Central Park
Mar 25th, 2002 | 03:15 AM
#2
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Central Park covers the area Central Park South (59th St) to 110th Street and from 5th Avenue to Central Park WEst (8th Avenue). It is 2 1/2 miles long and about 1/2 mile wide. For your exploration enter the park at the point nearest to where you will be staying. The Central Park Conservancy has an excellent map and guide to the park. Check their website for information -www.centralparknyc.org. For info on free park tours call, when in the city, 360-2726
Mar 25th, 2002 | 10:23 AM
#3
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The last time I visited NY about 2 years ago there was a trolley tour that started from near the Plaza Hotel (but in the park). It took about two hours, with a tour guide explaining what we saw. And though I had lived in NYC for 8 years some time ago, I had never seen all the areas of the park that the tour took me on. Sorry I don't have the name, but you should be able to find out about it on some website. It was a great find.
Mar 25th, 2002 | 03:28 PM
#4
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Sharon:
Walk in by the Zoo entrance on 59th street and start to stroll! Stay below the reservior and stay out at night! I know, but I had to tell ya! I jog there an I still find great areas to explore on every trip! Play a game of "tag" with the statues, at least try and find them from the map, it will bring you to some great spaces!
JOHN
Walk in by the Zoo entrance on 59th street and start to stroll! Stay below the reservior and stay out at night! I know, but I had to tell ya! I jog there an I still find great areas to explore on every trip! Play a game of "tag" with the statues, at least try and find them from the map, it will bring you to some great spaces!
JOHN
Mar 25th, 2002 | 08:51 PM
#5
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Everyone above is giving you great advice. Although there's less to visit in northern Central Park (above the reservoir), I would say that if you're visiting during the spring or summer and you like gardens, the Conservatory Garden at Fifth Ave & 105th St is well worth a visit. If you have children, the Dana Discovery Center and Harlem Meer at Fifth Ave & 110th St may be fun too: starting in mid-April you can rent fishing poles (and bait) at the Discovery Center and try your luck in the Meer or find activities to do at the Discovery Center.
As for the rest of Central Park, if you start at 59th/60th St and go up to the Zoo then around 65th St head west, you'll pass by the Dairy (Visitors' Center), Chess & Checkers House & the Carousel (another kid favorite). If you continue west, you'll pass by the fenced-in Sheep Meadow (a wonderful place to hang out on warm sunny days) and end up at Tavern on the Green. But I would suggest heading north around the Dairy and walk up The Mall, with all its literary statues, past the Halfshell. I love this tree-lined walk and it ends up at Bethesda Fountain, one of my favorite places.
If you go back up the stairs to the main east-west road, which is 72nd St, and head west, you'll find Strawberry Fields and the Imagine plaque. If you stay down at the Fountain and head east, you'll walk following the lake and find the boathouse where you can rent rowboats or The Boathouse where you can eat lunch. East of the Boathouse is Conservatory Water, a place my child loves, with the Hans Christian Andersen statue on the west end and the wonderful Alice in Wonderland statue on the north side. The boats you can rent here are model boats with remote control sail and rudder controls.
If you keep walking north you'll run into the Met then go west and to the south of the Great Lawn you'll find the Delacorte Theater (where the free Shakespeare in the Park shows are held during the summer), Shakespeare Garden (another lovely, small garden) and Marionette Theater (great for kids) and Belvedere Castle overlooking Turtle Pond.
My favorite little place to go is on the west side of the park, at around 75th St - I recently learned its official name is Hernshead and Ladies' Pavilion - and it's a little walkway with a gazebo and a rock outcropping overlooking that part of The Lake. I love to climb on the rock and just sit there. And that's the fun part of Central Park - go find your own favorite little place!
As for the rest of Central Park, if you start at 59th/60th St and go up to the Zoo then around 65th St head west, you'll pass by the Dairy (Visitors' Center), Chess & Checkers House & the Carousel (another kid favorite). If you continue west, you'll pass by the fenced-in Sheep Meadow (a wonderful place to hang out on warm sunny days) and end up at Tavern on the Green. But I would suggest heading north around the Dairy and walk up The Mall, with all its literary statues, past the Halfshell. I love this tree-lined walk and it ends up at Bethesda Fountain, one of my favorite places.
If you go back up the stairs to the main east-west road, which is 72nd St, and head west, you'll find Strawberry Fields and the Imagine plaque. If you stay down at the Fountain and head east, you'll walk following the lake and find the boathouse where you can rent rowboats or The Boathouse where you can eat lunch. East of the Boathouse is Conservatory Water, a place my child loves, with the Hans Christian Andersen statue on the west end and the wonderful Alice in Wonderland statue on the north side. The boats you can rent here are model boats with remote control sail and rudder controls.
If you keep walking north you'll run into the Met then go west and to the south of the Great Lawn you'll find the Delacorte Theater (where the free Shakespeare in the Park shows are held during the summer), Shakespeare Garden (another lovely, small garden) and Marionette Theater (great for kids) and Belvedere Castle overlooking Turtle Pond.
My favorite little place to go is on the west side of the park, at around 75th St - I recently learned its official name is Hernshead and Ladies' Pavilion - and it's a little walkway with a gazebo and a rock outcropping overlooking that part of The Lake. I love to climb on the rock and just sit there. And that's the fun part of Central Park - go find your own favorite little place!
Mar 26th, 2002 | 07:28 AM
#7
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I jog in Central Park just about every day, and I spend alot of time there otherwise. My favorite part of the park is the area behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art, from the Brambles north to the Reservoir. Be sure to visit Belvedere Castle on the south end of the Great Lawn. When you walk through the Brambles you won't believe you're in the center of Manhattan. Enjoy!
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Mar 26th, 2002 | 04:58 PM
#9
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Hey John - no, I haven't noticed the steel tree. Is it fairly new (haven't walked the mall since fall) or have I just been oblivious? Is it one of your favorite Park things...wait a minute. You didn't give your opinion. Or is it a stick-out-like-a-sore-thumb hated thing? Anyway I'll look for it. Thanks!
Mar 27th, 2002 | 07:12 AM
#10
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Hi Patty:
I love everything about Central Park! The Mall is one of the most beautiful urban strolls in America! The "Steel Tree" is part of our new Mayor's "Art in the Park" projects. There are supposed to be projects going on all over the park! I know of the "Tree", but I also heard that there is something new under the "Bow Bridge"! Sounds like an ogre or something
.
Maybe I should post this as a header and well see who has seen any "other" new art sites!
JOHN
I love everything about Central Park! The Mall is one of the most beautiful urban strolls in America! The "Steel Tree" is part of our new Mayor's "Art in the Park" projects. There are supposed to be projects going on all over the park! I know of the "Tree", but I also heard that there is something new under the "Bow Bridge"! Sounds like an ogre or something
.Maybe I should post this as a header and well see who has seen any "other" new art sites!
JOHN
Mar 27th, 2002 | 08:58 PM
#11
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Oh is this part of the Whitney Biennial in Central Park? If it is I think it's for a certain amount of time (until summer?) and not part of the park forever. Although in NYC, you never know...
I love Central Park too. It has saved my sanity many times. And it's always surprising. I brought my daughter to the mall area to practice rollerblading last October and while I was sitting on a bench near the halfshell a group of Buddhist monks started setting up a group prayer in the halfshell - a prayer for the dead in honor of 9/11. I prayed too, and cried, and resolved feelings that I hadn't dealt with.
I love Central Park too. It has saved my sanity many times. And it's always surprising. I brought my daughter to the mall area to practice rollerblading last October and while I was sitting on a bench near the halfshell a group of Buddhist monks started setting up a group prayer in the halfshell - a prayer for the dead in honor of 9/11. I prayed too, and cried, and resolved feelings that I hadn't dealt with.
Mar 28th, 2002 | 10:46 AM
#12
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Patty:
It is definitely a temp thing! That "Tree" is a living specimen that will need to have the "cover" dismantled very soon! Get over and check it out. You were very lucky to get closure on 9/11. I would have liked to have experienced the Buddhist Ceremony. That is what I mean about why I love Central Park! Drop me an email if you want to talk about the park. I think we have diverted a bit rom the original poster, but I enjoyed it!
JOHN
JOHN
It is definitely a temp thing! That "Tree" is a living specimen that will need to have the "cover" dismantled very soon! Get over and check it out. You were very lucky to get closure on 9/11. I would have liked to have experienced the Buddhist Ceremony. That is what I mean about why I love Central Park! Drop me an email if you want to talk about the park. I think we have diverted a bit rom the original poster, but I enjoyed it!
JOHN
JOHN
