Central Park

Things to see in and around Central Park

Lakes

There are several lakes in Central Park. The most famous are:

• The Reservoir: By far the largest lake. Since 1994 it has been officially named Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir.
• The Lake: The second largest lake, its shape is completely different from the rather sterile appearance of the reservoir. At its narrowest point it is spanned by the Bow Bridge.
• Harlem Meer: Located in the far northeast.
• The Pond: Located in the very southeast of the park, directly in front of the Plaza Hotel.
• Belvedere Lake: Located directly in the center of the park, west in front of the Metropolitan Museum, also called Turtle Pond.
• The Pool: In the northwest of the park.
• Conservatory Water: Located in the east of the park at about the level of The Carlyle.
• Wollman Rink: Not a lake in the true sense of the word. In winter you can ice skate here in the southeast of the park.

Building

Southeast

Here today stand the luxury hotels The Pierre, The Sherry-Netherland Hotel and the famous Plaza Hotel. In addition, there is 745 5th Avenue (formerly the Squibb Building), built as a typical 1930s wedding cake, and the General Motors Building, built in the international style.

Until the 1960s, this area of Central Park, considered the most photographed, looked different. In place of the General Motors Building stood the eye-catching Savoy-Plaza Hotel, another luxury hotel. The demolition and subsequent construction of the General Motors Building, which barely fit in with the row of surrounding buildings, is still considered controversial today and, along with the demolition of the Singer Building, one of the biggest mistakes made by New York's city planners. Even today, you can find many postcards and posters depicting the old skyline of this area, that is, with the Savoy-Plaza Hotel.

South

To the west of the Plaza Hotel, the Hampshire House (with its green copper roof) and the Essex House (with the Essex House lettering on the roof, visible from afar) stand out. The skyline behind them, of which the black and white Solow Building is particularly eye-catching, is much higher.

West

In the southwest stand since 2004 the 229 m high Twintowers of the Time Warner Center.
Along the west side (Central Park West) are various apartment buildings, most of which are very luxurious and in which many celebrities live. The
four twintowers built in the 1930s, The Century, The Majestic, The San Remo and The Eldorado,
stand out. The San Remo is the most famous and also the most noticeable of these four. Between The Majestic and The San Remo stands the lower-rise but best known and oldest of the apartment buildings on Central Park: The Dakota. John Lennon, among others, lived here and was assassinated outside the gate.
Also built in the 1930s, The Beresford has three towers and resembles a castle.
The Art Deco style 55 Central Park West is most famous for the movie Ghostbusters and has since been called the Ghostbusters Building.
The American Museum of Natural History at 79th Street is one of the largest natural history museums in the world.

East

After the two hotels, The Pierre and The Sherry-Netherland, come numerous apartment buildings, many of which were built immediately after the Second World War. These continued to be built in the Art Deco style and blend into the built environment of Central Park.
The tallest and most prominent building on the Upper East Side is The Carlyle (it is not directly on Central Park, but a block behind it on Madison Avenue). Designed in the Art Deco style and with a green roof, the building can be seen from miles away.
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a museum of modern art. The eye-catching building was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and opened in 1959.
Temple Emanu-El is the largest synagogue in the world and is located level with the Central Park Zoo.
Across the street, on the eastern edge within Central Park, is the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the world's largest and most visited art museums.

The Pond


Temple Emanu-El


Strawberry Field, the Dakota building in the background.


Hotel Sherry-Netherland, General Motors Building, 745 5th Avenue, on the right the Plaza Hotel and behind it the Solow Building, in the background the Sony Building


Map of Central Park


The reservoir lake with a view of the twin towers San Remo

Data

• 341 hectare area
• 15 years construction time
• 7.5 million dollars
• 93.5 kilometres of footpaths
• 275 bird species
• 25 million visitors per year
• 4.07 km long
• 860 m wide

If you can't remember where you are in the park, you can use any of the more than 1,500 parking lamps to find your way. Each base has had a code of at least four digits on a plaque since 1907. The first two numbers represent the elevation of the nearest street and the last digit tells whether it's more on the east or west side (odd number). So it is not just a simple numbering of the lamps for the electrician.