Thirteen and WLIW21 present a new documentary, Olmsted and America’s Urban Parks on Wed., April 20 at 7 p.m. on WLIW21 and 10 p.m. on THIRTEEN. The film, by Rebecca Messner, traces the life and career of the 19th Century landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, whose firm designed and built nearly 100 public parks, including Central Park and Prospect Park. It explains how these 19th Century parks were the first real urban parks in America and explores what makes them so distinctive, particularly the broad, pastoral meadows inspired by open spaces of the west. Olmsted considered these parks to be vital democratic spaces in cities, where citizens from all walks of life could intermingle and be refreshed.
Why do you love New York City’s parks? Why are parks so important in big cities like New York? Tell us or share a memory about a visit to Central Park, Prospect Park or another park in NYC.
Watch parkgoers share their thoughts: Part I & Part II
The film is supported in partnership with the Prospect Park Alliance.
Responses to "Olmsted & America’s Urban Parks"
My family (two kids 2 & 4) lives in Park Slope so we are regulars in Prospect Park. As a father, I value the respite from urbanity the park offers my kids (and my 15 yr old dog). My favorite thing to do in Prospect Park? After a heavy snow storm, I slosh up to the park with my snowshoes and pretend I’m trecking though the Catskills or Adirondack wilderness.
Last summer, in Prospect Park, I watched a sparrow defend her chicks from a hawk. She was tiny, but dived at the larger bird as it swooped toward her nest. Again and again, she took aim, until the hawk flew away… what a beautiful symbol of motherhood. Our parks offer us a brilliant view of nature and remind us of our deep connections to it.
The High Line is probably one of the most unique parks in the world. In the middle of the hustle and bustle of Manhattan, you can walk up a few steps and be transported to another world. Grab a bottle of wine, some food, and head up for a sunset, it’s one of the cities true hidden gems.
One of my lasting memories of Central Park was when I first moved to Manhattan and was lucky to see Luciano Pavarotti sing a free concert to tens of thousands of adoring fans on the Great Lawn with the New York Philharmonic. The trees, sky and beautiful green sprawling lawn was the perfect setting to hear his voice sing out to all of New York.
When my wife and I are were dating we both took a day off and spent an October afternoon in Central Park – the weather was perfect and I remember wandering around with no set destination in mind and more fondly, I recall the complete sense of calm I felt when we took a rowboat out on the lake and just hung out – hard to find anything nearly as relaxing in Manhattan.
I used to live one block away from Central Park North. It was a welcome respite year round. I love the gardens, the free concerts, the lake, wandering around & finding the perfect rock to cuddle on with my bubby.
Awbury Arboretum Park on Washington Lane in Germantown,Philadelphia was the estate of the Thomas P. Cope and Francis Cope Families built in the 1850s. In about 1915 the Cope Family gave about 77 acres to the city of Philadelphia.
Through the years my father, Arthur Cope Emlen ,a landscape engineer,who’s business was named Harrison,Mertz & Emlen did much of the landscaping of it, plus The Philadelphia ZOO, Morris Arboretum, Bryn Mawr College,and many estates in Chestnut Hill and out “The Main Line”., also the waterworks of the Fountains at Logan Circle , downtown Philadelphia, all done during the 1920s,1930s,to early 1940s; he died Jan. 25th(?) 1941.
We children knew about Olmstead and his contribution from our father, that and his interest in the English country landscape, and the desire to bring interesting and unusual species of trees to the scene.
Almost a century later, another green space for local passive enjoyment flourishes from Olmstead’s philosophy taking hold.
I’ve seen some great plays at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. One year my wife and I went to see Morgan Freeman and Tracey Ullman in The Taming of the Shrew. My wife is cursed — every time she goes to an outdoor show, it rains. We got through four out of five acts, but sure enough, it started to rain and wouldn’t stop, so they cut the show short. She was ready to leave, but I knew Tracey Ullman always ended her TV show with a curtain call in which she yelled “Go home!” at her audience. I insisted on waiting until Tracey Ullman told me to go home. My wife thought I was nuts, but eventually the cast came out for a curtain call. Ullman yelled “Go home, you crazy people!” And we did, wet but happy.
When I was little, every once in a while, when I didn’t have school, my dad would take me to his office on 6th Avenue and 51st Street. At lunchtime, we would walk over to 57th and 5th and walk through Central Park to the boat pond. We’d get hot dogs and I would feed my bun to the ducks. Then, I would spend the rest of his lunch hour sitting on Hans Christian Andersen’s lap, pretending that he was reading The Ugly Duckling to me. I had my first bad fall off a jungle gym in Diana Ross’s playground (and my son choked on a seed pod in the same spot 25 years later); I sat watching the first snow fall from the steps of my school on 5th and 78th while smoking a cigarette, walked through Christo’s Gates, got stoned in Sheep’s Meadow cried while Patti Smith said her ode to Robert Mapplethorpe, dropped acid and spent the day on a random boulder, ran for hours around the reservoir, read entire novels while sitting on a random bench under a beautiful tree, experienced the park anew under Janet Cardiff’s guidance. But the memories I relive most in my mind while I walk through Central Park are those afternoons spent pretending Hans Christian Andersen was reading just to me.
When I first moved to Brooklyn after being homeless for a number of years and having endured great crises in my life, I first experienced Prospect Park. I truly loved being transported to the late 1800’s through the architecture of the Park. It really is such a serene place in a city where concrete and fast paced, hectic living seems to be a way of life. I am really excited about this show. Another great documentary from PBS. The legacy Olmstead and Vaux left in designing this park for New Yorkers is incomparable.
We live right off Prospect Park in Brooklyn. My husband cross country skis in the park, I walk through it each Saturday on my way to and from the Farner’s Market at Grand Army Plaza. We take long walks through the hilly trails, past waterfalls, watching Cardinals and Robins darting through the trees and in the summer, the turtles basking on rocks in the sunlight. The Park renews us each weekend and on our evening strolls during the week, after a grinding week or day at work in Manhattan. Thank you, Mr. Olmsted. Thank you.
I live not too far from Prospect Park, so the park is one of my places of refuge. I visit the park mostly in the Spring and Summer with my husband and children. I especially enjoy the drums on Sundays and all the festive foods. It is a great place the learn about nature, relaxation and just meeting people from all walks of life.
I was born in Brooklyn and eventually moved to Queens. As a little girl my father and mother took my brother and me to Central Park to walk the paths, roller skate and sail a hand crafted wooden sail boat in one of the many small lakes/ponds. I have wonderful memories of times past, and more recently on may many treks into Manhattan to enjoy the Park with the foliage, zoo, special ceremonies and for meetings with friends for lunch, dinner, theatre, etc. in the area. I am very grateful for the Parks of New York and look forward to viewing these programs, as I do all of the other fabulous specials on PBS.
Thank you for your excellent programming. Camille Stack
I grew up in a city, Philadelphia, that boasts the larget city park in the U.S….Fairmont Park always made me feel soooo proud. I arrived in New York in the early 50’s to attend Juilliard and one of the first outings to which I was invited, was to attend a concert at the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park. It was love at first sight!! The park and I became fast friends…and I was bound and determined to have the Park always be a part of my life….and so it has been. Cycling, skating, picnics, walking, concert going, or just sitting on a bench to view the passing parade….it has it all. Our apartment even faces the park!!! What more could one ask????
In the way kids are, I grew up taking for granted Central Park was my front yard! We lived at the Dakota, my room faced the Park, and the hours I spent sitting at my window watching the trees writhe in the wind, mooning over some guy! We were very popular at Thanksgiving, and always had an apartment full of people to watch the parade……in a city like New York you always had a feeling of the seasons passing in the Park, and it will always be the source of my love of gardening and nature. Central Park, you are loved!
I’ve lived around Prospect Park for over thirty years and go there at least 2 or 3 times a week sometimes more. So you’d think I’d have a lot of stories but I don’t. The worst thing I can remember was that one time I was walking on the path beside the roadway near the children’s playground off of Vanderbilt when I walked into a live rat. I tripped over it in fact. That was quite startling and I watched it scurry into the weeds and bushes. I can still feel the heaviness of it against my foot. I reported the incident to the Parks people, but never heard back from them. . .
We live near the “Green Strips” on LaGuardia Place, currently under the Department of Transportation. We have tried for years to be transferred to the Parks Department, so that the land will be permanent neighborhood green space like the other beautiful parks in our city. It is now under threat by NYU, which wants to build on it.
I grew up in NYC in the Inwood section of Manhattan in the 1950’s. Our family, led by my father, explored every inch of Inwood Park including the many caves located in the forrested areas off of the paths. We frequently would find arrowheads. This was a magnificent park with access to the Hudson River and several playgrounds, handball courts, tennis courts and numerous ball fields. Funny I always thought of this park, which began across the street form our apartment building as my exculsive back yard.
As a small child we lived in Hoboken and often on a weekend, my father took me to Central Park. I remember how I loved to visit the zoo. The smell of the monkey exhibit was as unpleasant as the squalking of the caged, colorful birds, but watching the seals dive and play was a highlight. Best of all, we always ended our day with a ride or two on the merry-go-round. Central Park holds many happy memories for me.
We have many fond memories of visiting The Bronx Zoo/Wildlife Conservation Park. My husband,Ralph who is from the Bronx, and I with our children, Caleb, Andrea, Joseph and Susan would often go to the Zoo as an outing while visiting family in NYC. It was such an outlet for our children to be outside and run around. We all loved seeing the animals and visiting the park that their Daddy worked at as a teen. We even spent a Christmas Eve afternoon their walking about and letting the kids expend their ‘holiday happiness’ out in the brisk air. When visiting our family and having four lively children inside for so many hours at a time, escaping to The Bronx Zoo/Wildlife Conservation Park was a healthy outlet for our whole family.
Central Park is my sanctuary. I can go there and sit on the grass under a tree and the din of the city seems very far away. I can race walk or take a stroll. I can sit on a bench and watch others enjoy the park. Central Park keeps me sane, reminds me of the glory of nature and let’s me know everything will be okay. Without Central Park this city would be a sad place indeed.
One of my first published pieces of writing was an article about Bryant Park. As an avid reader, writer, lover of the city, and lover of all things nature..I could not have been more excited to combine all my loves in one place. I sat in Bryant Park to do “research”. I wondered around and saw details that I passed by during my many trips to the little hide a way behind the library. I noticed the inscribtions on the stautes. Gertrude Stein appeared to smile at me this time. The dry facts jumped off the pages as I discovered the journey the park took to the beauty it was. The shady past disappeared. In its wake lie my park, my space, my heaven. I know very well it is a public place but given any sunny day, I can remove myself from the world and feel at home there beneath Gertrude’s smile.
My husband George and I met on a Sunday in August 1982 near Bellvadire Castle in Central Park. He was a trombone player on a break from a Victorian music festival at the castle. We saw each other from across a circle of Israeli dancing. He was wearing a flowing sleaved shirt with a black arm band. I walked up the hill to find some water, I knocked on the castle door, he opened it, said “no” and closed the door. So I continued to walk down a hill, through a gay beach meadow, and sat down on a large rock over-looking the lake. When I turned around, I saw George peeking out from behind a tree. He asked me if he could sit down. I was in an adventurous mood. Based on his silly outfit, and the festival, I decided to take a chance and said “yes.” We walked back to the castle for his brass quartet’s last set playing on top of the castle. After the set, he played a tune just for me. We returned to the rock for our 10th and 20th wedding anniversary. George passed away at the age of 49. At his graveside our children asked me to tell the story about Bellvadire Castle. That last day our life together came full circle. Central Park will remain part of my family’s history.
I am now 77 years old now but cannot ever forget the park of my youth. I lived in Harlem then and there was not even one tree on the block where I lived. I vividly remember when I was about seven or eight staring in awe at a blade of grass growing between the cement on the street. A lovely patch of green stood out in that dank and grey space where I was raised, the eldest of 7. The neighborhood park was called Mount Morris then, a small area of space that offered freedom for us to romp and explore and enjoy what others might have felt to be an impoverished life. We never ever felt poor or limited or lacking in any way, Each day weather permitting, I would walk 3 blocks to the park in my little pink swim suit…jump around in the little pool with friends or go “climbing”on the rocks which I imagined to be a mountain, feeling on top of the world!
I particularly loved to visit the Bell Tower which could be reached by climbing up some steep stairs where we would be able to look out over our blighted neighborhood.. but my eyes could only sense the joy of being in touch with nature…it is in this park where I developed a love for all things green.
Mount Morris is now called Marcus Garvey Park and I have not been there in years. But the last time I visited the street where I lived I found it now quaintly tree lined with little red brick town houses replacing the old grey tenements. But I am forever grateful for that little park and the sweet memories it has given me.
I simply love Central Park in all its seasons. It is at its greatest glory in the summer when birds, trees, leaves, breezes, people, squirrels all come together for a symphony of life, and a sense that all is in order in the universe. It is as close to serenity as one can get in a hectic, energetic place like New York City.
Though I have visited many other parks, larger and greener, my favorite park will always be City Hall Park in lower Manhattan. From about 1933 to 1943, I grew up in a neighborhood just a few block away, hence City Hall Park was my backyard. On Sundays, my father, my two sisters and I would walk under the arches of the Municipal Building with lunches packed to enjoy the peace and quiet of the city on its day of rest. Most times, we brought peanuts to share with the pigeons. There were no bicycle paths and very little auto traffic to interfere with the tranquility of the park. It was an ideal spot to snap pictures of family and friends, be it communions, graduations or just “the gang”.
Several years ago, my wife and I were going to hike on the Appalachian Trail. We ordered a tent and when it came, we took it to Central Park to try it out and learn it’s features. After about an hour we finally got it set up and climbed inside with our two dogs to rest.
We saw 4 uniformed legs standing outside and when we checked, it was Park Police that had thought we were homeless people and were getting ready to evict us.
We were able to talk them out of it.
My recollection of Carroll Gardens Park in New York City is great. The park allowed me mostly to create a small community of friends for me and my children before they went to school. Once they were in school, the park was the place where most children and mothers would meet to have a cup of coffee and talk while the children played. The park staff also provided activities for the children, especially when the weather was warm. Bicycles and tricycles and other big toys were lent to the children. They learned to share and played together. A couple of times misunderstandings with other caretakers took place in the park. What I treasure, though, is the memories that I have from my children’s best friends and my own ones meeting there. As an immigrant, a mother of 2 children, and a suburban dweller now, I have no doubt that a public park is a space where community, friendship and a sense of solidarity is built.
My daughter, Julie always loved going to Riverside Park which is directly in back of our apartment building. I have scrapbook memories of Stu and me walking there, with her in her carriage, and then with her playing in the grass and on the swings. We had picnics there, played ball there and that was where she attempted to train her cat to walk on a leash. Later she learned to ride her bike there and walked her dog, Dorie. After she came home from the hospital,after being diagnosed and operated on for a malignant brain tumor, this was where her caretakers took her in her stroller for outings. When they returned, I heard about the people who stopped to say hello to her. Some knew her before her illness, some were neighbors or patterners and some had just been drawn to her in her stroller watched the world with her wide all-encompassing blue eyes.
This was the perfect place for a memorial for Julie and the timing was perfect.
The lower section of Riverside Park had just been renovated with new benches, walkways and reseeded lawns; culminating at the 72nd Street entrance, with the bronze half seated statue of Eleanor Roosevelt watching over it all. I carefully chose a bench across from our building, within view of Eleanor, where I envisioned all who knew her might come to sit.
I felt it crucial that the creation of this memorial be shared by all who had known Julie. First, the patterners who were her extended family all these years and then, the other friends who were part of our lives. I wrote notes to all I had addresses for and soon started receiving encouraging notes back including checks. One evening Cache, my younger daughter added $7.00 she had to the pile of checks, saying she wanted to be part of the collection. Soon there was enough money for the bench and enough extra to plant a tree on the big lawn across the pathway in front of where her bench would be. I picked a Catalpa tree, which I was told was the only flowering tree that would thrive in that particular area of the park. It was still a young sapling when they planted it. Its thin gangly limbs reminded me of Julie. Through the years the limbs have grown taller but not much thicker. I watch each spring as these limbs fill out with bright green leaves and hanging pods which then burst forth in multitudes of delicately scented white flowers for a few weeks in June.
We had a dedication ceremony in late summer of 2000. Lynette, Julie’s caretaker for her last seven years, came with her husband and her two children, who had grown up knowing Julie. They all were dressed in white flowing gowns and brought their steel band instruments . Their vibrant sound filled the park that afternoon. Lynette and her daughter joined them in singing “Amazing Grace” , Julie’s favorite song, and their vibrant sounds filled the park that afternoon. Patterners and friends also spoke and recited poetry.
Cache joined me in reciting a favorite poem of Julie’s from her younger days. “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” which ends with “and my heart with pleasure fills, and dances with the daffodils”.
When Julie died, Cache painted a picture of her floating on a cloud up in the sky. I often walk by her bench and say hello to her. I feel her presence there and at her tree much more than I do at her gravesite. Sometimes I sit down for while and imagine her up in a heaven, floating on that cloud, freed at last from her stroller; with my mother and sister by her side; and Julie in particular watching over Cache and me.
The plaque on Julie’s bench reads:
Julie Robin Goodman (1967-1998)
With love from those whose lives she touched
She…..dances with the daffodils
Did my parents choose to reside in the East 73rd Street neighborhood because of its proximity to Central Park? I don’t really know but, looking back on my youth from present age 85, I’m very glad they did. My sister and cousins and I spent a lot of time in the park…roller skating, playground swinging, zoo visiting, ice skating, sledding and, when high school age, smooching with a boyfriend on a park bench. And, oh yes, the free concerts from the bandstand. And the carousel! How we enjoyed it all!
As a teenager in the late 60’s and early 70’s I was lucky enough to have my own horse boarded in a stable in Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx. I did not come from a wealthy family, I had a “board partner, ” who paid half the expenses, and I worked weekends, holidays and summers at the stable to pay off my share. But oh, to be on a good horse, cantering down tree lined bridle paths in the early morning sun on a summer day, or trotting through virgin snow in January, what a magical feeling! I still have occasion to drive by the park, and the memories flood back.
I lived in Parkchester at the time, and took 2 buses back and forth to the stable. Going home, I would board the #12 bus coming home from City Island and Orchard beach. Standing room only in the summer, my friends and I would cram on to remarks of “I smell the circus!” and the crowd would push to the back to get away from us. We didn’t care one bit. We were riding horses in the Bronx.
My “Aunt Mame” worked in the Arsenal in Central Park for over 50 years, starting when she was 16, as a typist for the Department of Parks and Recreation. Aunt Mame was the reason I ice skated at Wallman Rink, and the reason I was able to enjoy the polar bears and seals at the zoo. She was our escort to the children’s zoo often during our childhood, and she and my mother introduced us to the numerous playgrounds in the park. Swinging, climbing bedrock, running through trees, and even hiking the uptown parts of the park are memories that not only make me smile, but take me back as I share this treasure with my own child.
Growing up — swimming in Sunset Park, picnicking in Owl’s Head, playground at Leif Ericson, ice skating rink in Prospect Park. Who needs the suburbs?
We live in a City that has two Parks designed by Fredrick Law Olmsted: Bearsley Park and Seaside Park, Located in Bridgeport Connecticut. He was a Connecticut Native and after he designed these two Parks in Bridgeport, he was selected to work on Central Park and Prospect Park in NYC. He is buried in Hartford, Connecticut and has contributed to many such parks in the Northeast. My Children enjoy these Parks as Bearsley Park , Central Park and Prospect Park include fantastic Zoos. Each Zoo is unique and make the Parks a great place to take children. Central Park has many Unique features that are waiting to be discovered. I have been going there for many years and am still finding new areas to explore.
My husband was an architect and landscape designer. He grew up in New York with a deep appreciation for Central Park and its natural beauty. When we met, we discovered our mutual love of design, the inspiration of parks and nature’s gifts.
I remember one Saturday in early summer we walked through Central Park on our way to the Metropolitan Museum. We felt our spiritual connection, a spiritual connection with the creator of a beautiful park and the Creator of this earth. My husband died in 2003, but the memory of that special day will live forever in my heart.
I remember being a kid and biking with my parents through Prospect Park. I loved going off the beaten path and exploring new areas of the park– discovering new fields, ponds and pathways. It was an was an adventure in my own backyard.
I often ride my bike around the loop in Prospect Park- if I’ve had a bad day a couple of rounds make me feel new again… if I’ve had a good day,even better. The park has such a relaxing effect on me that occasionally when I can’t sleep I imagine flying over the path around the park, seeing all the familiar trees and landmarks. It’s become one of my favorite places in the city and I can’t imagine Brooklyn without it.
Last spring I was strolling in Central Park enjoying the beauty that is there and wearing my yellow baseball cap, when I was startled out of my enchantment by a rush of excited young teen girls clammoring at me, they were out on a treasure hunt from their school and I was the last,and most difficult, find. It was to see a man with a yellow hat and there I was! After giving them information for their required verification I continued on my peaceful stroll, and they in the opposite direction spilling youthful excitement all around.
Central Park is the great leveling ground for New Yorkers I could say it is a community , among the birders, the fans of
Pale Male and the regulars at the Boathouse who meet daily to be fortunate to sit around Margaret’s table and get one her home made muffins and her beautiful smile. It is a mixture of kind, thoughtful and generous of spirit Néw Yorkers. On Saturday nights if you have a set of drums or bongos there is a drumming circle and very llively dancing neat the bandshell. I could go on and on about the families that have formed around the small sailboat pond to the New York dogs who frolic with their friends before 9am off their leashes. Your best pedigree is that you are a New York dog. . Life long friendships started in the park because what we all have in common is to feel blessed to have an oasis of nature in this concrete place called , Manhattan. Stop and catch your breath!
I’ve been keeping a dog walking blog which mostly takes place in Central Park: Cashmerewalks.wordpress.com
The park — and our dog walks there — keep us sane. A bit of the country in the city.
B.A.
I told a story on my podcast about 30 hours I spent (more or less consecutively) in Prospect Park some years ago. You can listen to it here:
http://thesoundsinmyhead.com/12.21.05.html
I’m sorry this is not a tale about a park in New York City, but about a park in New Jersey. Since we moved to New Jersey we have gone to the county park and loved it. We take a picnic basket with sandwiches and soda and play frisbee or ball. We hadn’t been there for a long time about 2 years and with our grown children decided to go one saturday. Well we got to the park and went to put our blanket on the grass when we were taken aback. Somehow or someone had let the geese out on the grassy areas. All over the ground, every where we walked was geese droppings!! Those geese really get dirty! Needless to say, we could not stay. It doesn’t seem to be as bad now, but we have not been for about 4 years. Thank you
Some of the happiest times as a child growing up on 190 St and Cabrini Blvd. were spent in Ft. Tryon Park with my friends- We were tomboys and used to sleigh ride and get hot chocolate at the restaurant in the park afterwards. Since our house was the last before the park property began we used to slide down a tree we called the ” fire hatch” from the sidewalk down to the lot below- My sister Lynn and I wore red suede jackets with fringes which made us feel like big shots.
Of course we have revisited the park several times as grown ups and enjoy the beauty of the flowers, trees and shrubs- The park is a jewel because of the Cloisters and the magnificent views of the Hudson River-An added attraction were the stone ping pong tables outside the subway exit at 190 th St at the entrance to the park, which we often used after school-
When people come to visit me in New York, I tell them we will go to see my backyard, which I kindly allow others to use. We walk the one block from my home to the park and as we approach one can immediately on approach begin to smell the green. It is magic.
I was walking in the Ramble a few years ago and a lady handed me post card advertising the book “Red-Tails in Love”. It was the author Marie Winn. I bought the book and led a book discussion at The New Canaan Library in Connecticut a few years ago. I think Central Park is marvellous. I have walked from near the Plaza Gate up to the Ramble and another time from midway to 140 street. It truly is a wonderful place and I have taken my grandchildren to the zoo. New York would not be as nice, if there was no park.
My Mother grew up on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn in the 1930’s and 40’s. On my 10th birthday she took me for my first horseback riding lesson in Litchfield, CT. While I was being led around a ring in a circle I was astonished to see her riding rings around me trotting, posting, cantering, etc. I had never seen her on horseback before. I wanted to know how she could do that since she’d grown up in the city and not the country. She told me that as a kid she went riding every weekend all summer long along the horse trails in Prospect Park. I thought it a bit unfair that she was able to ride in the city and I never got a chance to in the country.
One other story she shared was that one very cold winter day she thought it would be a great idea to show off in front of her friends. She tried to test her balance by walking around the rim of the fountain in Prospect Park. She fell in; clothes, coat, shoes, mittens, hat, everything, soaked to the bone. She had a very long ride on the street car back to Flatbush Avenue and HER mother.
The freak tornado last fall took out a lot of beautiful old trees in Prospect Park, but perhaps what is more poignant is the recent removal of this elm tree at the Olmsted National Historic Site in Brookline, MA. The tree was hand selected by Olmsted to sit at the center of the grounds outside his office. It was over 200 years old and survived a lightning strike and several bouts with Dutch Elm disease. This 2 minute time lapse documents its last day and it removal. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=489Hg_JnWSs
Two great events I and my brother Joel experienced:
1. In the early 40s, during WorldWar II, US Army soldiers gathered periodically in the park to demonstrate the strength of our armed forces, by marching with their rifles after 3 PM, in front of a New York crowd of civilions and school children.
2. After singing in the Central Park Mall one afternoon in the 40s, young Frank Sinatra decided to ramble through the park so that he could experience its sheer beauty and bumped into my brother and myself as we were playing around its trees and gave us each a hug.
When my sister (Robin Lisa), and I were little girls; Our Dad would take us to Riverside Park (@ West 120th Street). He taught us how to fly kites, and to ride bicycles, along the paths. During the Summer, he, or, our Mom, would take us to the sprinklers area of Morningside Park (@ W. 123rd Street) where we would cool off with the other children in the neighborhood. A big treat was to go to Central Park, ride the Carousel, or, during the Winter Ice Skate at Wolman’s Rink.
My favorite thing to do is to go to the market in Grand Central after I get into NYC and then go to Central Park with a picnic and a book, and just spend an entire day. While it is in the middle of NY, it is a way to remember when I was a young child in Detriot and a big family day out was a trip to Belle Isle. Sometimes I get a bit homesick, and sad, and the trip to spend a day in the park renews my soul.
Growing up in Brooklyn in an apartment building one block from Prospect park I have lots of wonderful memories of trips to Prospect park with my family. From sled riding during the winter, running around the perimeter as a teenager and lots of visits to the Prospect Park Zoo as a kid. At times we traveled to the park to play ball or just sit in the meadow. There was so many great places within the park – riding paddle boats, looking for frogs in the pond, visiting the science nature center. Just walking through the park was a wondrous experience. I remember walking through the park up the hills – through “the forest” and down the hill to the other side of the park to go ice-skating. It is a beautiful park with so much nature and recreational space.
the beauty of Central park is that it is an oasis in the middle of this busy,vibrant city. You walk the streets of the City and take in the vibrancy, speed, population of the City and then you go into Central Park and all of a sudden you have the beauty and stillness of this park that encourages you to ’slow down’ and enjoy this gift. It is a gift to all who choose to accept it. To enjoy its landscape. To enjoy its beauty (including in the winter) and to just enjoy the people around you.
I grew up a block away from Prospect Park, and always felt that the Park was my own backyard. My friends and I “fought the battle of Long Island” there when we were young children; in awe to learn that the Revolutionary War was fought in our own “neck of the woods”. As we grew, we learned to explore the Park – often without permission of our parents – and magically came upon areas like the Nethermead, before it was beautifully restored. It was like walking into a dream, and we went often to our “magic place”, even though – at that time – it was in an area that kids in Park Slope and Windsor Terrace were told to stay away from( thankfully that era is over, and all parts of the Park are now safe). I never once had “troubles” in the Park – though we would hear stories – which just made the Park more enticing, and drew us like moths to the flame. We would splash through the stream to the waterfall which, again, has been beautifully restored in a way that you would never know had been designed. Many, many fun days; and many, many fond memories. My childhood and my life would not be as rich and full of wonder as it is without the experience of Prospect Park…
i was working in a small advertising agency during the late fifties. it was located on fifth avenue near the russian embassy and was within walking distance to central park. it was wonderful to eat lunch in the park and also to visit the zoo. those were the days when you had one hour for lunch and had time to unwind after a busy morning.
Prospect Park was the place to go on class trips in the 1940’s and 50’s. We went on picnics, trips to the zoo, botanic gardens. You learned a lot on a trip. Strolling in two straight lines with the teacher as your guide. We can’t forget the maypole days. We were beaurifully dressed in colorful dirndle skirts and white peasant blouses colorfully embrodered at the neckline and sleeves. the boys were attired in white shirts and neatly pressed trousers We all felt very special. Each teacher was proud of her class. The next day we usually wrote a short essays about our outing.
Those were fun days. We eagerly looked forward to class trips. Brown paper bags with sandwiches that we could not wait to eat. A thermos with a beverage. No juice boxes in those days. Somrtimes you got change to buy a Mission or Dr, Brown cream soda or ginger ale.
In 1980, I moved to Manhattan from Canada. On my first Saturday, I rode over to The Park.
I joined a football game on The Great Lawn; after about an hour, I moved to the quarterback position
and called my first play; “you go long, you do a ‘button-hook’, you stay back to block, you do a ’square
out’ and to a relatively short player, I said -innocently- “stay short” and he quickly retorted with, “I’ve been
doing it all my life”. Well, this anecdote may not be central to Central Park but it captures a New York
comedic sensibility, which was enhanced by the Great Lawn!
Check out the book, “The Bridges of Central Park” if you LOVE Central Park and the bridges!
I have been taking photographs in a series of Parks in NJ/NY area. It forces you to really appreciate the beauty of parks, really see them.
I was pleased to discover a dog park near my home when I adopted a puppy five years ago, but I didn’t know what an impact it would have on our lives. The dog park in DiMattina Park in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn became our backyard and a community hub. My new dog had so much energy. He needed to run and roughhouse with other dogs, so we went there every morning and evening for years. He got the exercising and socializing he needed, and I made friends with my neighbors. I’ve also been inspired to work with the local dog owners group in volunteering to improve the park. This park has enriched my dog’s life and also the lives of me and my neighbors.
How can I purchase this film? I am a professor of landscape architecture at North Carolina State University.
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