New Yorkers live in a big city, but they can also enjoy green, open spaces.

  

Central Park

  

In the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world, you can have a long, quiet walk under beautiful trees and over green hills. You can take a boat out on a lake or you can sit and watch the wild animals and birds. The place is Central Park. Many New Yorkers cannot imagine the city without the park.

Some tourists think that the park shows natural Manhattan from the days before the city. This is not true. In fact, the park was carefully planned and built. In the 1850s, rich New Yorkers wanted a place like the parks in London and Paris. They wanted a park for walking or riding horses. Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux showed their plan for the park in 1858.

But at the time, the land in this area of Manhattan was flat and not very nice. A lot of stone and earth was brought to make the park's hills. Half a million trees and plants were put in the ground. Paths and beautiful stone bridges were built. The lakes and streams under the bridges were not there before. The park was finally finished in 1876.

Today people still walk and ride horses in Central Park. They also ride bikes. Cars can go into the park, but they cannot go everywhere. On the weekend, they cannot go in at all.

 

Tourists can:

  • take a boat on one of the five lakes.

  • listen to live music. New Yorkers Simon and Garfunkel sang to a big crowd in Central Park in 1981.

  • visit Belvedere Castle. Here they can view the city and the park, and learn about the many animals in the park.

  • enjoy the statues. Many of these are for children. There is a statue of Alice at the famous tea party from Lewis Carroll's book Alice in Wonderland.

  • remember John Lennon in a part of the park called Strawberry Fields. One of the most famous buildings around Central Park is John's old home, the Dakota.

Washington Square Park

 

A smaller park in the city is important to all Americans. George Washington was made president in Washington Square Park, in Greenwich Village.

The park has been an important part of life in Greenwich Village. When he lived in the area, Bob Dylan sang there. In the 1980s, the park became quite dangerous and many tourists were robbed there. The park is safer now.

 

Gramercy Park

 

Gramercy Park is a small, beautiful park. It was built in the 1830s. But not many tourists have seen the park because it is the only private park in the city. Only the people in the expensive buildings around the park can use it.

  

Coney Island

 

Brooklyn's Coney Island offers a very different kind of fun. New Yorkers come here to play on the beach and play games.