Lawns, Gardens, and Wide-Open Spaces
Many New Yorkers, particularly those in Manhattan, live in modern apartments that are not as spacious as they would like. The park offers some elbow room — places to lie on the grass and enjoy the wide-open space. Of course, on a warm spring or summer day even those places can get crowded, but you can find the serenity of the park if you look carefully. Off-the-beaten-path locations are often just down the road or over a large rock from where you are.
A truly awe-inspiring experience is lying in Central Park and looking up and out at the tall buildings standing high and flanking the peaceful setting. The city is so close yet so far away; the park is a refuge unto itself. Two of the most notable wide-open spaces in the vast park are the Great Lawn and the Sheep Meadow.
The Great LawnA reservoir until the 1930s, this lawn was recently replanted and resodded and is lovingly maintained to serve as one of the prime locations for outdoor fun in the park. Frisbees fly by, as do softballs and hardballs from countless games played all spring and summer on the more than two dozen baseball diamonds in the park. The lawn has also seen massive crowds (with estimates of anywhere from 200,000 to nearly a million people) for concerts from the likes of Paul Simon, Elton John, and Diana Ross. Pope John Paul II spoke to throngs of people on the Great Lawn in 1995. The lawn spans some fourteen acres of open air and has been the central gathering point for the largest crowds in the city. It lies midpark from Seventy-ninth to Eighty-fifth Street.
Central Park Conservancy offers many free and fascinating tours of various parts of the park starting in April and continuing through June. Their teen docent-led tours operate until the fall. For a full schedule, log onto
This really was a sheep meadow until the mid-1930s — it was a large piece of flat land, originally designed for military practice but used as a pasture for the park's flock of sheep. Today the sheep are long gone, and the fifteen-acre area on the west side of the park is a haven for sunbathers. There is less activity here than on the Great Lawn, with no ball playing or loud radios allowed. You may look up and see a kite overhead in the spring. Essentially, though, the Sheep Meadow is reserved for sedentary pleasures such as relaxing and picnicking. Just north of the Sheep Meadow, located at Mineral Springs at West Sixty-ninth Street, is the Lawn Sports Center, which is home to croquet players and lawn bowlers.
Sheep Meadow is the first park location in New York to offer free high-speed Wi-Fi access. The New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, with help from WiFi Salon and Nokia, has established seventeen Wi-Fi hotspots in parks across New York City. Check
Among the numerous gardens that highlight the park are the Shakespeare Garden, Strawberry Fields, Lilac Walk — with twentythree varieties of lilacs from around the world — and the Conservatory Garden.
The Shakespeare Garden is tucked between the Swedish Cottage and the Belvedere Castle. Dedicated to the great writer, the little-known garden was dedicated in 1916, the 300th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, and restored in 1987. The nearby Delacorte Theater features free summer Shakespeare plays, produced by the Joseph Papp Public Theatre (call 212-539-8500 for more information). Plaques around the garden are inscribed with quotes from the works of Shakespeare, and the flowers within are those mentioned in his works, including thyme, sage, rosemary, and lavender plus several varieties of seasonal flowers.
Strawberry Fields (on the west side, between West Seventy-first and West Seventy-second streets) is dedicated to a writer, singer, and legend of a different era, John Lennon. The current landscaping and maintenance of the 2.5-acre garden is the result of a $1 million gift to the park by Yoko Ono. The couple visited the garden often when they lived across the street in the Dakota Apartments.
Every summer since 1954, New Yorkers have been treated to free stellar performances of classic plays (usually Shakespeare) at the Delacorte Theater. Recent actors include Natalie Portman, Patrick Stewart, Meryl Streep, Denzel Washington, Kevin Kline, and Christopher Walken. Although tickets are free, you have to wait in line on the day of the show at 1
A serene setting, the romantic garden is home to tree clusters, outcroppings, and plantings and is considered one of the most beautiful areas in Central Park. The 2.5-acre park features a reproduction of a marble mosaic from Pompeii with the word “Imagine” set in it, a gift from the city of Naples, Italy. Aside from the garden's name, taken from one of Lennon's songs, the mosaic is the only specific tribute to the former Beatle in the garden. Fans gather there each year on the anniversary of Lennon's tragic death, and it is common to find flowers, letters, and photos left in tribute.
The formal Conservatory Garden is actually three gardens representing French, Italian, and English landscaping styles on six acres near Fifth Avenue and 105th Street, just south of the Harlem Meer. Originally opened in 1937, the outdoor gardens replaced greenhouses that occupied the site beginning in 1898. A 1982 restoration and landscaping brought back the gardens that have been home to weddings and other festive occasions.
The North Garden is a French-style design surrounding a large bronze fountain known as
You can download information and a map for a self-guided tour at
More than 270 species of birds have been spotted by bird enthusiasts in the park, primarily in an area known as the Ramble, a thirty-sixacre wooded area with wildly growing bushes, waterfalls, and even a brook. The area, near the East Seventy-ninth Street entrance, can be somewhat deserted, so it's best to explore it in a group.
