New York City (Fodor's, 2012) - Fodor's [69]
Along the main loop and some smaller paths, lampposts are marked with location codes. Posts bear a letter—always “E” (for east) or “W” (for west)—followed by four numbers. The first two numbers tell you the nearest cross street. The second two tell you how far you are from either 5th Avenue or Central Park West (depending on whether it’s an “E” or “W” post). So E7803 means you’re near 78th Street, three posts in from 5th Avenue. For street numbers above 99, the initial “1” is omitted, for example, E0401 (near 104th Street, one post in from 5th Avenue).
FODOR’S CHOICE
Bethesda Fountain
Belvedere Castle
Great Lawn
Loeb Boathouse
Strawberry Fields
TOP 10 EXPERIENCES
Take a rowboat out on the Lake
Watch the sea lions play at feeding time
Rent a bike at the Boathouse
See a free concert or play
Remember John Lennon at Strawberry Fields
Ride the Carousel; wave at everyone
People-watch at Bethesda Fountain
Picnic on the Great Lawn
Pet the bronze Balto statue
Climb to the top of Belvedere Castle
Central Park’s creators had a simple goal: design a place where city dwellers can go to forget the city. And even though New York eventually grew far taller than the trees planted to hide it, this goal never falters. A combination escape hatch and exercise yard, Central Park is an urbanized Eden that offers residents and visitors alike a bite of the apple. We can’t imagine how insufferably stressed New York City would be without it.
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TOP ATTRACTIONS
Fodor’s Choice | Bethesda Fountain.
Few New York views are more romantic than the one from the top of the magnificent stone staircase that leads down to the ornate, three-tier Bethesda Fountain. The fountain was built to celebrate the opening of the Croton Aqueduct, which brought clean drinking water to New York City. The name Bethesda was taken from the biblical pool in Jerusalem that was supposedly given healing powers by an angel, which explains the statue The Angel of the Waters rising from the center. (The statue was designed by Emma Stebbins, the first woman to be commissioned for a major work of art in New York City, in 1868.) The four figures around the fountain’s base symbolize Temperance, Purity, Health, and Peace. Beyond the terrace stretches the lake, filled with swans and amateur rowboat captains. | Midpark at 72nd St. Transverse, Central Park | Subway: B, C to 72nd St.
Fodor’s Choice | Belvedere Castle.
Standing regally atop Vista Rock, the second-highest natural point in the park, makes Belvedere Castle the highest man-made vista from which you can see the stage of Delacorte Theater as well as picnickers and softball players on the Great Lawn. The castle was built in 1872 of the same gray Manhattan schist that thrusts out of the soil in dramatic outcrops throughout the park (you can examine some of this schist, polished and striated by Ice Age glaciers, from the lip of the rock). A typically 19th-century mishmash of styles—Gothic with Romanesque, Chinese, Moorish, and Egyptian motifs—the castle was deliberately kept small so that when it was viewed from across the lake, the lake would seem bigger. (The Ramble, to the south, now obscures the lake’s castle view.) Since 1919 it has been a U.S. Weather Bureau station; look for twirling meteorological instruments atop the tower. Inside, the Henry Luce Nature Observatory has nature exhibits, children’s workshops, and educational programs. Free discovery kits containing binoculars, bird guides, maps, and sketching materials are available (before 4 PM) in exchange for two pieces of identification. | Midpark at 79th St. Transverse, Central Park | 212/772–0210 | Free | Tues.–Sun. 10–5 | Subway: B, C to 81st St.