Central Park

Central Park is a large public, urban park in New York City, with about twenty-five million visitors annually. Most of the areas immediately adjacent to the park are known for impressive buildings and valuable real estate. Central Park has been a National Historic Landmark since 1963.
The park is maintained by the Central Park Conservancy and the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. The park was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and architect Calvert Vaux

Activities in the park

Carriage horses

New York City has had carriage horses since 1935 but the tradition has recently come under a firestorm of controversy, with activists and politicians questioning its humanity.They are a symbolic institution of the city. After the terrorist attacks of September 11 the city ground to a halt, and in a much-publicized event, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani went to the stables himself to ask the drivers to go back to work to help return a sense of normalcy

Horse Drawn Carriage at central park

Sports

The Park Drive, just over 6 miles (9.7 km) long, is a haven for runners, joggers, bicyclists, and inline skaters. Nearly every weekend, races take place in the park, many of which are organized by the New York Road Runners. The New York City Marathon finishes in Central Park outside Tavern on the Green. Many other professional races are run in the park, including the recent USA Men's 8k Championships. A long tradition of horseback riding in the park was kept alive by the one remaining stable nearby, Claremont Riding Academy until it closed in 2007. At the northern part of Central Park between 106th and 108th streets Lasker Rink and Pool is a large ice skating rink which converts to an outdoor swimming pool in Summer and serves the neighboring communities.

Entertainment

Each summer, the Public Theater presents free open-air theatre productions, often starring well-known stage and screen actors, in the Delacorte Theater, summer performing venue of the New York Shakespeare Festival. Most, though not all, of the plays presented are by William Shakespeare, and the performances are generally regarded as being of high quality since its founding by Joseph Papp in 1962.

Summerstage features free musical concerts throughout the summer.
The New York Philharmonic gives an open-air concert every summer on the Great Lawn and the Metropolitan Opera presents two operas. Many concerts have been given in the park including Elton John, 1980; the Simon and Garfunkel reunion, 1981; Diana Ross, 1983; Garth Brooks, 1997; Dave Matthews Band, 2003, Bon Jovi 2008.[27] Since 1992, local Singer-songwriter David Ippolito has performed almost every summer weekend to large crowds of passers-by and regulars, including visitors from around the world, and has become a New York icon. Often he is simply referred to as "That guitar man from Central Park."
Also each summer, City Parks Foundation offers Central Park Summerstage, a series of free performances including music, dance, spoken word, and film presentations. SummerStage celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2005, having welcomed emerging artists and world renowned artists over two decades, including Celia Cruz, David Byrne, Curtis Mayfield, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars, and Nobel Laureate and Pulitzer winner Toni Morrison.
With the revival of the city and the Park in the new century, Central park has given birth to arts groups dedicated to performing in the park, notably Central Park Brass, which performs an annual concert series, and the New York Classical Theatre, which produces an annual series of plays.
The numerous portrait artists who work in Central Park have been interviewed 1997

Summerstage features free musical concerts throughout the summer.

Children
In addition to its 37 unique playgrounds, Central Park offers dozens of activities for children, including performances by master puppeteers at the historic Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre. There are other activities such as children's yoga, modern art classes for infants, and wind chime making classes. The famous Central Park Carousel has excited and thrilled children since the original one was built in 1870