The Real New York Part 8 - A Walk Through Central Park

The Mall

One of my favorite things to do on a day where I have nothing else to do is to go to Central Park. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Central Park is one of New York City's jewels. I have always loved the park. It has an energy that is unmatched anywhere else in the city.


When you approach the park from the Upper West Side of Manhattan you pass through an area that was built in the era between the world wars. This was a time when architects paid attention to small details on their buildings:

Brownstone decoration

Looking east along 84th street

NY Brownstones

Decorations on a Central Park West building

There are so many things that I love about Central Park. First, there are areas of highly landscaped gardens. One of those is the Shakespeare Garden.

This garden sits just south of the Delacorte Theater - home to the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park performances. It has paths that are lined with wooden fences and wonderful early spring flowers

I remember coming to the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater as a child. I am so happy that it is still in the park and still functioning (info here).

Central Park is still a place where families come to spend an afternoon. It is wonderful chance for children to explore their world.

A future landscape architect?

What could be holding this young man's attention?

Central Park still has interactions with nature that will catch your eye and surprise you -

Turtles sunning in the lake

If you take the time to look up, in addition to down, you might see some other visitors to the park:

A red-tail hawk hanging out by the zoo.

A true Ne Yorker, this bird was totally non-plussed by the crowed that was staring at him(her?), taking pictures.

If you get to the zoo, make sure that you stay until the top of the hour to see the dancing animals of the Delacorte clock.

So, if you are in NY with time to kill, and the weather is nice, head to Central Park, there is always something fun to see.