As one of America’s greatest works of art and the nation’s first public park, Central Park has become the most famous and beloved urban park in the world. The park is open daily from 6:00 am until 1:00 am, with free entry for everyone since 1858.
On July 21, 1853, the New York State Legislature enacted into law the setting aside of more than 750 acres of land central to Manhattan Island to create America’s first major landscaped public park; they would soon refer to it as “the Central Park.” Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, the winners of the 1858 design competition for Central Park, along with other socially conscious reformers understood that the creation of a great public park would improve public health and contribute greatly to the formation of a civil society. Immediately, the success of Central Park fostered the urban park movement, one of the great hallmarks of democracy of nineteenth century America.
New York, NY Tour 