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Central Park
CENTRAL PARKCENTRAL PARK. The first landscaped public park in the United States, built primarily between the 1850s and 1870s, encompassing 843 acres in New York City between Fifth Avenue and Eighth Avenue and running from 59th Street to 110th Street. New York bought the land for Central Park—and removed about 1,600 immigrants and African Americans who lived there—at the behest of the city's elite, who were embarrassed by European claims that America lacked refinement and believed a park would serve as a great cultural showpiece. The original plans of architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux sought to re-create the country in the city, but over the years, the story of Central Park has been the story of how a diverse population changed it to meet various needs. At first, Central Park catered almost exclusively to the rich, who used its drives for daily carriage parades. Though some working-class New Yorkers visited the park on Sunday, most lacked leisure time and streetcar fare, and they resented the park's strict rules, including the infamous prohibition against sitting on the grass. By the 1880s, however, shorter workdays and higher wages made park attendance more convenient for the poor and recent immigrants. With additions such as boat and goat rides, the zoo, Sunday concerts, and restaurants, Central Park's focus gradually shifted from nature to amusement. During the Great Depression, the powerful parks commissioner Robert Moses continued this trend, financing massive improvements, including more than twenty new playgrounds, with New Deal money. In many ways, the 1970s marked Central Park's low point. Though never as dangerous as reported, the park experienced a dramatic increase in crime, and it came to represent New York's urban decay. Moreover, New York's fiscal crisis decimated the park budget, and in the 1980s, the city gave up full public control by forming a partner-ship with the private Central Park Conservancy. Today, Central Park symbolizes New York's grandeur, as its aristocratic founders expected. They never dreamed it would also serve the recreational needs of a city of 8 million people. BIBLIOGRAPHYOlmsted, Frederick Law. Creating Central Park, 1857–1861. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983. Rosenzweig, Roy, and Elizabeth Blackmar. The Parkand the People: A History of Central Park. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1992. JeremyDerfner See alsoCity Planning ; Landscape Architecture ; Recreation . |
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"Central Park." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Central Park." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 25, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401800719.html "Central Park." Dictionary of American History. 2003. Retrieved May 25, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3401800719.html |
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Central Park
Central Park 840 acres (340 hectares), the largest park in Manhattan, New York City; bordered by 59th St. on the south, Fifth Ave. on the east, 110th St. on the north, and Central Park West on the west. The land was acquired by the city in 1856; in the process several small communities were razed, one of the largest being Seneca Village, a settlement of some 250 working-class blacks. The park was built according to the plans of U.S. landscape architects Frederick L. Olmsted and Calvert Vaux , which took twenty years to implement. The park has rolling terrain with lakes and ponds, greeneries, bridle paths, walks, and park drives. There are many playgrounds and other recreational facilities, including the Wollman Skating Rink. The Metropolitan Museum of Art stands in the park on Fifth Ave.; other points of interest include a formal garden, a zoo, an Egyptian obelisk popularly called "Cleopatra's Needle," a New York City reservoir, and the Mall. In the open-air Delacorte Theater, Shakespearean dramas and other plays are presented free of charge. The private Central Park Conservancy works with New York City to preserve and improve the park.
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"Central Park." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Central Park." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 25, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-CentrPk.html "Central Park." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-CentrPk.html |
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Up in Central Park
Up in Central Park (1945), a musical play by Herbert Fields (book), Dorothy Fields (book, lyrics), Sigmund Romberg (music). [Century Theatre, 504 perf.] Rosie Moore ( Maureen Cannon), the daughter of a Tweed Ring politician, loves the muckraking reporter, John Matthews ( Wilbur Evans), but after he writes an article exposing Mr. Moore and his cronies, Rosie breaks off their romance and marries another man. Luckily, when she comes to her senses, she learns her new spouse is a bigamist, so she can still marry John. Notable songs: April Snow; The Big Back Yard; Close as Pages in a Book; When You Walk in the Room; Carousel in the Park. A solid Romberg‐Fields score and Helen Tamiris's memorable “Currier and Ives Ballet” helped make this show a smash hit. However, producer Michael Todd brought it back to New York just as Brooks Atkinson returned to his post at the Times. Atkinson perceived it as superannuated operetta and led a virulent attack on it, after which it fell out of favor.
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Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Up in Central Park." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Up in Central Park." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 25, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-UpinCentralPark.html Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Up in Central Park." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Retrieved May 25, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-UpinCentralPark.html |
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Central Park in the Dark in the Good Old Summertime
Central Park in the Dark in the Good Old Summertime (or A Contemplation of Nothing Serious). Work for chamber orch. by Ives, comp. 1906.
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MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "Central Park in the Dark in the Good Old Summertime." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "Central Park in the Dark in the Good Old Summertime." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 25, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-CntrlPrknthDrknthGdldSmmr.html MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "Central Park in the Dark in the Good Old Summertime." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Retrieved May 25, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-CntrlPrknthDrknthGdldSmmr.html |
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Central Park
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Paul S. Boyer. "Central Park." The Oxford Companion to United States History. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 25 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. Paul S. Boyer. "Central Park." The Oxford Companion to United States History. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 25, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O119-CentralPark.html Paul S. Boyer. "Central Park." The Oxford Companion to United States History. 2001. Retrieved May 25, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O119-CentralPark.html |
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