Central Park

By mid-week I'll return to my normal "day to day" blog format but wanted to finish my observations regarding my recent trip to NYC. I'll do one more NYC post tomorrow. Today at RBG was filled with playing "catch up" and I was happy to see how much work had been accomplished in anticipation of fall clean up activities and our looming holiday lights show set-up. It was a beautiful day and we had a full crew of staff and volunteers working on clearing out plants, carpentry projects, putting up holiday lights, etc. Thanks to Larry, Marv, Terry, Marianne, Janice, Little Jerry, Big John, Julie, Chuck, Robin, Mary, Karen, Maury, Dick P., Dick H., Bill, Ron W., Bob C., Bob A., Vern, Jim, Rollie, Urban, Maury, Gary, Tom, Del and others. The gardens still look good but with our irrigation recently turned off, we're seeing some major water stress out in the gardens and are hoping for a good soaking rain in the imminent future. Our Executive Director, Dave Jennings, retired last week and resigned his position effective last Friday. Gary Smith, our current Board Chair, will step in again as interim Executive Director, a position he held for eight months prior to Dave starting back in April of 2009. We are looking forward to finishing the year on a positive note and are hoping for a nice turnout for our Halloween Walk this week, the Taste of Chocolate event in early December and our Holiday Lights show. We also have our volunteer appreciation dinner tomorrow night and I'm trying to get ready for four looming presentations.

Any trip to NYC would be incomplete without seeing Central Park (CP). CP is the most visited urban park in the country with over 25 million annual visitors. I did some research on the park which I'll share but then would like to mention my experiences over the four or so hours I spent exploring the park intermittently over last Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (with NYC friend Cheryl). The original 700 acres of CP were purchased in 1853 and later expanded to the current 843 acres in 1863. The land was primarily irregular terrain filled with swamps, bluffs, rocky outcroppings and of course residents that were quickly displaced. In 1857, the first design competition for a park of this size was held and the winning design, called the Greensward Plan, was accepted from Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. I could go in to more detail on these gentlemen but for those that are familiar with landscape architecture history, these men are very well known. Their pastoral landscape included water features, woodlands, separate drives for carriages, horses and pedestrians and sunken transverse roads that helped maintain views. Rocky outcropping were preserved in many spaces and it took over 20,000 workers to help build this park. Workers moved over 3 million cubic yards of soil and planted 270,000 trees. In 1865, over 7 million visitors came to Central Park. The Central Park Zoo was added in 1871 and additional features were built over the following century. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is located along the eastern edge of the park and the Guggenheim Museum is in very close proximity as well. Central Park currently has 250 acres of lawn, 26,000 trees, 150 acres of lakes and streams, 130 acres of wetlands, 9,000 benches, 26 ballfields, 21 playgrounds, 55 sculptures/monuments, 36 bridges and the park collects and disposes of over 5 million lbs. of garbage each year. This park was deceptively large and I enjoyed my explorations immensely.I noted many groundspeople and maintenance vehicles around the park each time I walked through. Cheryl was great at explaining some of the park history, funding and features. I had already heard about the Central Park Conservancy (CPC) but knew very little about its function and role in CP. The conservancy was founded in 1980 with the mission "to restore, manage and enhance Central Park, in partnership with the public, for the continued enjoyment of present and future generations." With the decline of Central Park in the 1970s (more crime, disrepair, etc.), the CPC became a vital and welcomed force in rejuvenating this National Historic Landmark. The CPC is the official manager of the park and supplies 80% of the maintenance staff and provides 85% of the 25 million $ annual operating budget for the park. The NYC Park and Recreation Department supplies the remainder of the staff and support funds and also retains policy control, user permit control and discretion over events. It appears to be a sound partnership and the park has apparently thrived under this arrangement over the past 30 years. Crime has decreased from 1,000 incidents a year back in the 1970s to 100 per year currently. The NYC Police have a station within the park and I never observed a slow "usage time" with any of my visits.

My first exposure to Central Park was on Tuesday when I came back from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. I had a couple of hours before I was to meet my Uncle Bob and Aunt Patti (from PA) in the City for dinner. I came thru Times Square and did my "bobble-head/touristy" looks upward towards all the glitz and glamour of the tall buildings. I ended up on the southwest corner of the park near Columbus Circle. This was near the Trump Tower and was a great place to "people watch". The swirl of people around 4 pm included tourists, street performers, odd souls, homeless, vendors, etc. It was certainly a visual stimulation as I was close to the horse and carriages as well as the swirl of traffic around that corner (primarily yellow cabs). I went in to the park and was immediately struck by the overhead canopy of mature shade trees and the calming effect of all the greenery. There were still quite a few people in the park including joggers, bikers, walkers, dogs, children, etc. I hadn't realized there were so many large, natural rock outcroppings in the park and their were people sitting all over these rocks reading, talking and just hanging out. I was near a large playground and there were many children enjoying the afternoon. These are kids with no backyards, open lawns or possibly outdoor playgrounds. Central Park then becomes their connection with nature; a vital connection to be sure. I didn't wander too far but did note the crazy squirrel lady with a suitcase full of nuts that was whistling for the squirrels to come visit (and they did), a borderline inappropriate photo shoot and those that seemed a bit "off". Anyway, I had a favorable first impression and did note the attempts by park employees to fence off areas of lawn for recovery as the foot traffic must be very intense. My next foray the following afternoon on my way to Cheryl and Jeff's (after my visit to NYBC) involved a long walk along the western edge of the park. I enjoyed the plantings and saw some huge tree specimens along the way. I got my first look at the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir which has a great view from every angle with some sort of skyline in the distance. I had heard that when you are in the middle of Central Park, you forget you are in the City proper. I would totally agree with that assessment. On Thursday, Cheryl and I enjoyed the Central Park Conservatory gardens (very well done) although I was disappointed to see no plant labels. There were six or so large garden spaces with different planting themes and focal points. It was very nicely maintained. We then wandered down the eastern edge of the park and took in all the sights and sounds. There were lots of joggers and dog walkers (many paid walkers with multiple dogs). Interesting (but not surprising) that there is a $1,000 fine for not picking up your dog poop. Cheryl and I walked for many hours along the trails and paths of Central Park and remembered old times back in high school and college. I last saw Cheryl and Jeff at my wedding 11 years ago and at their wedding two years prior to that. CP is truly a special and vital green space. I really enjoyed both Prospect Park and Central Park and was glad to experience firsthand only what I had read about in books or seen as static pictures. The experience will be memorable.