As one of the most visited urban parks in the United States, Central Park has been able to establish a legacy that few other public spaces can match. Covering 843 acres in the middle of Manhattan in New York City, Central Park is not even the biggest urban park in the city, much less the state, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in influence with well over 40 million annual visitors.
The incredible mix of natural and constructed monuments that are scattered throughout Central Park has enabled this influence. It’s a combination that allows residents and visitors to experience the Park in countless ways, and also one that has had an incredible impact on the culture and economics of the area.
Before There was a Park
Established in 1857 on 778 acres, the building of Central Park was one of nineteenth-century New York’s most massive public works projects. Part of the area that would become Central Park had previously served as a key strategic location in the Revolutionary War, and also the War of 1812. Defenses were constructed on the hills in the north section of the Park, and these defenses were retained in the development of this section, which was completed in 1867. Central Park was expanded to its current size in 1873.
After being completed, the Park fell into a couple periods of decline, first due to political inaction, and then due to the challenges associated with cars and pollution. The five Park-related departments that were taking care of the Park got into fights around the best approaches to these challenges, but all of that changed in 1934 when these departments were merged. However, by the mid-1970’s the management of the Park was once again being neglected, which led to the creation of the Central Park Conservancy, a private, nonprofit organization that manages Central Park under a contract with the City of New York and NYC Parks.
Under the Conservancy’s leadership, several projects that have enhanced the beauty and appeal of Central Park have been initiated. In 1986, its fundraising efforts enabled the restoration of the Grand Army Plaza and the Shakespeare Garden. Other notable milestones include the refurbishment of the 15,876 Minton tiles that hang on the ceiling of the Bethesda Arcade as well as the permanent closure of West and East Drives north of 72nd Street to vehicular traffic.
Monuments throughout the Park such as Cleopatra’s Needle and the Balto Statue have their own unique histories, but these attractions are just part of what makes the experiences in it so unique.
Experiencing the Natural and Constructed Wonders of the Park
Numerous attractions are located in various spots throughout Central Park that represent different eras and styles of New York City as a whole. These pieces range from sculptures like Alice in Wonderland and the King Jagiello Monument to structures like Cleopatra’s Needle Strawberry Fields. Visitors can interact with these pieces in a variety of ways, and that extends to interactive features that allow them to get a whole new perspective on the monuments they’re seeing. These interactions aren’t confined to the Park itself though.
Columbus Circle, Grand Army Plaza, the Duke Ellington Statue and the Frederick Douglass Sculpture adorn the four corners of the Park, but monuments like the bronze equestrian statue depicting Argentine general José de San Martín can be seen from both inside and outside the Park. The location of these monuments allows viewers to see them from both the urban setting of the city as well as the natural surrounding of the Park, and that juxtaposition is one of the most unique experiences associated with the Park itself.
Even though it’s located in the middle of one of the biggest metropolises on Earth, visitors can easily forget that Central Park sits in the middle of the most densely populated borough of New York City. That’s not a coincidence since the Park was actually designed to give the natural landscape even greater emphasis, which is critical since the wonders of landscapes like the waterfall near Huddlestone Arch are less than half a mile from the urban splendor of New York. Those skyscrapers can be seen on the horizon from various places on the North Meadow and the Great Lawn, which creates an especially memorable view for the thousands of people who visit the Park on a daily basis.
The Great Lawn and countless other spots throughout Central Park host activities that range from softball to bike riding to simple lounging. The Shakespeare in the Park event, as well as other happenings at the Delacorte Theater, represent another set of activities for visitors. Tourists, as well as residents, can take advantage of all these activities amidst the natural and constructed wonders of the Park in whatever way they wish.
All of this activity has spurred significant direct and indirect revenue opportunities that stem from the Park’s position in the culture of the city.
Engagement as the Driver of Economic and Cultural Considerations
Monuments like the Statue of Liberty and the Wall Street Bull have become icons that are instantly recognized as symbols of New York, but Central Park symbolizes something as important for both residents and visitors because of the engagement the Park facilitates. It’s an impact that can be seen in the event calendar for Central Park, as well as others held at Delacorte Theater. Over five million people have attended more than 150 free productions of Shakespeare and other classical works and musicals at the Delacorte Theater since it opened in 1962.
The popularity of those events along with the visitors to the Central Park Zoo as well as the popularity of the numerous concerts further demonstrates what kind of engagement the Park has enabled, and there are direct and indirect economic opportunities associated with this engagement. They aren’t even the most direct means for Central Park stakeholders to fund their initiatives though.
Programs like “Adopt a Bench” and “Endow a Tree” represent a more direct way to support the Park and have generated a great deal of revenue for the Park. Established in 1986, the Adopt-a-Bench program has led to the adoption of over 4,100 of the Park’s 9,000 benches. The benches can be adopted with a donation of $10,000. The engraved granite paving stones lining the southern end of Literary Walk commemorate each endowed tree in the Park.
A variety of businesses have been able to thrive thanks to the millions of visitors that Central Park pulls in every year, and that impact can be seen with the various restaurants in the Park as well as in the merchandise that features the Park in one way or another. Tours, weddings and a variety of events enable a variety of other economic opportunities that are directly tied into and reflective of the culture in the city.
It’s a development that can be understood in terms of the legacy the Park has enabled, which extends far beyond the limits of the Park and city.
A Legacy About More than the Sum of Its Parts
Central Park was designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1963, but that’s just a small illustration of the incredible legacy that the Park represents. The Park attracts over 40 million people a year from all over the world for a variety of reasons, many of which have directly inspired the layout for parks across the world and indirectly influenced the development of other parks in the city, such as the High Line.
The legacy of Central Park isn’t about the space, size or scope of the Park or the attractions in it. Instead, it’s about the totality of experiences that residents and tourists can have with all of the attractions, events and settings that form a legacy far greater than the sum of these parts.
