Central Park marks 150 years

By Steve Schifferes BBC News Online in New York

New York's huge Central Park is the jewel of the City. But it had a long and difficult birth 150 years ago.

Central Park serves as the lungs of the city

In the summer of 1853, the New York state legislature authorised the city of New York to acquire the 843 acres that would eventually become Central Park.

It would take nearly 20 years before the visionary design by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, was realised.

Now Central Park is celebrating its 150th anniversary with a series of concerts, sporting events and parties in the park.

During July, these will include the world archery championships, runs and walks for adults and children, tours by park rangers, a dog parade, and an evening concert in the Great Meadow.

As usual, Central Park is also hosting a series of free concerts by the Metropolitan Opera in the park, as well as its annual Shakespeare festival.

And the Metropolitan Museum of Art - which sits on the edge of the park - is holding its own exhibition on the history of the park's design.

The Greensward plan

New York's city fathers were bold in staking out their vision of a growing municipality.

In the 19th Century, access to the park was limited

As early as 1811, when the city barely extended beyond Wall Street into Greenwich Village, they laid out the grid street pattern which would determine New York's development right to the top of Manhattan.

But it was not until 1850 that they modified the plan to consider a park.

The location - far north of existing residential development - meant that those displaced were mainly Irish pig farmers and Afro-American tenants.

The competition for the park's design was won in 1858 by Vaux and Olmsted, who beat rivals who proposed a more formal garden approach.

Their Greensward plan was cast in the English pastoral tradition, with artificial lakes and hills designed to create an oasis from the hustle and bustle of the busy city.

At its peak, some 4,000 workers were employed to level and shape the ground, dig the 4 transverse roads, and create the lakes plant the trees and smooth the paths that transformed the landscape.

By the winter of 1858, the first facility, the skating pond, was opened to the public.

But it was not until 1870 that construction was completed in the more difficult terrain of the Northern section of the park, which added on to the original acquisition.

Contested ground

Originally, Central Park was more designed for use by the rich rather than the ordinary citizen.

Too far for the ordinary workers to travel, its carriage runs and skating pond were occupied by the well-to-do, while uniformed guards kept order and prevented picnics and games on the grass.

The history has not always been so peaceful

The apartment houses that sprang up around the park on Central Park West and 5th Avenue became the new home of the rich who moved up in the l890s from Madison Avenue.

Indeed the most famous apartment house, the Dakota (later the home of John Lennon), was so-called because it was located in "Indian territory" outside the established civilised areas of New York.

But by the l900s, the large numbers of immigrants to New York began to use the park as their own, spurred by the cheap subway fares.

In the l940s, Robert Moses, the autocratic New York Park Commissioner, built 12 ball fields on the site of the former reservoir, the Great Lawn, created 21 playgrounds, and demolished the gambling casino frequented by Tammany Hall politicians.

And by the l960s, free concerts and demonstrations were a frequent occurrence on the Sheep's Meadow in the south of the park.

Private rescue

By the l970s, Central Park had fallen on hard times, in part because of New York City's budget crisis and the lack of spending on maintenance.

It was also a place where there was fear of crime, especially at night.

But, in an extraordinary turnaround, in 1980 the city partly turned over management of the park to a private, non-profit organisation, the Central Park Conservancy, which could raise money from the private sector.

The Central Park Conservancy built or renewed the playgrounds (sponsored by local residents like Diana Ross and Yoko Ono), helped to rebuild the Central Park Zoo, and improved the management and conservation of the flora and fauna.

During the past 20 years, it has spent nearly $300m renovating areas like Harlem Meer and the Bethesda Fountain, while paying 85% of the park's running costs.

Now Central Park faces new challenges, with New York City's growing budget crisis likely to lead to a reduction in some services and the possible closure of the zoo.

But the continuing popularity of the park - with its walkers and joggers, roller-bladers, picnics and concert-goers -is a tribute to the enduring vision of its founders.