Central Park in New York City is not the largest city park not only in the world, in the country, but even in the city, yielding in territory to parks in the Bronx and Queens; is not the oldest park in the United States, created many ten years later than parks in Boston and Philadelphia; and even, according to his own architects, is not the most beautiful park in New York, yielding to Prospect park in Brooklyn. However, without exaggeration, it is Central Park that is the most famous and significant city park in the United States.
The park is located on Manhattan Island between 59th and 110th Streets and Fifth and Eighth Avenues and thus has a rectangular shape. The park is 4 kilometers long, 800 meters wide, and its total area is 3.4 km2. The park is visited by approximately 25 million people a year, it is the most visited park in the United States, and its screening in many films and television shows has made the park one of the most famous in the world.
The park is maintained by the Central Park Conservancy, a private, non-profit organization that operates the park under contract with the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.
The park is entirely man-made, although it looks like natural. The park contains several natural looking lakes and bodies of water that were created artificially, extensive walking trails, two ice skating rinks (one of which is a pool in July and August), Central Park Zoo, Central Park Garden, wildlife sanctuary, large area natural forests, Teatro Delacorte, which hosts summer festivals. The attractions of Central Park are: Belvedere Castle, Swedish Cottage Puppet Theater, and the historic Carousel. In addition, there are seven main lawns and many playgrounds for children. Let's find out how it was created …
From 1820 to 1850, the population of New York quadrupled, and already at that time, becoming the largest financial and industrial center of the country, the urban population needed public places for recreation. The city limits were at that time limited to the modern 39th Street and in the mid-fifties of the nineteenth century, the authorities allocated a huge swamp land lying outside the city limits and inhabited mainly by farmers. By the way, Harlem, which borders the park in the north, was then a separate city and had a completely indirect relationship to New York.
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In 1857, a competition was held, which was won by two architects - American * Frederick Olmsted * and Englishman * Calvert Vox *, who were educated and practiced in Europe (in the United States at that time there was not a single school specializing in landscape and park design).
Their project was based on the idea of creating an English-style park, with a lot of winding paths, gardens, hills and bodies of water. This differed, for example, from the classical French style with a spacious central promenade, an abundance of fountains and flower beds, which was more suitable for a park at the palace. However, there was something more behind this project that the authors tried to express by creating this park.
As already mentioned, by the middle of the 19th century, New York had become a major world center with a strengthened middle and upper classes and no less numerous poor people and workers. Other world capitals, such as London and Paris, had parks where all citizens, without exception, could spend their leisure time. Unlike New York. At that time, only a limited number of people had access to the few parks and gardens of the city - wealthy citizens, members of clubs, business owners. This social injustice worried both the architects and the city authorities, which ultimately allocated money for the construction of the park.
As conceived by the architects, Central Park should become the embodiment of democratic principles and freedoms *, for which the country has fought for many years. Social equality was the motto and the main idea in the design of the park. This is expressed in particular in the joint parallel (and not separate) passage of pedestrian roads occupied mainly by the poor and roads for horse-drawn carriages of wealthy citizens. * Central Mall * - the only straight alley leading to the heart of the park * Bethesda terrace *, a wide pedestrian area with benches and places for street performances - was also supposed to be a mixing place for people of different classes.
If you pay attention to the entrances to the park, then each of them has a separate name. The architects had a choice to name the entrance groups by the names of great people, military battles, states, but they opted for the professions of ordinary people, thereby paying tribute to the people who participated in the construction of the park. So, the park has a gate for Scientists, Artists, Artisans, Traders, Farmers, Hunters, Miners, Foresters, Engineers, Inventors, Military, etc.
But the park is not only a piece of landscape design. It is also a breakthrough in modern engineering that was to be embodied here. First of all, these are four roads, which initially, according to the project, crossed the park from east to west, but below the main level of the park, i.e. without interfering not only with vacationers, but also
without giving out their presence at all, enclosed by an abundance of bushes. The system of tunnels and bridges, designed in the middle of the 19th century, operates almost unchanged today.
Another engineering marvel that was pioneered at the time in New York and implemented in Bethesda terrace is the separation of pedestrian and traffic flows at different levels. The city at that time was full of various transport - primarily horse-drawn carriages and there were no underground or overhead passages and traffic lights at that time. The first structure appeared in the central park, which helped to separate the human and traffic flows.
The park was also included in the system of the newly built city water supply system, which for the first time in the history of the city provides an uninterrupted supply of drinking water … The purest water from the Croton River entered the city through tunnels and aqueducts from a distance of more than 100 kilometers. For a crowded city suffering from infectious diseases due to insufficient sewage and water disposal, this was a real salvation. Despite the fact that the fountain with drinking water was publicly available. Krotonskiy akveduk 500 × 215 Central Park. History of creation
After the announcement of the winners of the competition in 1857, its direct construction began, which lasted until 1873. During this time, more than 14 thousand cubic meters of fertile land was brought into the territory of the park measuring 2.5 by 0.5 miles (4 by 0.8 kilometers), more than 4 million plants of 1400 species were planted, alleys, gardens, an artificial rectangular reservoir (which was subsequently dried up and in its place is now * Great Lawn *), playgrounds, a carousel, a boat station, 2 ice skating grounds and more. For the first time since the formation of the United States, all this was available to absolutely all residents of the city.
Initially, there was only one statue in the park - this is * Angel of the waters *. However, gradually, the peoples who inhabited the city at that time began to give the park statues of the most prominent representatives of the arts of their countries. This is how statues of Beethoven, Scott, Shakespeare and others appeared in the park. And it also showed democratic signs on the one hand and showed New York's national diversity on the other. At the same time, the park was replenished with statues of national heroes of the Civil War. Statui v TSentralnom parke 500 × 337 Central Park.
Between 1860 and 1873, the construction of the park took a long time, and most of the main ideas had to be revised. During this time, more than 14,000 m3 of fertile land was brought in from New Jersey, as the local land was not suitable for many of the trees, shrubs and other plants envisioned in the original plan. When the park was officially completed in 1873, more than 10 million carts of material, including earth and stone, were dug up and removed from the site. More than 4 million trees, shrubs and other plants representing approximately 1,500 species were also included.
Some time after its opening, the park began to decline. One of the main reasons for this was the infamous political machine known as Tammany Hall, then the largest political force in New York. And it was also connected with the appearance of the car as a new means of transportation, and with the death of one of the founders of Vox Park in 1895, who monitored its condition until the end of his life. The city stopped allocating money for the maintenance of the park, there was no one to replace old trees, bushes, to monitor lawns and playgrounds, the police stopped patrolling the territory and over time the crime rate in the park increased.
The situation changed when Fiorello La Guardia became mayor of the city in 1934, who appointed * Robert Moses * as the park manager. Under Moses, the park found a new life, while slightly changing the concept. Since the mid-1930s, the park has become not just a place for walking, but also a place for active recreation of the townspeople. * Sports grounds * (for playing baseball, handball, football), basketball and tennis courts are being built, the Croton reservoir (the same one that was on the site of the modern Great Lawn) is being drained.
In the 60s, after the departure of Moses, the park again loses the attention of the authorities and the corresponding funding. At this time, the park is used primarily as a place for meetings, concerts, demonstrations, and festivities. Due to a lack of funding, the police patrol the park less and less often, graffiti appears, there is no one to clean up the garbage, crime, prostitution, and drug trafficking are on the rise again. All this reaches its peak in the 70s …
By 1975, several lawyers' groups had joined forces to come up with new ideas on how to equip the park. As a result, in 1980, the Nature Conservation Committee was formed.
When the committee began its work, the founders decided not to create a new organization with specially hired workers, which would have led to high costs. Instead, they decided to focus on recruiting volunteers for most of the work, as this would encourage the city's residents to be more respectful of the park, and also create the impression that the park is an integral part of New York City.
The committee began to interact with the Park Commissioner, and committed itself to the restoration and improvement of the park, publishing in 1981 a document entitled "Reconstruction of Central Park in the 1980s and beyond." The document was presented as a master plan for the further development of the park and described the actions that need to be taken to return the park to its former glory.
The document included three key objectives for future survival. The architectural heritage had to be restored - not only the landscape and the environment, but also the bridges, buildings and other structures that had fallen victim to neglect in 20 years. In addition, the document called for significant replanting of all grass and constant care of each section of the park, as well as the creation of programs to improve safety in the park, especially at night - and thereby attract new visitors.
During the work of the organization, the park was almost completely brought into proper condition. The work of sports and playgrounds has been organized again, new trees, flowers, lawns have been planted, bridges and structures have been restored, police supervision has been established. The main idea was to attract volunteers who were ready to work for the benefit of the park for some time free of charge. Today the organization provides more than 80 percent of the 40 millionth budget of the park and manages about 80 percent of the staff.
Over the years, many buildings have been restored, and many hours have been spent rebuilding the park. In 2004 alone, volunteers spent over 32,000 hours rebuilding the Heckscher playground, several lawns and stone elevations.
Today, Central Park is one of the most visited sites in New York, with over 25 million visitors a year. This city park, located between 59th and 110th streets and 5th and 8th avenues, is almost twice the size of the Principality of Monaco, with more than 80 kilometers of walking and 10 kilometers of jogging paths, 36 uniquely designed stone and cast iron bridges, several open-air theaters, a tennis center, many free outdoor sports facilities, and more. And it is very important that this is not only a tourist attraction, but also a favorite vacation spot for New Yorkers themselves.