:CP Transverse Rd 1 west arches cloudy early spring jeh.jpg|thumb|upright=1|alt=A stone transverse arch|66th Street transverse]]
Central Park contains four transverse roadways that carry crosstown traffic across the park.<ref name="central-park-map" />{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=130–135}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1974|p=6 (PDF p. 7)}} From south to north, they are at [[66th Street (Manhattan)|66th&nbsp;Street]], [[79th Street (Manhattan)|79th&nbsp;Street]], [[86th Street (Manhattan)|86th&nbsp;Street]], and [[97th Street (Manhattan)|97th&nbsp;Street]]; the transverse roads were originally numbered sequentially in that order. The 66th&nbsp;Street transverse connects the discontinuous sections of 65th&nbsp;and 66th&nbsp;streets on either side of the park. The 79th&nbsp;Street transverse links West&nbsp;81st and East&nbsp;79th streets, while the 86th&nbsp;Street transverse links West 86th&nbsp;Street with East 84th&nbsp;and 85th&nbsp;streets. The 97th&nbsp;Street transverse likewise joins the disconnected segments of [[96th Street (Manhattan)|96th]]&nbsp;and 97th&nbsp;streets.<ref name="central-park-map" /> Each roadway carries two lanes, one in each direction, and is sunken below the level of the rest of the park to minimize the transverses' visual impact on it.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=130–135}}{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1974|p=6 (PDF p. 7)}} The transverse roadways are open even when the park is closed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://portal.311.nyc.gov/article/?kanumber=KA-02612|title=Central Park|date=March 18, 2009|publisher=[[Government of New York City]]|access-date=April 14, 2019}}</ref>

The 66th&nbsp;Street transverse was the first to be finished, having opened in December 1859.{{sfn|New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|1863|p=77 (PDF p. 80)}} The 79th&nbsp;Street transverse—which passed under Vista Rock, Central Park's second-highest point—was completed by a railroad contractor because of their experience in drilling through hard rock;{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=168–169}} it opened in December 1860. The 86th&nbsp;and 97th&nbsp;Street transverses opened in late 1862.{{sfn|New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|1863|p=77 (PDF p. 80)}} By the 1890s, maintenance had decreased to the point where the 86th&nbsp;Street transverse handled most crosstown traffic because the other transverse roads had been so poorly maintained.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=294–295}} Both ends of the 79th&nbsp;Street transverse were widened in 1964 to accommodate increased traffic.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/08/09/archives/city-to-open-last-section-of-road-in-central-park.html |title=City to Open Last Section Of Road in Central Park|date=August 9, 1964|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418180857/https://www.nytimes.com/1964/08/09/archives/city-to-open-last-section-of-road-in-central-park.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> Generally, the transverses were not maintained as frequently as the rest of the park, though being used more frequently than the park proper.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/05/realestate/streetscapes-central-park-transverses-neglected-and-abused-crosstown-roads.html |title=Streetscapes: Central Park Transverses|last=Gray|first=Christopher|date=November 5, 1989 |work=The New York Times|access-date=April 18, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190418215308/https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/05/realestate/streetscapes-central-park-transverses-neglected-and-abused-crosstown-roads.html|archive-date=April 18, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Scenic drives===
[[File:Taxis routes Central Park.JPG|thumb|upright=1|alt=A Center Drive intersection with four cars stopped at a cross road|Center Drive in Central Park]]
The park has three scenic drives that travel through it vertically.<ref name="central-park-map" /> They have multiple traffic lights at the intersections with pedestrian paths, although there are some [[List of arches and bridges in Central Park|arches and bridges]] where pedestrian and drive traffic can cross without intersection.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1974|p=6 (PDF p. 7)}}<ref name="Reed 1990" />{{sfn|Heckscher|2008|pp=45–46}} To discourage park patrons from speeding, the designers incorporated extensive curves in the park drives.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=244–246}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/29/nyregion/deaths-expose-chaos-of-central-parks-loop.html |title=Deaths Expose Chaos of Central Park's Loop|last=Goodman|first=J. David|date=September 28, 2014|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 13, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328213832/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/29/nyregion/deaths-expose-chaos-of-central-parks-loop.html|archive-date=March 28, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The drives range from {{convert|22|to|42|ft}} wide, and there are more than 50 traffic signals along these drives.<ref name="Barron t309" />

{{Anchor|List of drives}} {{vanchor|West Drive}} is the westernmost of the park's three vertical "drives". The road, which carries southbound bicycle and horse-carriage traffic, winds through the western part of Central Park, connecting Lenox Avenue/Central Park North with Seventh Avenue/Central Park South and Central Drive.<ref name="central-park-map" />

{{vanchor|Center Drive}} (also known as the "Central Park Lower Loop"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/2012-09-28-central-park-loop.pdf|title=Central Park Drives: Improvements for Pedestrians & Cyclists|publisher=[[New York City Department of Transportation]]|date=September 28, 2012|access-date=October 11, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202063834/https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/2012-09-28-central-park-loop.pdf|archive-date=December 2, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>) connects northbound bicycle and carriage traffic from Midtown at Central Park South/Sixth Avenue to East Drive near the 66th&nbsp;Street transverse. The street generally goes east and then north, forming the bottom part of the Central Park loop. The attractions along Center Drive include Victorian Gardens, the Central Park Carousel, and the Central Park Mall.<ref name="central-park-map" />

{{vanchor|East Drive}}, the easternmost of the three drives, connects northbound bicycle and carriage traffic from Midtown to the Upper West Side at [[Lenox Avenue]]. The street is renowned for its country scenery and free concerts. It generally straddles the east side of the park along Fifth Avenue. The drive passes by the Central Park Zoo around 63rd&nbsp;Street and the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 80th&nbsp;to 84th&nbsp;Streets. Unlike the rest of the drive system, which is generally serpentine, East Drive is straight between the 86th&nbsp;and 96th&nbsp;Street transverses, because it is between Fifth Avenue and the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir.<ref name="central-park-map" /> East Drive is known as the "Elite Carriage Parade", because it was where the carriage procession occurred at the time of the park's opening, and because only five percent of the city was able to afford the carriage. In the late 19th&nbsp;century, West and East Drives were popular places for carriage rides.{{sfn|Morris|1996|p=95}}

Two other scenic drives cross the park horizontally. Terrace Drive is at 72nd&nbsp;Street and connects West and East Drives, passing over Bethesda Terrace and Fountain. The 102nd&nbsp;Street Crossing, further north near the street of the same name, is a former carriage drive connecting West and East Drives.<ref name="central-park-map" />

==== Modifications and closures ====
In Central Park's earliest years, the [[speed limits]] were set at {{convert|5|mph|km/h|abbr=}} for carriages and {{convert|6|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} for horses, which were later raised to {{convert|7|and|10|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} respectively. [[Commercial vehicle]]s and buses were banned from the park.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=244–246}} Automobiles became more common in Central Park during the 1900s and 1910s, and they often broke the speed limits, resulting in crashes. To increase safety, the gravel roads were paved in 1912, and the carriage speed limit was raised to {{convert|15|mph|km/h|abbr=on}} two years later. With the proliferation of cars among the middle class in the 1920s, traffic increased on the drives, to as many as eight thousand cars per hour in 1929.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=400–401}} The roads were still dangerous; in the first ten months of 1929, eight people were killed and 249 were injured in 338 separate collisions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/11/27/archives/park-safety-is-aim-of-oneway-rules-no-intention-to-make-express.html |title=Park Safety Is Aim Of One-Way Rules|date=November 27, 1929|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=October 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007040026/https://www.nytimes.com/1929/11/27/archives/park-safety-is-aim-of-oneway-rules-no-intention-to-make-express.html|archive-date=October 7, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

In November 1929, the scenic drives were converted from two-way traffic to unidirectional traffic.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/11/23/archives/oneway-traffic-ordered-for-central-park-new-zone-created-to-relieve.html |title=One-Way Traffic Ordered for Central Park|date=November 23, 1929|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=October 6, 2018}}</ref> Further improvements were made in 1932 when forty-two traffic lights were installed along the scenic drives, and the speed limit was lowered to {{convert|25|mph|km/h}}. The signals were coordinated so that drivers could go through all of the green lights if they maintained a steady speed of {{convert|25|mph}}.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=400–401}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1932/04/01/archives/central-park-uses-new-traffic-lights-today-to-curb-speeding-and.html |title=Central Park Uses New Traffic Lights Today To Curb Speeding and Protect Pedestrians|date=March 1, 1932|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=October 6, 2018}}</ref> The drives were experimentally closed to automotive traffic on weekends beginning in 1967, for exclusive use by pedestrians and bicyclists.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1967/04/17/archives/new-car-ban-set-for-central-park-test-will-give-cyclists-sole-use.html |title=New Car Ban Set For Central Park|date=April 17, 1967|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=October 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181007000756/https://www.nytimes.com/1967/04/17/archives/new-car-ban-set-for-central-park-test-will-give-cyclists-sole-use.html|archive-date=October 7, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> In subsequent years, the scenic drives were closed to automotive traffic for most of the day during the summer. By 1979, the drives were only open during rush hours and late evenings during the summer.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/08/archives/car-ban-a-spring-ritual-gives-park-roads-to-the-people-central-park.html |title=Car Ban, a Spring Ritual, Gives Park Roads to the People|last=Daniels|first=Lee A|date=May 8, 1979|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=October 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181006235427/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/05/08/archives/car-ban-a-spring-ritual-gives-park-roads-to-the-people-central-park.html|archive-date=October 6, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

Legislation was proposed in October 2014 to conduct a study to make the park car-free in summer 2015.<ref name="ABC-Car-free-2018" /> In 2015, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the permanent closure of West and East Drives north of 72nd&nbsp;Street to vehicular traffic as it was proven that closing the roads did not adversely impact traffic.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20150618/upper-west-side/central-park-will-be-permamently-car-free-above-72nd-street-mayor-says|title=Central Park Will Be Permanently Car-Free Above 72nd Street, Mayor Says|last=Frost|first=Emily|date=June 18, 2015|work=[[DNAinfo]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150928151120/http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20150618/upper-west-side/central-park-will-be-permamently-car-free-above-72nd-street-mayor-says|archive-date=September 28, 2015|access-date=June 22, 2016}}</ref> After most of the Central Park loop drives were closed to vehicular traffic, the city performed a follow-up study. The city found that West Drive was open for two hours during the morning [[rush hour|rush period]] and was used by an average of 1,050 vehicles a day, while East Drive was open 12&nbsp;hours a day and was used by an average of 3,400 vehicles daily.<ref name="Mays 2018">{{cite news|first=Jeffery C.|last=Mays|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/20/nyregion/central-park-car-ban.html |title=Central Park's Scenic Drives Will Soon Be Car-Free|date=April 20, 2018|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=October 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180708221307/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/20/nyregion/central-park-car-ban.html|archive-date=July 8, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Subsequently, all cars were banned from East Drive in January 2018.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ny.curbed.com/2018/1/2/16842086/prospect-park-car-free-2018-photos|title=At last, Prospect Park is permanently car-free|last=Plitt|first=Amy|date=January 2, 2018|publisher=Curbed NY|access-date=October 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181006235234/https://ny.curbed.com/2018/1/2/16842086/prospect-park-car-free-2018-photos|archive-date=October 6, 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> In April 2018, de Blasio announced that the entirety of the three loop drives would be closed permanently to traffic.<ref name="Mays 2018" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-new-york-centralpark/new-york-banning-cars-from-central-park-starting-this-summer-idUSKBN1HR2SJ|title=New York banning cars from Central Park starting this summer|last=Cherelus|first=Gina|date=April 20, 2018|publisher=[[Reuters]] U.S.|access-date=October 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181006235118/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-new-york-centralpark/new-york-banning-cars-from-central-park-starting-this-summer-idUSKBN1HR2SJ|archive-date=October 6, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> The closure became effective in June 2018.<ref name="Walker 2018" /><ref name="ABC-Car-free-2018" />

During the early 21st&nbsp;century, there were numerous collisions in Central Park involving cyclists. The 2014 death of Jill Tarlov, after she was hit by a cyclist on West 63rd&nbsp;Street, called attention to the issue.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Santora|first=Marc|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/23/nyregion/woman-dies-after-being-struck-by-central-park-cyclist.html |title=Woman Hit by a Bicyclist in Central Park Dies|date=September 22, 2014|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 25, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200325175431/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/23/nyregion/woman-dies-after-being-struck-by-central-park-cyclist.html|archive-date=March 25, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2011, residents of nearby communities unsuccessfully petitioned the NYPD to increase enforcement of cycling rules within the park.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gothamist.com/news/nypd-rejects-central-park-cycling-crackdown-compromise|title=NYPD Rejects Central Park Cycling Crackdown Compromise|last=Del Signore|first=John|date=March 4, 2011|work=Gothamist|access-date=March 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200325175430/https://gothamist.com/news/nypd-rejects-central-park-cycling-crackdown-compromise|archive-date=March 25, 2020}}</ref> The scenic drives' pedestrian and bike paths were repaved in 2025 following repeated collisions between pedestrians and cyclists.<ref>{{cite web | last=Quigley | first=Liam | title=NYC to overhaul Central Park loop to limit conflicts between bikers, walkers and runners | website=Gothamist | date=March 6, 2025 | url=https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-to-overhaul-central-park-loop-to-limit-conflicts-between-bikers-walkers-and-runners | access-date=March 6, 2025}}</ref><ref name=nyt-2025-05-21>{{Cite news|last=Barron|first=James|date=2025-05-21|title=In Central Park, Trying for Peace Between Walkers and Cyclists|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/21/nyregion/central-park-bike-lanes-pedestrians.html|access-date=2025-05-22|work=The New York Times|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The city government also replaced existing traffic signals with bicycle signals, since many cyclists ran through red traffic lights.<ref name=nyt-2025-05-21 /> {{As of|2025}}, the left lane of each scenic drive is a beige pedestrian path, while the center lane is for slower cyclists and the right lane is for faster cyclists; each lane is {{convert|10|ft}} wide.<ref name=nyt-2025-05-21 /> Speed limits for cyclists were reduced to {{Convert|15|mph}} in early 2026.<ref>{{cite web | last=Rashidi | first=Rhiannon | title=Mamdani supports 15 mph speed limit for cyclists in Central Park | website=Gothamist | date=February 26, 2026 | url=https://gothamist.com/news/mamdani-supports-15-mph-speed-limit-for-cyclists-in-central-park | access-date=February 27, 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | last=Parrott | first=Max | title=Cyclists sue city to stop Central Park bike speed limit | website=amNewYork | date=February 19, 2026 | url=https://www.amny.com/law/cyclists-sue-city-to-stop-central-park-bike-speed-limit/ | access-date=February 27, 2026}}</ref>

==Issues==
[[File:Central Park May 2019 80.jpg|thumb|upright=1|alt=The North Woods with a pathway to the right and a bridge over a stream in the center|[[North Woods (Central Park)|North Woods]], one of several places where crimes were reported during the 1989 [[Central Park jogger case]]]]

===Crime and neglect===
In the mid-20th century, Central Park had a reputation for being very dangerous, especially after dark.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=471–473}} Such a viewpoint was reinforced following a 1941 incident when 12-year-old Jerome Dore fatally stabbed 15-year-old James O'Connell in the northern section of the park.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|p=471}}<ref>{{Cite news|date=November 3, 1941|title=Hoodlums Hunted in Fatal Stabbing; Boy's Death, Climax of Attacks Around Park, Arouses Police|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/11/03/archives/hoodlums-hunted-in-fatal-stabbing-boys-death-climax-of-attacks.html|access-date=May 18, 2022|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Local tabloids cited this incident and several other crimes as evidence of a highly exaggerated "crime wave". Though recorded crime had indeed increased since Central Park opened in the late 1850s, this was in line with crime trends seen in the rest of the city.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=471–473}} Central Park's reputation for crime was reinforced by its worldwide name recognition, and the fact that crimes in the park were covered disproportionately compared to crimes in the rest of the city. For instance, in 1973 ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote stories about 20%&nbsp;of murders that occurred citywide but wrote about three of the four murders that took place in Central Park that year. By the 1970s and 1980s, the number of murders in the police precincts north of Central Park was 18 times higher than the number of murders within the park itself, and even in the precincts south of the park, the number of murders was three times as high.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=474–475}}

The park was the site of numerous high-profile crimes during the late 20th&nbsp;century. Of these, two particularly notable cases shaped public perception against the park.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=474–475}} In 1986, [[Robert Chambers (criminal)|Robert Chambers]] murdered Jennifer Levin in what was later called the "preppy murder".<ref>{{cite web|last=Stone|first=Michael|title=Robert Chambers, Jennifer Levin, and a Death That Shocked the City |work=New York Magazine|date=June 27, 2008|url=http://nymag.com/news/features/crime/48262/|access-date=September 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717155329/http://nymag.com/news/features/crime/48262/|archive-date=July 17, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Jennifer Levin's Mother Remembers 'Preppy Murder' Case |publisher=WCBS-TV|date=September 2, 2011|url=https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/09/02/jennifer-levins-mother-remembers-preppy-murder-case/|access-date=September 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227043442/http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/09/02/jennifer-levins-mother-remembers-preppy-murder-case/|archive-date=December 27, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Three years later, an investment banker was raped and brutally beaten in what came to be known as the [[Central Park jogger case]].<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/17/nyregion/smart-driven-woman-overcomes-reluctance.html |title='Smart, Driven' Woman Overcomes Reluctance|last=Farber|first=M. A|date=July 17, 1990|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 19, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128192924/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/07/17/nyregion/smart-driven-woman-overcomes-reluctance.html|archive-date=January 28, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Didion|first=Joan|author-link=Joan Didion|date=January 17, 1991|title=Sentimental Journeys|work=[[The New York Review of Books]]|url=http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1991/jan/17/new-york-sentimental-journeys/ |access-date=June 21, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100521085938/http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1991/jan/17/new-york-sentimental-journeys/|archive-date=May 21, 2010|url-status=live}} (This essay has also been published in Didion's 1992 essay collection ''[[After Henry (book)|After Henry]]'').</ref> Conversely, other crimes such as the 1984 gang-rape of two homeless women were barely reported.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=474–475}} After World War&nbsp;II, it was feared that gay men perpetrated sex crimes and attracted violence.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|p=479}} Other problems in the 1970s and 1980s included a drug epidemic, a large homeless presence, vandalism, and neglect.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=518–519}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/26/archives/new-york-parks-face-a-touchandgo-summer-new-york-parks-face-bleak.html |title=New York Parks Face a Touch-and-Go Summer...|last=Ferre'Iti|first=Fred|date=May 26, 1977|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 19, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419161620/https://www.nytimes.com/1977/05/26/archives/new-york-parks-face-a-touchandgo-summer-new-york-parks-face-bleak.html|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Sheftell 2010" />

As crime has declined in New York City, many of these negative perceptions have waned.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=474–475}} Safety measures keep the number of crimes in the park to fewer than 100 per year {{as of|2019|lc=y}}, down from approximately 1,000 in the early 1980s.<ref name="NYPD 22nd Precinct CS" /> Some well-publicized crimes have occurred since then: for instance, [[Puerto Rican Day Parade attacks|on June&nbsp;11, 2000]], following the [[Puerto Rican Day Parade]], gangs of drunken men [[sexual assault|sexually assaulted]] women in the park.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/13/nyregion/35-scary-minutes-women-tell-police-of-assaults-in-park.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|title=35 Scary Minutes: Women Tell Police Of Assaults in Park|last1=Chivers|first1=C. J.|first2=Kevin|last2=Flynn|date=June 13, 2000|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=April 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423085059/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/13/nyregion/35-scary-minutes-women-tell-police-of-assaults-in-park.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|archive-date=April 23, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Other issues===
Permission to hold issue-centered rallies in Central Park, similar to the [[Central Park be-ins|be-ins]] of the 1960s, has been met with increasingly stiff resistance from the city. During some [[2004 Republican National Convention protest activity|2004 protests]], the organization [[United for Peace and Justice]] wanted to hold a rally on the Great Lawn during the [[Republican National Convention (2004)|Republican National Convention]]. The city denied an application for a permit, stating that such a mass gathering would be harmful to the grass and the damage would make it harder to collect private donations to maintain the park.<ref>{{cite web|last=Brick|first=Michael|title=Permit Denial for Big Park Rally Adds to Push for Protests There|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|date=August 9, 2004|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/09/nyregion/permit-denial-for-big-park-rally-adds-to-push-for-protests-there.html|access-date=April 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419153249/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/09/nyregion/permit-denial-for-big-park-rally-adds-to-push-for-protests-there.html|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> A judge of the [[New York Supreme Court]]'s New York County branch upheld the refusal.<ref>{{cite web|last=Saulny|first=Susan|title=Preparing For The Convention: The Ruling; Judge Bars Big Rally in Park, But Protest March Is Still Set|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|date=August 26, 2004|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/26/nyregion/preparing-for-convention-ruling-judge-bars-big-rally-park-but-protest-march.html|access-date=April 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419153249/https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/26/nyregion/preparing-for-convention-ruling-judge-bars-big-rally-park-but-protest-march.html|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the 2000s and 2010s, new [[supertall]] skyscrapers were constructed along the southern end of Central Park, in a corridor commonly known as [[Billionaires' Row]]. According to a [[Municipal Art Society]] report, such buildings cast long shadows over the southern end of the park.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mas.org/urbanplanning/accidental-skyline/|title=Accidental Skyline|publisher=[[Municipal Art Society]]|date=October 15, 2014|access-date=March 1, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150308035932/http://www.mas.org/urbanplanning/accidental-skyline/|archive-date=March 8, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Heins|first=Scott|title=Behold Central Park's Dark & Shadowy Future|work=Gothamist|date=July 27, 2016|url=http://gothamist.com/2016/07/27/central_park_shadows.php|access-date=April 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419153250/http://gothamist.com/2016/07/27/central_park_shadows.php|archive-date=April 19, 2019}}</ref> A 2016 analysis by ''The New York Times'' found that some of the tallest and skinniest skyscrapers, such as [[One57]], [[Central Park Tower]], and [[220 Central Park South]], would cast shadows as long as {{convert|1|mi|km}} during the winter, covering up to a third of the park's length.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bui|first1=Quoctrung|last2=White|first2=Jeremy|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|date=December 21, 2016|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/21/upshot/Mapping-the-Shadows-of-New-York-City.html |title=Mapping the Shadows of New York City: Every Building, Every Block|access-date=April 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419153248/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/21/upshot/Mapping-the-Shadows-of-New-York-City.html|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2018, the [[New York City Council]] proposed a task force to study the effects of skyscrapers near city parks.<ref>{{cite web |last=Plitt|first=Amy|title=Bill aims to curb supertall shadows in NYC parks|publisher=Curbed NY|date=October 18, 2018|url=https://ny.curbed.com/2018/10/18/17991538/nyc-parks-building-shadows-city-council-legislation|access-date=April 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419153252/https://ny.curbed.com/2018/10/18/17991538/nyc-parks-building-shadows-city-council-legislation|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Impact==
=== Cultural significance ===
[[File:3015-Central Park-Sheep Meadow.JPG|thumb|upright=1|alt=People seated or reclining on the large grass area known as Sheep Meadow|[[Sheep Meadow]], a common place for gatherings]]
{{for|a list of films, TV shows, and other media where Central Park has appeared|Central Park in popular culture}}
Central Park's size and cultural position has served as a model for many urban parks.<ref>{{cite web|last=Sisson|first=Patrick|title=10 parks that changed America: From Savannah to the High Line, the country's influential public spaces|publisher=Curbed|date=April 12, 2016|url=https://www.curbed.com/2016/4/12/11414420/10-parks-that-changed-america-pbs|access-date=April 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419153254/https://www.curbed.com/2016/4/12/11414420/10-parks-that-changed-america-pbs|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=10 Parks That Changed America|publisher=[[PBS]]|date=April 19, 2019|url=https://www.pbs.org/show/10-changed-america/|access-date=April 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419153249/http://www.pbs.org/ten-that-changed-america/season-1/episode-3/|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Olmsted believed [[landscape design]] was a way to improve the feeling of community and had intended the park as the antithesis of the stresses of the city's daily life.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/09/better-than-nature/492716/|title=When Parks Were Radical|last=Rich|first=Nathaniel|date=August 5, 2016|work=[[The Atlantic]]|access-date=March 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200319174608/https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/09/better-than-nature/492716/|archive-date=March 19, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> The Greensward Plan, radical at the time of its construction, led to widespread changes in park designs and urban planning; in particular, parks were designed to incorporate landscapes whose elements were related to each other.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Andrew|first=Menard|title=The Enlarged Freedom of Frederick Law Olmsted|journal=[[New England Quarterly]]|date=2010|volume=83|number=3|pages=519–520|jstor=20752715|doi=10.1162/TNEQ_a_00039|s2cid=57567923}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|first=Eugene P.|last=Moehring|title=Frederick Law Olmsted and the Central Park 'Revolution'|journal=Halcyon: A Journal of the Humanities|date=1985|volume=7|number=1|pages=59–75}}</ref>

As a New York City icon, Central Park is one of the most filmed locations in the world.<ref name="Pereira 2017" /><ref>{{cite web | last=Culgan | first=Rossilynne Skena | title=You can now find Central Park's iconic movie locations on this new walking tour | website=Time Out New York | date=August 18, 2023 | url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/this-new-walking-tour-highlights-central-parks-iconic-movie-locations-081823 | access-date=May 11, 2024}}</ref> A December 2017 report found that [[Central Park in popular culture|231&nbsp;movies]] had used it for on-location shoots, more than the 160&nbsp;movies that had filmed in [[Greenwich Village]] or the 99&nbsp;movies that had filmed in [[Times Square]].<ref name="Pereira 2017">{{cite web|url=https://www.amny.com/news/central-park-most-filmed-1.15405440|title=Central Park is a film superstar|last=Pereira|first=Ivan|date=December 10, 2017|work=AM New York|access-date=December 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211032639/https://www.amny.com/news/central-park-most-filmed-1.15405440|archive-date=December 11, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/film-tv-locations-mostused-top-20-central-park-new-york-city-a8214281.html |title=These are the most-used film locations around the world|last=Petter|first=Olivia|date=February 16, 2018|work=[[The Independent]]|access-date=April 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190420131750/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/film-tv-locations-mostused-top-20-central-park-new-york-city-a8214281.html|archive-date=April 20, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Some of the movies filmed at Central Park, such as the 1993 film ''[[The Age of Innocence (1993 film)|The Age of Innocence]]'', reflect ideals of the past. Other films, including ''[[The Fisher King]]'' (1991), ''[[Marathon Man (film)|Marathon Man]]'' (1976), ''[[The Out-of-Towners (1970 film)|The Out of Towners]]'' (1970), and ''[[Home Alone 2: Lost in New York]]'' (1992), use the park for dramatic conflict scenes. Central Park has been used in romance films such as ''[[Maid in Manhattan]]'' (2002), ''[[13&nbsp;Going on&nbsp;30]]'' (2004) or ''[[Hitch (film)|Hitch]]'' (2005), and fantasy live-action/animated films such as ''[[Enchanted (film)|Enchanted]]'' (2007).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/history/movies|title=Cinematic Parks|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=May 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502160056/https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/history/movies|archive-date=May 2, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2009, an estimated 4,000 days of film shoots were hosted, or an average of more than ten film shoots per day, accounting for $135.5&nbsp;million in city revenue.<ref name="Crain's New York Business 2009" />

Because of its cultural and historical significance, Central Park has been a [[National Historic Landmark]] district since 1962,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=388&ResourceType=District|title=Central Park|date=September 10, 2007|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013053342/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceID=388&resourceType=District |archive-date=October 13, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url={{NHLS url|id=66000538}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory|date=August 14, 1975|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url={{NHLS url|id=66000538|photos=y}}|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory|date=August 14, 1975|publisher=National Park Service}}</ref> and a [[New York City scenic landmark]] since 1974.{{sfn|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1974|p=1 (PDF p. 2)}} It was placed on [[UNESCO]]'s list of tentative [[World Heritage Site]]s in 2017.<ref>{{cite web|title=Central Park|publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Centre|date=October 11, 2017|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/6234/|access-date=June 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190610225037/http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/6234/|archive-date=June 10, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Real estate and economy ===
[[File:Lower Central Park Shot 5.JPG|thumb|upright=1|alt=A view of skyscrapers from the Pond, at the southern border of Central Park|Skyscrapers at the southern border of Central Park]]
The value of the surrounding land started rising significantly in the mid-1860s during the park's construction.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=225–226}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=268–269}} The completion of Central Park immediately increased the surrounding area's real estate prices, in some cases by up to 700&nbsp;percent between 1858 and 1870.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Beard|first=Charles A|date=May 1926|title=Some Aspects of Regional Planning|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_american-political-science-review_1926-05_20_2/page/n1|journal=[[American Political Science Review]]|volume=20|issue=2|pages=273–283|doi=10.2307/1945139|issn=0003-0554|jstor=1945139|s2cid=147458194 }}</ref>{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=85–87}} It also resulted in the creation of the [[zoning]] plan in Upper Manhattan.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|p=88}} Upscale districts grew on both sides of Central Park following its completion.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=291–293}} On the Upper East Side, a portion of Fifth Avenue abutting lower Central Park became known as "Millionaires' Row" by the 1890s, due to the concentration of wealthy families in the area.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=291–293}}{{sfn|Crain|2016|p=80}} The Upper West Side took longer to develop, but row houses and luxury apartment buildings came to predominate in the neighborhood; some of these buildings are included in the [[Central Park West Historic District]].{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=291–293}}<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/1990UpperWestSideCentralParkHDVol1.pdf |title=Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District Designation Report|publisher=[[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]]|year=1990|editor-last=Pearson|editor-first=Marjorie|volume=I: Essays, Architects' Appendix|pages=10–11|editor-last2=Urbanelli|editor-first2=Elisa|access-date=May 11, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100311035636/http://www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/1990UpperWestSideCentralParkHDVol1.pdf |archive-date=March 11, 2010|url-status=live}}</ref> Though most of the city's rich formerly lived in mansions, they moved into apartments close to Central Park during the late 19th&nbsp;and early 20th&nbsp;centuries.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=376–377, 379}}

During the late 20th&nbsp;century, until Central Park's restoration in the 1990s, proximity to the park did not have a significant positive effect on real estate values. Following Central Park's restoration, some of the city's most expensive properties have been sold or rented near the park.<ref name="Sheftell 2010">{{cite web|last=Sheftell|first=Jason|title=Central Park: The world's greatest real estate engine|work=New York Daily News|date=June 3, 2010|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/real-estate/central-park-world-greatest-real-estate-engine-article-1.178103|access-date=April 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419155805/https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/real-estate/central-park-world-greatest-real-estate-engine-article-1.178103|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The value of the land in Central Park was estimated to be about $528.8&nbsp;billion in December 2005, though this was based on the park's impact on the average value of nearby land.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/reasonstoloveny/15362/|title=Central Park: Because We Wouldn't Trade a Patch of Grass for $528,783,552,000|last=Robledo|first=S.Jhoanna|date=December 15, 2005|work=New York Magazine|access-date=April 19, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329201514/http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/reasonstoloveny/15362/|archive-date=March 29, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the modern day, it is estimated that Central Park has resulted in billions of dollars in economic impact. A 2009 study found that the city received annual tax revenue of more than $656&nbsp;million, visitors spent more than $395&nbsp;million due to the park, in-park businesses such as concessions generated {{nowrap|$135.5 million}}, and the 4,000 hours of annual film shoots and other photography generated {{nowrap|$135.6 million}} of economic output.<ref name="Crain's New York Business 2009">{{cite web|title=Measuring Central Park perks|work=Crain's New York Business|date=May 29, 2009|url=https://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20090531/SUB/305319976/measuring-central-park-perks|access-date=August 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190419155815/https://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20090531/SUB/305319976/measuring-central-park-perks|archive-date=April 19, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2013, about 550,000 people lived within a ten-minute walk (about {{convert|0.5|mi|km|disp=or|sp=us}}) of the park's boundaries, and 1.15&nbsp;million more people could get to the park within a half-hour subway ride.<ref name="Sheftell 2010" />

== See also ==
* [[List of National Historic Landmarks in New York City]]
* [[List of New York City scenic landmarks]]
* [[List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan from 59th to 110th Streets]]
* [[List of parks in New York City]]
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Manhattan from 59th to 110th Streets]]

==References==
===Notes===
{{notelist}}

===Citations===
{{reflist|30em}}

===Sources===
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* {{cite report |title=Report On The Public Use Of Central Park |date=April 2011 |publisher=Central Park Conservancy |url=http://assets.centralparknyc.org/pdfs/institute/p2p-upelp/3.002_Report+on+the+Public+Use+of+Central+Park.pdf |ref={{harvid|Central Park Conservancy|2011}} |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727191749/https://assets.centralparknyc.org/pdfs/institute/p2p-upelp/3.002_Report+on+the+Public+Use+of+Central+Park.pdf |archive-date=July 27, 2020 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Reynolds |first=Donald |title=The Architecture of New York City: Histories and Views of Important Structures, Sites, and Symbols |publisher=J. Wiley|year=1994 |isbn=978-0-471-01439-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/architectureofne0000reyn |url-access=subscription |oclc=45730295}}
* {{cite book|last=Rogers|first=Elizabeth Barlow|year=2018|title=Saving Central Park: A History and a Memoir|publisher=[[Knopf Doubleday]] Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-5247-3356-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3ugxDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT20}}
* {{Cite Central Park History}}
* {{cite book|last=Scobey|first=David|year=2002|title=Empire city: the making and meaning of the New York City landscape|publisher=[[Temple University Press]]|isbn=978-1-59213-235-5|oclc=48222693|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TqLBRRZBreUC}}
* {{cite book|last=Sherman|first=John|year=1994|title=Stone Crusade: A Historical Guide to Bouldering in America|publisher=[[The Mountaineers Books]]|isbn=978-0-930410-62-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-jZL9k4OICsC&pg=RA3-PA226}}
* {{Stern: New York|edition=1930}}
* {{cite book|last=Taylor|first=Dorceta E.|year=2009|title=The Environment and the People in American Cities, 1600s–1900s: Disorder, Inequality, and Social Change|publisher=[[Duke University Press]]|chapter=section 3|isbn=978-0-8223-4451-3|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r8i-xIrryL4C&pg=PA260|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/environmentpeopl02tayl}}
* {{cite book |last=Todd |first=John |year=1982 |title=Frederick Law Olmsted |publisher=Twayne |isbn=978-0-8057-7729-1 |oclc=7875517 |url=https://archive.org/details/fredericklawolms0000todd |url-access=registration }}
* {{cite report |title=Turf Care Handbook |date=2016 |publisher=Central Park Conservancy |ref={{harvid|Central Park Conservancy|2016}} |url=http://assets.centralparknyc.org/pdfs/institute/CPC-Institute-Turf-Care-Handbook.pdf |access-date=May 2, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401154330/http://assets.centralparknyc.org/pdfs/institute/CPC-Institute-Turf-Care-Handbook.pdf |archive-date=April 1, 2019 |url-status=live }}
* {{cite report |title=Urban Park Management and the Central Park Conservancy |date=April 16, 2014 |publisher=Central Park Conservancy |ref={{harvid|Central Park Conservancy|2014}} |url=http://assets.centralparknyc.org/pdfs/institute/p2p-events/CPC-Seminar-2014-04-16-History.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727185927/http://assets.centralparknyc.org/pdfs/institute/p2p-events/CPC-Seminar-2014-04-16-History.pdf |archive-date=July 27, 2020 |url-status=live }}
* A more extensive list of sources can be found in {{cite web |title=Central Park: A Research Guide |publisher=Central Park Conservancy |date=2016 |url= http://www.centralparknyc.org/assets/pdfs/institute/Central-Park-Conservancy-Research-Guide.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310225440/http://www.centralparknyc.org/assets/pdfs/institute/Central-Park-Conservancy-Research-Guide.pdf |archive-date=March 10, 2016 }}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Commons and category|Central Park|Central Park}}
{{Wikivoyage|Manhattan/Central Park}}
{{Attached KML}}
<!--Please don't add any more links per [[WP:EL]]. Thanks-->
* {{official website|https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park}} ([[New York City Department of Parks and Recreation]])
* {{official website|https://www.centralparknyc.org}} ([[Central Park Conservancy]])
* {{cite book |author=Elizabeth Barlow Rogers |author-link=Elizabeth Barlow Rogers |title=Rebuilding Central Park: A Management and Restoration Plan |url=https://direct.mit.edu/books/book/5071/Rebuilding-Central-ParkA-Management-and |isbn=978-0-262-36784-4 |year=1987 |publisher=[[MIT Press]]}}
* ''[https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/73830 Description of a plan for the improvement of the Central Park]'' (1858), [[Frederick Law Olmsted]] and [[Calvert Vaux]]. New York: The Aldine Press

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