The Playground of New York (Central Park in general)

Member Name: marandina

Product:	Central Park in general
Date:	20/07/05 (187 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Loads to do, museums, adorable children's zoo

Disadvantages: Not as busy as Manhattan in general

I love New York. Anybody that's read any of my previous opinions may have worked this one out by now but I fell in love with The Big Apple when I visited the unofficial capital of the world earlier this year. Of course, everyone associates NY with the hurly burly of a major metropolis with the pollution filled; graffiti riddled streets full of yellow cabs and excited tourists. For those wanting to escape the million miles an hour culture that pervades New York, you can do a lot worse than take a day out at the world famous Central Park.

We did just that on the sunniest day of our week and entered a world that makes a mockery of the image of a conventional park and all that goes with it. Central Park attracts 15 million visitors every year within it's sizeable confines that measure 843 acres or the equivalent of a rectangle 2.5 miles by 0.5 miles in the borough of Manhattan. When you consider that Hyde Park in London is 350 acres then you start to realise that Central Park is BIG. The park stretches from Central Park South at 59th Street to Central Park North at 110th Street. 5th Avenue and Central Park West form the Eastern and Western boundaries.

Inspired by the Bois de Boulogne in Paris and London's Hyde Park landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux envisioned the Park as a place where people of all social and ethnic backgrounds could mingle. Out of the treeless, rocky terrain and stagnant swampland, they created a wooded urban oasis that has been enjoyed by generations. Calvert Laux and landscaper Frederick Law Olmsted completed the park in 1858 after the initial area of land had been designated by the New York legislature some 5 years earlier.

We entered through the South entrance by crossing the street from Grand Army Plaza at 5th Avenue and 59th Street. We travelled on foot from our hotel as it was only a 5-minute walk but if you aren't using a cab then subway N and R to 5th Avenue or route 6 to 68th Street will get you there. Here you will find The Pond along with the Wollman Memorial Rink. To get a feel for the park we decided to take a horse-drawn carriage ride that cost $35 for a tour lasting around 20 minutes. Our driver was very informative about New York and a lot of the inhabitants are knowledgeable and proud about their hometown. The ride gave us the chance to take some camcorder footage of the park as well as taking in the strange site of a large expanse of greenery surrounded by the tallest buildings on the planet!

During the tour we were told that the large black lumps of volcanic rock that interspersed this side of the park were from the original Manhattan Island itself whilst the trees that dominated the vista had been imported specially for Central Park including some 175 different species making up the 26000 or so trees that live in the park. The most popular trees are the black cherry followed closely by the American elm and pin oak. The trees are under constant surveillance for disease, in particular, Dutch Elm disease as the trained conservationists undertake an ongoing vigilance to maintain the tree population. My 9-year-old boy certainly enjoyed climbing all over the rocks and we have some wonderful photos of my two children on top of original Manhattan lava rock with the resident skyscrapers in the background.

My kids loved the freedom to run around, as do millions of others every year. We made our way to the The Carousel, Mid-Park at 64th Street and 5th Avenue. Featuring some of the largest hand-carved horses in the US, The Carousel has been present since 1871 although it is just that – a carousel. There were a few food stalls and stands outside which we duly bought some popcorn and a drink from although we didn't actually go on the ride itself even though it was only 90 cents each. I do recall calling my mom on my mobile to tell her I was actually in Central Park, the scene for numerous movies over the years and now I was there too!

After our stop at The Carousel we made our way to The Dairy, mid-park at 65th Street and 5th Avenue. This is a 19th century style building overlooking The Wollman Rink. Within there is a reference library and an exhibit about the history and design of the park. To tell the truth it wasn't too exciting and I seem to remember there being a shop selling souvenirs of the park although the proceeds did go to the park conservation fund. It was too early in the day to part us from yet more dollars although the kids did their best to try and get us to buy something.

We didn't actually go into The Wollman Rink although it was an impressive site with lots of people ice-skating in March. Found at Prospect Park, Ocean Avenue entrance, the Rink provides ice-skating facilities during winter whilst in summer it reverts to a boating lake where pedal boats can be hired. At 2475 sq.m it can accommodate plenty of people whilst being the home to the Brooklyn Blades amateur men's and women's ice hockey teams. The rink was finished in 1960 and cuts a dashing site to those having just entered the park on a sunny day.

Our final venue was the Children's Zoo and Wildlife Centre, Mid-park at 64th Street and 5th Avenue. Having duly paid our $6 each as adults and just $1 each for the kids as they were under 13 (under 3s free), we entered a wonderfully equipped zoo complete with polar bears, Tamarind monkeys, red pandas and other associated wildlife. Guided tours at 2.30pm complimented opportunities to see the sea lions being fed at 11.30am, 2pm and 4pm whilst the penguins became the centre of attention at 10.30am and 2.30pm. We spent a good few hours here even though it looked like a small zoo from the outside. We chose to eat our lunch at the restaurant with security being tight to get in. The gloomy looking man on the door removed a thin branch from my lad presumably because he thought it could be used as a weapon. The food was pretty average and relatively expensive so a better idea would have been to take a few sandwiches and stuff. Then again we were in New York for Lordy's sake where the dollar is king and sandwiches are bought not made.

Top tips for visiting Central Park:
-Have a plan – it’s a huge place!
-Take sun lotion on sunny days as you may be there for a few hours
-Take plenty of dollars with you; I didn’t see any muggers there and there is plenty to spend your hard-earned on
-Wear comfortable shoes as you may be doing a lot of walking.

We probably spent around 6 hours at Central Park by the time we had spent out at the usual souvenir haunts and sore feet syndrome compelled us to return to our hotel. We had only scratched the rather large surface of a park that thoroughly charms the newcomer and provides a welcome haven from the capitalist drum beating of the city.

Venturing through the park would have uncovered other delights such as Belvedere Castle Discovery Centre(mid-park at 79th Street), Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre(mid-park at 81st Street), North Meadow Recreation Centre(mid-park at 97th Street) and the Charles A Dana Discovery Centre(North East Corner at Harlem Meer). Flanking both sides of the park are a cacophony of museums all demanding visitors to attend them. They include: American Museum of Natural History, Hayden Planetarium (we planned to visit but ran out of time), Frick Collection, Institute of Fine Arts, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Guggenheim Museum, Cooper Hewitt Museum, Jewish Museum, International Centre of Photography and the Museum of the City of N.Y. As you can see, you could spend several days in Central Park and still not see everything.

For music lovers, The New York Philharmonic orchestra are regular visitors to Central Park whilst a panoply of lakes and paths provide ample space to joggers and roller-bladers or even those just out to have a picnic or play ball (that's baseball in this part of the world).

Central Park slowed things down for us when they needed to be slowed down and really is an amazing place to visit. We adored the time we spent here and the sunshine added a pleasant angle to enhance a wonderful few hours. I would strongly recommend a trip to the park although with all the attractions and museums, chances are it will feature on any visitor's itinerary in some shape or form anyway. It may even put a break on your spending as you could theoretically spend the day there and never spend a cent(perish the thought!).

Thanks for reading this and any of my other opinions about New York. I really do have nothing left to say on the subject. Until I go again, of course.

Marandina

Linked sites:

www.brooklynkids.org

www.wcs.org

www.centralparknyc.org. (highly recommended)

Summary: Overview of Central Park