Step off Fifth Avenue and the traffic noise fades behind trees. The Lake opens up, a cast-iron bridge arches over the water, and the towers of Midtown rise above the treetops.

The Greensward Plan

Central Park covers 843 acres (341 ha) between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side. It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated 42 million visitors a year as of 2016, and is described as the first landscaped park in the country. In 1858 Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won the design competition with their 'Greensward Plan'. Building it meant razing existing settlements, including Seneca Village, a majority-Black community. The first areas opened in late 1858 and the park was completed in 1876. Since 1998 it has been run by the Central Park Conservancy.

Highlights

Bethesda Terrace overlooks the southern shore of the Lake, with the Angel of the Waters statue on its fountain, completed in 1873. Bow Bridge, a cast-iron bridge by Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould completed in 1862, crosses the Lake with an 87-foot span, the longest of the park's bridges. Other landmarks include the Ramble, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, Sheep Meadow, Wollman Rink, the Carousel, Central Park Zoo, the Mall, Belvedere Castle and the Delacorte Theater.

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  Bow Bridge Cast iron over the Lake.
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  Bethesda Terrace The Angel of the Waters.
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  The Ramble Woodland paths.
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  Belvedere Castle One of five visitor centres.
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  Sheep Meadow Lawn for picnics.