Model sailboats cruise a pond called Conservatory Water. An ornamental relief on a wall at Bethesda Terrace. The twin towers of the San Remo apartment building.
There are certain vistas, subtle features and neighboring buildings that, for me, capture the essence of Central Park. Despite its many changes through the decades, including signs of modernity, the park has largely remained true to its 19th-century roots.
My few photos here are merely an entree of the vast examples that fit with my primary enjoyment of the park, which is not necessarily as a retreat from the concrete, steel, and glass that make up Manhattan, but as a concentrated, real-life experience of what the city was at its best in bygone eras.
The initial image above is of the Eldorado apartment building as seen from the runners’ path the borders the park’s reservoir.
A gondola on the Lake where weeping willows frame the San Remo apartment building.
A stair wraps around the side of the Naumburg Bandshell.
A stone path runs along the north bank of The Lake, with the towering 432 Park Avenue outcompeting other skyscrapers in the distance.
A more intimate view of the San Remo apartment building.
Conservatory Water is known otherwise as the Sailboat Pond.
An ornamental wall at Bethesda Terrace.
A couple rides in a gondola on the Lake backed by the warm glow of the Loeb Boathouse.