Spring Comes to Central Park

After an especially long and cold winter, spring has finally come to New York City.  Central Park, an 843-acre tract in the heart of Manhattan, is full of blossoms and blooms.  The warm weather has also brought out huge crowds of bikers, runners, strollers, performers, skaters, sunbathers, tourists, horseback riders, dog-walkers, soccer players, picnickers, artists, readers, and all their friends.  We love being among the crowds who walk and bike the many miles of trails in the park.

Thousands of the daffodil bulbs which are now blooming in the park were given to the city by the Netherlands after the Attack of 9/11.

A very active "Central Park Conservancy" carefully manages, protects, and polices the park.  Bicyclists can be ticketed for disobeying bike-traffic signals. Waterfowl are controlled with the help of a "goose patrol" vehicle.

Horse carriages and bicycle carriages are popular.



The park includes a zoo, four man-made lakes, scores of statues, and dozens of playing fields. There are both formal gardens and wild areas.

This is a view of the park from the rooftop of our apartment building.  The land was set aside and the park's features designed back in the 1850s. The only "natural" elements are huge stone outcroppings of Manhattan bedrock. Even much of the dirt was imported from New Jersey.  One of the Park's designers wrote,  "Every foot of the park, every tree and bush, every arch, roadway and walk, has been fixed where it is with a purpose."