Celebrating Greensward

Celebrating Greensward: The Plan for Central Park

Public Events and Activities Planned to Honor the 150th Anniversary of Design Selection

If anyone is interested, or might be in NYC soon, the Central Park Conservancy and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation are holding a series of public events and activities to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the design for Central Park. The Greensward plan for the park was chosen on April 28, 1858. The name "Greensward," comes from the English word for "unbroken stretch of turf or lawn."

Some events:

• Creating Central Park panel discussion at The Metropolitan Museum of Art:
  Saturday, April 26, 2:30 pm
  
• Celebrating Greensward exhibition in the Arsenal: April 23 through June 19; click here for more information
  
• Behind the Scenes free walking tours of Central Park led by Central Park Conservancy staff: Sunday, April 27, 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm
  
• Renaming the 72nd Street Cross Drive as "Olmsted & Vaux Way" at an unveiling ceremony at Bethesda Terrace on Monday, April 28, 2008 at 11:30 am

Some interesting quotes about the influence and significance of Central Park:

"The urban parks movement of the 19th century was the result of the immediate success of Central Park; every major city in the nation created parks based on New York’s exemplary public space," says Douglas Blonsky, President of the Central Park Conservancy and Central Park Administrator. "Today, it is one of the world’s great urban spaces, and we are pleased that in its 150-year history the Park has never looked more beautiful or been better managed."

Blonsky continues, "The restoration and maintenance of our nation’s historic parks has become today’s challenge, and once again Central Park, through the Conservancy, is at the forefront of that movement. In 2008, we will celebrate the significance of this American masterpiece as well as its phenomenal recovery."

"A great social experiment was begun in New York City 150 years ago when Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux designed Central Park," says Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe. "Over the last 28 years, the Central Park Conservancy and the City of New York have teamed up to restore this masterpiece of landscape design and manage it as the great public backyard for New Yorkers and visitors — 25 million a year."