Central Park in the central area ofManhattan (right-click each picture to enlarge). The borders are 59th to 110th Street, Eighth Avenue and Fifth Ave. (south, north, west, east).
Central Park is bordered on the north by West 110th Street, on the south by West 59th Street, on the west by Eighth Avenue, and on the east by Fifth Avenue. Along the park's borders however, these are known as Central Park North, Central Park South, and Central Park West, respectively. Only Fifth Avenue retains its name as the eastern border of the park. Each of the twenty gates on these streets has a name.[3]
The park is bigger thanMonaco andVatican City, though some other parks in the city are even larger.
In 1855, New York City had four times as many people as in 1821. The city grew bigger, and there were fewer parks inLower Manhattan. A park was being planned for Upper Manhattan.[4] Two years before, in 1853, theNew York state government gave over an700-acre (280ha) area, from 59th to 106th Streets, to build the Park. The land alone cost more thanUS$5 million.[5][6][7]
The park first opened in 1857. In 1858,Frederick Law Olmsted andCalvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan. Construction began in the same year and was finished in 1873. Many rocks, soil, and plants were put in the park.[8] People living in the park were forced to move out.[9] Later, the park was made larger.
In the 1930s, because people had not taken care of the park, it was cleaned up and changed byRobert Moses.[10] By the 1960s, the park became a bad place to go again, so in the 1980s and 1990s, the Central Park Conservancy was made. The Central Park Conservancy cleaned up Central Park from the 1980s through the 2000s.[11]
The Central Park Conservancy runs the park. They operate it because of an agreement with the city government. 85% of Central Park's $25 million annualbudget and 80% of the park's maintenance staff come from the Conservancy.
The conservancy cares for250 acres (100ha) oflawns, 21,500 trees,150 acres (61ha) oflakes andstreams, and130 acres (53ha) ofwoodlands. Their staff plant hundreds ofbulbs,shrubs,flowers, andtrees every year. They make sure that 9,000benches, 26ballfields, and 21playgrounds are clean and good to use. They also care for 55sculptures andmonuments, as well as 36 bridges. Conservancy crews removegraffiti from Central Park and collect more than 2,000 tons oftrash a year.
The Conservancy has been led by five presidents. The first is Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, who helped to create the Conservancy in 1978. She was president until 1996. Karen H. Putnam, the Conservancy’s development director, was president from 1996 to 2000, after completing the projects slated under theWonder of New York capital campaign. The third, Regina S. Peruggi, used to be president ofMarymount Manhattan College. She led the Conservancy from 2000 to 2003. The fourth was Douglas Blonsky, who used to look over construction for the Park. He was president from 2003 to 2017.[12] Since 2017, Elizabeth W. Smith, who used to work as a park commissioner for the city, has been president.[13]
Central Park has been mentioned in thousands of books,movies, and TV shows. In the U.S. TV showFriends (1994-2004), thecoffee shop where the characters often gathered was named "Central Perk" as apun on the term "coffee percolator" (a type of pot used to brewcoffee).
↑Todd, John Emerson Todd (1982).Frederick Law Olmsted (see the history ofGreen-Wood Cemetery). Boston: Twayne Publishers: Twayne's World Leader Series. p.73.
