Central Park

Ignore all that crap, 'cuz it's just that. Crap. While perhaps not the safest city in the States, it's only 43 on the most dangerous list. And as for Central Park itself.....

It's probably the most beautiful city park I've ever seen. The trees are mature and beautiful. The ground isn't flat, but undulates to form enclaves of serenity. The area is punctuated by rocks larger than most houses, very nice for sitting on and watching the park. There are a number of ponds in the park, including a resevoir much larger than you'd expect in the park. There's a restaurant (very expensive), a zoo (kinda small, but nice for kids), and even an open air ice skating rink that had ice even though it was +20C during our stay. Also important, there were only a couple of hot-dog vendors in the park. Enough that you can find them if you want one, but certainly not intrusive.

Tell you what. Look in back issues of "National Geographic" magazine for 1993-1994. In one of them, you'll find an article on Central Park. Far better description than I can give you.

Okay - there were a few homeless in the park. Most of them were asleep in the sun, and at no time did I feel threatened. In fact, I saw more police vehicles in the park than I saw homeless. I can't say what it's like at night, but during the day there is simply no reason not to go. We spent the better part of a day there. Just kept walking. Worth the time.

One thing we were hoping to do was take a horse-drawn carraige ride through the park. We decided not to. It's not that there weren't enough opportunities. There is a sort of "marshalling" area at the south end of the park, where there about 20-30 different carraiges at any given time. The carraiges range from the spartan to the elaborate, and the horses seem to reflect this range. The problem was that, with only a few exceptions, the drivers were dressed in jeans, a coat and a baseball cap (or similarly casual attire). Only a couple had the class to dress in the top-hat and tails, giving the carraige ride the "feel" that we were looking for. However, it was also clear that these carraiges were outside our price range, and so we passed. It's a pity that more of the operators don't have a good enough business sense to invest in a little class though.

Anyhow, walking through the park is highly recommended. People walking with dogs, kids playing in a park, squirrels running from tree to tree, pausing only long enough to see if you are going to offer them a hand-out.... It's what you look for in a park. Take the time, it's well worth it.