36 Hours in Central Park, New York
With its endless trails, hidden nooks,
museums and nearby night spots, Central Park is that rare tourist
destination that is also a pleasure ground for locals.
Video Credit By Fritzie Andrade, One Glass Video, Kriston Lewis, Will Lloyd and Oresti Tsonopoulos on
Publish Date September 17, 2014.
Image CreditPiotr Redlinski for The New York Times
In
1859, the sanctuary of undulating hills, bridges and lakes taking shape
in the heart of Manhattan was described in The New York Times as a
“noble work, which is so clearly destined to be the honor and delight of
New York.” Neglect and decline in the 1970s threatened to snuff out
that utopian vision of Central Park, but today, after years of
restoration, it is verdant and flourishing — the rare tourist
destination that is also a pleasure ground for locals. Depending on the
season and cycle of life, one might be sunbathing or ice skating,
sailing a toy boat or rowing a real one, listening to Shakespeare, rock
music or the call of one of 230 species of birds.
Designed
by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, Central Park’s more than 840
acres are dappled with sculptures, monuments and fountains that tell of
the nation’s explorers, artists and heroes, both real and imaginary:
Columbus, Beethoven, Duke Ellington, John Lennon, Alice in Wonderland.
The park is also home to tennis and handball courts, croquet greens, a
carousel, a castle, a marionette theater, a zoo and more than a dozen
playgrounds. It is crisscrossed by horse-drawn carriages and ringed by
astronomically priced apartments, luxury hotels and world-class museums.
Yet despite its being a kind of three-ring circus, there are quiet
trails and hidden nooks, museums and bars within and around the park
where one can find a more tranquil, timeless Manhattan.
FRIDAY
1. Boldface Names | 2 p.m.
Download the free Central Park app
to your smartphone. Its map allows you to pinpoint where you are, but
more interesting, the app has audio clips of celebrities like Jerry
Seinfeld welcoming you to the Mall and Literary Walk, or Whoopi Goldberg
discussing Wollman Rink (where she learned to ice skate). Then, pretend
you’re an aristocrat in a Merchant Ivory film and step through one of
the iron gates near 105th Street and Fifth Avenue into the formal,
six-acre Conservatory Garden (an official quiet zone), which is divided
into three garden styles: French, Italian and English (don’t miss the
Frances Hodgson Burnett Memorial Fountain with its sculptures of a boy
and a girl, created in honor of the author of “The Secret Garden”). In
the Italian garden, climb the stairs to the tall wisteria pergola, sit
on a shady bench and observe the 12-foot-tall jet fountain below. Now is
a good time to press play on the app and listen to Candice Bergen
discuss the gardens. Before leaving, look down. At your feet, medallions
etched into the ground carry the names of the original 13 states,
including New York.
2. Museum Mile | 3:30 p.m.
Exit
the gardens onto Fifth Avenue through the soaring wrought-iron
Vanderbilt Gate, made in Paris in 1894 and once part of Cornelius
Vanderbilt II’s mansion at 58th Street. Walk south. You’re on the aptly
named Museum Mile. Already been to heavyweights like the Guggenheim?
Stop by less-trafficked spots like the Museum of the City of New York,
where you’ll find vestiges of the city’s younger days, including
handwritten manuscripts by Eugene O’Neill. And Neue Galerie celebrates
20th-century German and Austrian art and design with works by Gustav
Klimt, Josef Hoffmann, Vasily Kandinsky and Paul Klee. Then enjoy a
lobster roll ($18) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s self-service roof
garden cafe and martini bar (open May through late fall) as the sun
sets.
3. A Southern Crawl | 7:30 p.m.
Begin
at the Plaza. Skip the buzzy Champagne Bar in the lobby and climb the
stairs to the more-intimate Rose Club, where plush chairs are ideal for
tête-à-têtes. A Bloody Mary costs $23, but, hey, you can almost make a
meal of free nuts and popcorn. (The Plaza Food Hall is a great place to
pick up pastries and other treats to eat in the park.) Then walk west
along Central Park South, peeking into the windows of bars to see what
pulls you in, from Whiskey Park to the bar at South Gate restaurant in
the J W Marriott Essex House. When you reach the Museum of Arts and
Design, go to the ninth floor, where you’ll find Robert, a restaurant
and lounge with live piano music and views of Columbus Circle. Across
the street at the Time Warner Center, there are several bars (as well as
upscale shops), including the lovely Center Bar, where you’ll also find
live piano music, and Landmarc, which serves casual bistro fare. For
something fancier, there’s the Stone Rose Lounge.
SATURDAY
4. Early Birds | 7:30 a.m.
Bird
lovers know that daybreak is magical. In the Ramble, a
more-than-30-acre maze of boulders and trees, birding is especially
rewarding because, according to the Central Park website, it is on the
Atlantic Flyway, a migration route that birds follow in the spring and
fall. Walking its shady arteries, it’s easy to forget that this section
of the park is almost entirely man-made: The running water in the stream
can be turned on and off as if it were coming from a kitchen faucet.
(For those who get a later start, the Central Park Conservancy offers
kits with binoculars, maps, a guidebook and sketching materials that you
can borrow at no charge at Belvedere Castle.)
5. Into the Woods | 10 a.m.
On
sunny days, Central Park’s vast lawns are littered with people. If you
want a little peace — and a hint of the Adirondacks — head to the North
Woods. Be cautious, though, as this is a dense, somewhat isolated area.
That said, the 90 acres of wildflowers, trees, a ravine and a waterfall
will transport you to the country. These woodlands (another
bird-watching hot spot) were designed to block out the skyline and drown
out the noise of the city with babbling water. And do they ever. Little
wonder that the magician David Copperfield has said that this is the
place he comes to when he longs to disappear. Look, too, for the nearby
Pool, where ducks nestle on the banks beneath weeping willows. Farther
north, at the Harlem Meer, you can try catch-and-release fishing.
6. Tasting Menu | 1 p.m.
When
you’re in the mood for lunch, walk over to Trump Hotel Central Park and
into Nougatine, the elegant yet “casual sister” of Jean-Georges. Here
Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s prix fixe lunch menu ($38) changes with the
seasons but includes an appetizer, main course like seared salmon with
corn pudding and cherry tomato salad or organic chicken with ricotta
gnocchi, market carrots and Roma beans, and dessert (the warm chocolate
cake with vanilla bean ice cream is a must).
7. Star Gazing | 3 p.m.
Next
door to the American Museum of Natural History is a giant orb in a
glass box: the Rose Center for Earth and Space. There are few better
ways to spend a rainy day than gazing at star clusters and galaxies
during a show at the Hayden Planetarium, or watching an Imax nature film
at the museum. Speaking of the museum, stop by to marvel at dinosaur
fossils and to lie down (go ahead, it’s O.K.) beneath the 94-foot-long,
21,000-pound fiberglass model of a blue whale suspended from the
ceiling.
8. All That Jazz | 7:30 p.m.
In
the warmer months you can catch a concert or play in Central Park or at
nearby Lincoln Center, but any time of year is right for listening to
jazz while eating finger-licking fare like a catfish po’boy ($16) or
bourbon-glazed barbecued baby back ribs ($24) at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola.
Part of Jazz at Lincoln Center, this intimate club has table and bar
seating, all facing a vertiginous wall of windows behind the performers —
almost close enough to touch — that lets in Central Park and the
twinkling city lights.
9. Nightcap in the Park | 10 p.m.
The
recently reopened, more rustic (think hunting lodge) Tavern on the
Green at 67th Street and Central Park West has an oval indoor bar and
fireplace to take the chill out of fall nights. For something more
romantic, visit the outdoor bar where, beneath glowing lanterns, you can
sip drinks with unromantic names inspired by boroughs, including the
Staten Island (Cacao Prieto rum, coconut water, pineapple and lime
juice; $14).
SUNDAY
10. Waffles and Row Boats | 9:30 a.m.
Yes,
it’s rife with tourists. But do visit the Loeb Boathouse, which opened
in 1954. How often can one tuck into maple waffles with warm berry
compote ($16) and watch rowboats glide by on a lake — in the middle of
Manhattan? After brunch, go for a row (boats are $15 an hour; $20 cash
deposit required).
11. Walk on the Wild Side | 11:30 a.m.
Tigers,
red pandas, and an emerald tree boa are a few of the creatures you may
encounter at the Central Park Zoo. There are penguin and sea lion
feedings, a children’s zoo with a nature trail, and a 4-D theater. The
zoo is tiny compared with the Bronx Zoo, but it is a delightful way to
end a weekend in an urban jungle.
w. 110th
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