

Its size and cultural position make it a model for the world's urban parks. Central Park is traversed by a system of roads and walkways and is served by public transportation. Recreational activities include carriage-horse and bicycle tours, bicycling, sports facilities, and concerts and events such as Shakespeare in the Park. The biologically diverse ecosystem has several hundred species of flora and fauna. Main attractions include landscapes such as the Ramble and Lake, Hallett Nature Sanctuary, the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, and Sheep Meadow amusement attractions such as Wollman Rink, Central Park Carousel, and the Central Park Zoo formal spaces such as the Central Park Mall and Bethesda Terrace and the Delacorte Theater.

The Central Park Conservancy, created in 1980 to combat further deterioration in the late 20th century, refurbished many parts of the park starting in the 1980s. After a period of decline in the early 20th century, New York City parks commissioner Robert Moses started a program to clean up Central Park in the 1930s. Additional land at the northern end of Central Park was purchased in 1859, and the park was completed in 1876. The park's first areas were opened to the public in late 1858. Construction began the same year existing structures, including a majority-Black settlement named Seneca Village, were seized through eminent domain and razed.

In 1857, landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition for the park with their "Greensward Plan". It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated 42 million visitors annually as of 2016, and is the most filmed location in the world.Īfter proposals for a large park in Manhattan during the 1840s, it was approved in 1853 to cover 778 acres (315 ha). It is the fifth largest park in the city, covering 843 acres (341 ha). Frederick Law Olmsted (1822–1903), Calvert Vaux (1824–1895)Ĭentral Park is an urban park in New York City, between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan.
