Week 31: Central Park

Central Park, to me, is the single most brilliant idea conceived while people were "planning" New York City. Granted, when the land was set aside for the park, it may as well have been the country as the city pretty much stopped at Greenwich Village at that point, as I understand it. However, the land was set aside and people had the foresight to protect it. For those not really familiar with the sheer scope of it, the road that runs around the outer edges inside the park is 6 miles roundtrip. Roughly, the park is 3 miles long and a mile and a half wide (I know that's not exact). Figure an apartment in Manhattan sells for about an average of $1,200 per square foot. . . . do the math. That's some VALUABLE land. Manhattan is 8 miles long in total. However, to me, the City would not really be livable without Central Park. It would be too overwhelming and too dense. You enter Central Park and the City melts away. There are areas in the North Wood where you'd never even know you were in Manhattan.

We're fortunate to live fairly close to Central Park. I love to run there, but moreover, I love to take Jonah there. There's a nice park and playground about 1/2 block from our apartment, but if we have time and the weather is nice enough, I choose Central Park every time. Jonah does too. There's a small zoo, a carousel, countless playgrounds, many open areas to run around, the list just goes on and on. The Park is particularly nice in the spring and autumn, too.

This past Saturday we went to Central Park to enjoy the nice weather and take Jonah to the zoo. He has a giraffe costume cued up for Halloween (check back next week - I intend for that photo to be next) and he insisted on taking it along, not to wear but to carry like a stuffed animal. We never made it to the zoo. Instead, we first got distracted by the statue of Beethoven, then the live jazz combo, then the "water mountain" (Bethesda Fountain), then the boats by the boat house, then the leaves in the water, then the ducks (where this photo comes in). . . . you get the idea. There's just so much to do and see that you can go and get lost in the Park. It really does give you a chance to escape from the City for a bit while never leaving the island. 

Photo - this is my 24mm lens at f/4 and nice autumn late morning sun.