NYC Arts: The Complete Guide to Art and Culture

Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, Central Park is the most frequented urban park in the nation, attracting more than 14 million visitors annually. Built between 1858 and 1873, it occupies 6 percent of Manhattan's land area, or 843 acres. At 2.5 miles long and a half-mile wide, it is the largest work of art in New York City. 

Central Park's 26,000 trees and 132 acres of woodlands and meadows are both a haven for people and a habitat for wildlife. Water covers another 150 acres. Some 58 miles of pedestrian pathways weave through an interlocking tapestry of fields, lakes, forests and gardens. There are 4.7 miles of bridle paths, 21 playgrounds, 30 tennis courts, 26 baseball diamonds, two skating rinks, a swimming pool and a 1.6-mile jogging path around the reservoir. 

Children of all ages will love the Michael J. Friedsam Memorial Carousel, located mid-park on 65th Street near the Dairy. One of the largest merry-go-rounds in the country, it was built in 1908 and was moved in 1950 from Coney Island's amusement park to its present site. The Carousel is open 10 am-6pm daily in the spring, summer and fall; and on some winter weekends and holidays from 10 am-4 pm. For more information call 212-879-0244. 

Near the West 72nd Street entrance to the park is Strawberry Fields, a 2 1/2 acre garden area dedicated to international peace, in memory of john Lennon. Funded by Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, and opened in 1985, it contains plants from 100 countires and a Pompeiian-style mosaic entitled Imagine, donated by the city of Naples.

Other park highlights include the Ramble, a wooded area of labyrinthine pathways and streams; the Sheep Meadow, the open lawn popular with sunbathers and picnickers; Bethesda Terrace, the only formal architchtural element of Olmstead and Vaux's plan; and the Central Park Zoo (see separate entry). Near the Boathouse and its neo-Renaissance concrete basin is the oversized Alice in Wonderland sculpture, a favorite of children. most of the 200 or so bridges throughout the park were designed by Vaux and are strikingly beautiful. 

Additional attractions inlcude ice skating in winter at Wollman Rink in the southern end or at the Mary Lasker Rink in the northern section, and swimming in the Lasker pool in summer. Also in summer, the park hosts the largest free outdoor concert series in the United States, featuring the Ne York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera, as well as the Public Theater's renowned Shakespeare in the Park performances at the Delacorte theater (see separate entry).

See separate entries for Central Park Conservancy, Central Park Wildlife Center, Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre, North Meadow Recreation Center and the Charles A. Dana Discovery Center.