One Autumn Sunday in Central Park

Today's unseasonably mild weather made it a perfect day to visit Central Park to view the changing foliage. These images were taken at the southern section of the park earlier today.

BALTO Statue in Central Park

One of the most popular statues in Central Park is that of Balto, the Siberian Husky sled dog standing nobly on a rock outcropping. The statue is located west of East Drive and 67th Street and north of the Zoo. This image was made last winter.

Back in 1925 Nome, Alaska was stricken with a horrific diphtheria outbreak. Not enough antitoxin was available to treat all the sick until teams of mushers and sled dogs battled a blinding blizzard and traveled 674 miles to deliver the medicine. Balto was one of the heroic lead dogs.

In recognition of such bravery, the famed Brooklyn born sculptor Frederick George Richard Roth was commissioned to create a lasting tribute.

Roth, whose other work at Park includes Tales of Mother Goose andDancing Goat and Dancing Bear, unveiled the statue on December 16, 1925. The most important among the honored guests was the real Balto himself.

Over the past nine decades, Balto’s statue has been a favorite as evidenced by the deep burnishing of his ears and back. Children and others frequently climb up on him for a photo opp, or to contemplate life and the stirring words on the statue’s plaque: Endurance · Fidelity · Intelligence. Good words for today's heroes and heroines too. (Information from Central Park website).

Costume Parade for New Year's Eve Emerald Nuts Midnight Run in Central Park

As part of the Emerald Nuts Midnight Run on New Year's Eve, a Costume Contest and Dancing took place last night at the Central Park Bandshell. These are just some of the participants in the costume parade and contest, which was followed by the 4M race, fireworks and laser light show at midnight. Happy New Year!

Ryan Gander's Sculpture of a Ruin - THE HAPPY PRINCE

On September 15, a new public art was installed near Central Park at the Doris C. Freedman Plaza at 60th Street and Fifth Avenue. The piece is called "The Happy Prince" by sculptor Ryan Gander. The public art will be on display until February next year.

From http://www.nycgovparks.org/art

“High above the city, on a tall column, stood the statue of the Happy Prince. He was gilded all over with thin leaves of fine gold, for eyes he had two bright sapphires, and a large red ruby glowed on his sword-hilt.” So begins the best-known children’s story by the renowned literary figure, Oscar Wilde (1854–1900). It seems fitting that British artist Ryan Gander (b. 1976) has taken inspiration for his first public commission from the tale of an enchanted monument. Here Gander has re-imagined the final, climactic moments of Wilde’s story where the statue is destroyed. Aided by a friendly swallow, the prince has given away all of his jewels and gilding to alleviate the suffering of the city’s poor. No longer impressive to city officials, Wilde’s denuded metal statue is melted down. In Gander’s version, the statue appears to be stone; the fallen swallow and the prince’s indestructible heart lie amidst the rubble. On closer inspection we see that the “ruin” is a single massive object: a sculpture of a ruin. In this way, it functions like a plastic toy ruin, at once descriptive and frankly artificial. Gander’s wry evocation of Wilde’s tale still resonates in our own period of economic inequality. At the same time, it presents a contemporary approach to sculpture, where the role of the public monument remains an open question.

Sunbathers in Sheep Meadow, Central Park

May 2, 2010, Sheep Meadow, Central Park

From centralpark.com

While it has been many years since sheep actually inhabited this verdant lawn on the westside of the park, Robert Moses having exiled the sheep to Prospect Park in 1934, it still remains a pastoral setting that invites sunbathing and the enjoyment of a good book.

Original entries to the design competition for Central Park were required to include a parade ground and Olmsted and Vaux reluctantly included one in the first Greensward Plan. Soon after winning, however, they managed to convince the commissioners that a quiet park landscape was perhaps not the best place for military displays. To re-enforce the quiet nature of the “Green” as it was then called a flock of sheep was added in 1864. A Sheepfold was built across the drive in 1870 and twice a day a shepherd would hold up carriage traffic, and later automobiles, as he drove the animals to and from the meadow. After the sheep had been banished to Brooklyn the Sheepfold was converted into what is now the world famous restaurant Tavern on the Green.

Like the Great Lawn and the North Meadow the Sheep Meadow is now meticulously cared for by the parks department and rigid rules enforced to ensure that it doesn’t suffer the decline caused by overuse. On a crowded weekend afternoon as many as 30,000 visitors may arrive to enjoy the tree ringed expanse and it is only by careful management that meadow can be preserved.

One Autumn Sunday at Central Park's "Mall"

At The Mall in Central Park, near the Bethesda Fountain, Sunday, October 25, 2009

From centralpark.com

Designed by Vaux and Olmsted as a “grand promenade” the mall joins with Bethesda Terrace, both geographically and stylistically, to fulfill the park’s need for a place that offered visitors a chance to socialize; an alternative to the secluded paths and solitary walks that populate so much of the terrain. The forty foot wide Mall, flanked by its majestic rows of American Elms, provides the perfect place for a leisurely stroll in any season. One can easily imagine the scene a century ago, women with parasols and men in top hats perambulating towards the Concert Ground that stood adjacent to its northern end. Now you are more likely to find skateboards than waistcoats, but the effect is still the same and even the visitors on wheels are apt to slow down just a bit and admire the cathedral-like ambience.

The southern end of the Mall features an area known as Literary Walk that is populated with a series of sculptures depicting popular literary figures. Other personalities represented along The Mall include Christopher Columbus, Victor Herbert, and Ludwig van Beethoven. Another celebrated sculpture residing the Mall area is Christopher Fratin's "Eagles and Prey" depicting two birds of prey attacking a goat. A number of critics of the years have suggested that tableau was not exactly in keeping with the pastoral setting and peaceful nature of the park itself. Makes you wonder how the goat felt.

In the spring The Mall offers a lovely vista as you walked along the sun dappled pavement, the bright new foliage offering a latticework light green leaves overhead. In the summer the leaf bedecked trees offer a cool and shady respite from the bright skies above. The Autumn offers the view of Crayola colored leaves wafting gracefully through the crisp air and even in winter The Mall provides a striking panorama of bare branches etched against the pale sky above. Just as most its neighbors along Fifth the Park is no slouch when it comes to dressing for the occasion.

Autumnal Ginkgo biloba

Some streets in Manhattan are lined by different kinds of trees such as Ginkgo biloba. These are images of the ginkgo leaves which turn bright yellow in the Fall, taken on the Upper Westside.

From Wikipedia:

Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba; in Chinese 銀杏, pinyin romanization, yín xìng), frequently misspelled as "Gingko", and also known as the Maidenhair Tree after Adiantum, is a unique species of tree with no close living relatives. The ginkgo is classified in its own division, the Ginkgophyta, comprising the single class Ginkgoopsida, order Ginkgoales, family Ginkgoaceae, genus Ginkgo and is the only extant species within this group. During autumn, the leaves turn a bright yellow, then fall, sometimes within a short space of time (1–15 days). A 2004 conference paper summarizes how various trials indicate that Ginkgo shows promise in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, though a 2008 study found it ineffective at treating dementia.