Parks Legacy

Central Park located in New York city is one of the largest urban park in the city. Central park draws about twenty-five million visitors annually. It is maintained by the Central Park Conservancy and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.

1821-1859

During the 1821 and 1855 when the population started increasing, individuals felt the need for open spaces or parks to get away from the crowded city environment. In 1851, Mayor Ambrose Kingsland proposed that the city should create a public park and in 1853 the New York legislature designated a 700-acre (280 ha) area from 59th to 106th Streets for the creation of the park. This park was to be called Central Park because it was in the center of Manhattan Island. A Central Park Commission was appointed to oversee the development of the park; the commission held a design contest in 1857 for the central park design. Architect Calvert Vaux and writer Frederick Law Olmsted “Greensward Plan” was selected for its design.

1860-1933

Vaux and Olmsted had emphasized on the nature over man-made objects in their park design. They crafted the park to look as though it were untouched nature. The plan had 36 bridges all designed in different ways. To hide the city's buildings they arranged for trees to be planted on the park's borders. Man-made structures in the park, like buildings and water reservoirs, were made as modest as possible. This was not an easy task as the land was rocky, swampy, and muddy. So during the period 1860 and 1873 about 500,000 cubic feet of topsoil was transported in from New Jersey, because the original soil could not sustain the various trees, shrubs, and plants. Due to some local opposition, the designers separated the different types of traffic – pedestrians, riders, carriages. Ten million cartloads of material, including soil and rocks which were to be removed from the area had been manually dug up, and transported out of the park. The park was officially completed in 1873. Many people started visiting the park for elaborate late afternoons, winter skating, etc. After the death of Vaux in 1895 the park started getting neglected, the plants and flowers started getting dried up.

1934-1978

In the year 1934 Robert Moses was given the job of cleaning parks including central park. Moses not only cleaned the park but also replanted new lawns and flowers. Major redesigning and construction was also carried out such as the Croton Lower Reservoir was filled in to create Green Lawn. With the development, the new generation needed recreational facilities in the park. Moses secured funds for developing nineteen playgrounds, twelve ball fields, and handball courts. The donations collected from individuals were used to create popular Hans Christian Andersen and Alice in Wonderland sculptures.

The 1960s marked the beginning of an “Events Era” in Central Park, the Public Theater's annual Shakespeare in the Park festival was settled in the new Delacorte Theater in the year 1961. The New York Philharmonic Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera started Summer performances on the Sheep Meadow and then on the Great Lawn. In the mid-1970 due to fiscal and social crisis had contributed to severe management neglect. Years of inadequate maintenance had turned a masterpiece of landscape architecture into a virtual dustbowl by day and a danger zone by night.

1980-2008

In the 1980 a private fund raising body, the Central Park Conservancy was engaged in design efforts and long-term restoration planning, using a combination of its own staff and consultants. In the mid-1980s, the Conservancy instituted a revolutionary new zone-management system, in which Central Park was divided into territories, in which a designated supervisor was held responsible for maintaining restored areas. In the 1990 the park was restored using funds raised from public, and many projects were completed such as the restoration of Shakespeare Garden, Strawberry Fields, and the restoration of woodland project that included the cascades in the Ravine. Management of the restored landscapes by the Conservancy’s "zone gardeners" proved very successful because of this the core maintenance and operations staff were reorganized in 1996 and a zone-based system of management implemented throughout the Park. The park now is divided into 49 zones and every zone of the Park has a specific individual accountable for its day-to-day maintenance.

With all the funds and donations the Conservancy till 2007 had invested approximately $450 million in the restoration and management of the Park; presently the Central Park Conservancy contributes approximately 85% of Central Park’s annual operating budget of over $25 million. Today the Conservancy is responsible for the beauty and proper maintenance of the central park.