Performers And The Park

It was inevitable that Central Park, conceived to give so much and ask little in return, would attract artists and arts lovers who feel the same way.

Be the superstars like Paul Simon, Diana Ross, or Barbra Streisand or one of the amateur musicians, animal handlers, or jugglers who delight passersby, they all share the urge to entertain and give back to the city, the park, and its visitors.

Information on scheduled events is provided, but if you can't catch one, don't fret: you'll be rewarded by the serendipitous, particularly on summer and autumn days. Just keep your ears peeled for the music, applause, and laughter. The Central Park Conservancy, in cooperation with other arts patrons, drives a series of free events, including the Harlem Meer Performance Festival and the Great Lawn performances by the Metropolitan Opera and New York Philharmonic. One standout is Summer Stage, which yields a cornucopia international performers.

Perhaps the brass ring of park performances is the more than four decade old Shakespeare in the Park, which wows about 80,000 New Yorkers and visitors during any given summer. Free tickets (two per person) are given out starting at 1PM for the performance that evening, but you need to line up by midmorning or earlier depending on the show. The wait is worth it, though, as casts are often studded with the likes of Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, and Kevin Kline.

Park Basics and Visitor Centers, Tours

Several entrances lead into the park.. You can enter from the east, west, south, and noth by paved pedestrian walkways, just off Fifth Avenue, Central Pa rk Noth (110th St.), Central Park West, and Central Park South (59th St.).

Four roads, or transverses, cut through the park from east to west--66th, 79th, 86th, and 96th streets. The East and West drives are both along the north-south axis; Center Drive enters the south edge of the park at Sixth Avenue and connects with East Drive around 66th Street.

Five Visitor Centers -- The Dairy (just south of the 66th St. transverse), Belvedere Castle (just north of the 79th Street transverse), the Chess & Checkers house (mid-park at 64th St.), and the Charles A. Dana Discovery Center (at the top of the park at Central Park North)--have directions, park maps, event calendars, and volunteers who can guide you. Until a new restaurant opens in its place, the former Tavern on the Green (west side near 66th St.) is also serving as a visitor center, with food vendors as well.
TOURS
The Central Park Conservancy gives several different free walking tours of the park based on the season. Most tours are 60 to 90 minutes, and custom tours are also available. If you'd rather go it alone, the Conservancy also offers an audio guide you can follow on your cell phone. Each description is read by a different celebrity or NYC VIP. Dial 1(646)862-0997 then the extension that corresponds to each landmark and hit pound "#". for more information, see www.centralparknyc.org .

How a swamp became an oasis

1855 - Using eminent domain, New York City acquires 843 acres of underdeveloped swamp for the obscene sum of  $5 million, displacing 1,600 people living there.

1857 - Frederick Law Olmsted becomes superintendent of a park that does not yet exist. He spends days clearing dirt and evicting squatters and evenings working with architect friend Calvert Vaux on what will become the Greensward plan. The plan is winning entry in the city's competition to develop a design for the park.
The Panic of 1857 creates widespread unemployment. Thousands of workers begin the task of moving five million cubic yards of dirt and planting more than five million trees, plants, and shrubs. Beleaguered by bureaucrats, Olmsted and Vaux unsuccessfully submit their resignations several times.

1873 - The Greensward plan is completed. It has been the basic blueprint for central Park ever since.