Late Winter Walk in Central Park

The third weekend of March was the last weekend of winter and also the last weekend before my vacation. It would be a month before I come back to New York so I decided to walk the length of Central Park. The south end of the park, particularly up in Cat Rock has always given me amazing views of midtown Manhattan. Here was my view last Saturday near the tail end of my walk.

I started my walk at the northernmost part of the park, the Harlem Meer. The sky was full of grey clouds but the Meer always look beautiful in whatever weather. This is Harlem Meer with the buildings of 110th Street at the back.

 

The Conservatory Garden is right next to the Meer. There were still no flowers blooming in the French Garden but the crabapple trees at the Center Garden were already starting to bud.

 

At the English Garden, several early spring blooms were already flowering. I was pleasantly surprised to see some iris reticulata. They usually come in blue or purple. Look how pretty they are.

From the Conservatory Garden, I walked west towards the North Woods passing through the East and North Meadows. The North Meadow was still closed for the season.

At the north end of the North Meadow, near the middle part is one of the park's enchanting entrance to the North Woods, the Springbanks Arch.

The North Woods is full of trees but as of the time of my walk they were still bare, but the birds were enjoying flitting through the trees. It was exciting to see them, more so when I was able to get a picture of a downy woodpecker for the first time!

I love walking through the North Woods, it is so peaceful with only the bird songs, the wind on the trees and the sound of the waterfalls to break the silence. I also love the rustic bridges, I think there are three of them in the North Woods. And like the rest of the arches and bridges, all the rustic bridges have different designs.

I came out of the North Woods through the Glen Span Arch which led to the Pool section of the park. There were a lot of waterfowl enjoying the Pool, which included mallards and buffleheads. It was also near the Pool area where I saw the first daffodils of the season, they brightened a very grey day.

I then made my way to the Jacqueline Onassis Reservoir through the bridle path that winds around it. At the north end is Gothic Bridge, looking so graceful and beautiful.

There were lots of waterfowl at the Reservoir like the American coot and the hooded mergansers. I would have stayed a little bit longer to enjoy watching the birds but there were snow flurries so I tried to hurry up with my walk.

I then proceeded to Summit Rock, the highest natural elevation in the Park, hoping to get some good shots of midtown Manhattan. The view wasn't good as the snow flurries were starting to get heavier. When I went down, this was how the Arthur Ross Pinetum looked like with the snow flurries.

I still walked on and was relieved when I saw Winterdale Arch. It provided shelter from the snow flurries which didn't seem to abate.

Since it was past noon, I decided to get some lunch from one of the stores along Central Park West and also bought an umbrella so I could continue my walk inspite of the snow. After lunch, I went back to the park at the 81st street entrance and this was the scene that greeted me. Central Park has turned into a winter wonderland!

I then proceeded to Belvedere Castle and, from its upper balcony, saw that the Great Lawn was already blanketed in white.

From there, I turned east and passed by the pine trees in Cedar Hill. The view looked like a postcard sent during the Christmas holidays.

From across the Conservatory Water, Hans Christian Andersen can still be seen sitting at his usual place.

I then proceeded back inward to go to Bethesda Terrace. There were still some people braving the snow, and the arcade, with its beautiful Minton tiles ceiling, is always a welcoming place.

The graceful Bow Bridge, as always, was a sight to see no matter the weather. You could almost see the early spring flowers decorating the giant urns at the end of the bridge.

I then made my way back south, walking along the Mall. In summer, these American elm trees bring much needed shade to the park. During winter, the snow clinging on the trees make the place look magical.

I am nearly at the end of my walk but passed by Sheep Meadow, which was still closed for the season.

After climbing Cat Rock and taking the first pic posted above, I've finally reached the southern edge of Central Park, The Pond. Crossing the Pond is Gapstow Bridge which also gives you great views of midtown Manhattan on ground level.

I started this blog post on the plane on my way to my vacation place, the very warm and sunny Philippines. When I left New York, it snowed the day before and I think winter didn't want to leave the city. Spring has officially started and I'm looking forward to walking again in the park that I love, amidst the budding trees and blooming flowers. See you in April Central Park!

For the rest of my pics taken during this walk, here's the album on Flickr - Central Park, 03.16.13

Summer at the Central Park Conservatory Water

Summer just ended and I still have a lot of summer pics in my hard drive. :o  I love walking and taking pics of whatever catches my attention but always lag behind in uploading them. Well, better late than never. :)

This past summer, I've spent a few Saturdays walking around the Conservatory Water in Central Park.  Last July 13, the New York Philharmonic Orchestra gave a free concert in Central Park, at the Great Lawn. I entered the park through the East 72nd Street gate and turned right which led me right to the Conservatory Water.

These were the flowers blooming around the area at that time. I stopped by for a bit before proceeding to the Great Lawn for the concert.

Here's a nice article about the concert, the NY Philharmonic gave two concerts in Central Park and I went to the first one. This was what the Great Lawn looked like before the start of the concert.

When I was passed by the Conservatory Water at that time, two flowers (see above pic) caught my attention.  The one at the bottom center of the collage I know is a coneflower but I've never seen this type of coneflower before so I did a little search. Learned it's a prairie coneflower, its flowerhead is so long.

The other flower that kind of intrigued me was the orange one in the lower left of the pic. I was fascinated by the part of the flower that's twisted. Turns out it's a blackberry lily and its flowers only last for a day, drying with a twist into tight spirals, then falling as pods develop.

The Central Park Conservatory Water was initially intended to be a small pool for a glass house and a formal, ornamental flower garden. However, the upkeep of the plan proved too costly, and the body of water became a model boat pond.

From the Central Park website .. 

The original plan for Central Park called for a formal flower garden and a large glass house, or conservatory, for tropical plants. An ornamental pond was constructed as a reflecting pool for the conservatory, but when the plan for a structure was abandoned, the water body became the popular model boat pond, inspired by those in Parisian parks.

Two weeks after that concert, I walked in Central Park again with the intention of going to the Conservatory Water and enjoy the model boats.  I went to the park through the Pond area where the Gapstow Bridge looked so pretty with all the black-eyed susans around it.

I also passed by the statue of Balto. I remember watching a movie about him several years ago.

Near the southern edge of the Mall, I saw a bench plaque dedicated to Stuart Little. I still remember that boat race scene from the movie, which was shot at the park.

The day was a rainy and gray but the flowers were blooming.  The swamp rose mallows look pretty while only the flower heads remained of the prairie coneflowers I took pics of before.

As I went around the area, I noticed that the weather vane on the steeple of the Kerbs Memorial Boat House is decorated with a little boat, how cute!

The Kerbs Memorial Boathouse replaced an old wooden structure in 1954 after it burned down in the early 1950's.  The new building was sponsored by the Kerbs family in memory of Alice H. and Edward A. Kerbs, who enjoyed watching the beauty of the boats on the pond from their Fifth Avenue apartment window.

Inside the boathouse are rows and rows of remote controlled, wind-driven model sailboats.

More from the Central Park website .. 

On pleasant days, a variety of model ships, most remote-controlled, glide across the water. The sailboats are either privately owned or rented at a cart provided by the boathouse. On Saturdays, beginning around 10 am, races are held on the water with kids and veterans alike. It’s at this spot that Stuart Little, the beloved character of E.B. White’s story, sailed his fictional sailboat to victory. 

Finally, it started to rain hard and some of us took shelter at the cafe while the model boats were still sailing in the pond.

The week after that rainy day walk was the first day of the New York Summer Streets.  The route should have finished at 72nd Street, near the Conservatory Water but since I stopped by to take pictures of the new public art featuring Niki de Saint Phalle, vehicle traffic has already resumed along Park Avenue.  I still continued to walk towards the East 72nd Street entrance of the Park, and proceeded to the nearby Conservatory Water to have lunch.

I enjoyed the pasta of the day at the boathouse cafe, while a common starling decided to check my plate.

I then went around the Conservatory Water area.  At the east of the boathouse is the much beloved and much climbed statue of Alice in Wonderland, with the Mad Hatter, the White Rabbit and other friends. There was a gap in between people who wanted to pose with the statue so I enjoyed that rare moment to take a pic of Alice without a child in sight.

When you walk around the Conservatory Water and stop across the Kerbs Memorial Boathouse, you can see the buildings along Fifth Avenue. Many photographers take post at that area across the boathouse so they can take pictures of Pale Male and his mate, especially if their nesting attempts are successful.

This area is also where the sculpture of Hans Christian Andersen is located. He's seen with a special friend reading a book.

Can you guess what story he is reading to his friend?

There is another structure around the Conservatory Water selling some snacks. It is right across the sculpture of Alice and her friends.

Here's another pic of the model boat pond taken between the above snack house and the Kerbs Memorial Boathouse.

On my way out, I passed by the Waldo Hutchins Bench, which is very near the East 72nd Street gate.

This unique bench bears the latin inscription: Alteri vivas opportet si vis tibi vivere (One must live for another if he wishes to live for himself).

If you look closely at the center, you could almost see the sundial, and those circles by the arm of the bench are really great representations of Belvedere, one of the park's mascots.

Here's a close-up pic of the sundial.

The latin inscription around it says: Ne diruatur fuga temporum (Let it not be destroyed by the passage of time).

That's my fervent prayer, too.  Central Park has given a lot of people many wonderful moments, I hope it stays as beautiful for the future generation as it is for us today.

More pics on my Conservatory Water album on Flickr.

NYC Summer Streets

August 4 was the first day of the NYC Summer Streets for 2012.  From 7 am to 1 pm, for the first three Saturdays of August, nearly seven miles of New York City's streets along Lafayette Street and Park Avenue will be opened up for everyone to play, run, walk and bike.

Walking on a vehicle-less street is an offer I couldn't refuse.  I started at the corner of 28th Street and 6th Avenue, then walked crosstown towards Park Avenue.  While at 5th Avenue waiting for the walk sign, I looked south and saw the Flatiron Building.

Looking north, my view was the Empire State Building and the clock tower of the Marble Collegiate Church.

Walking onward, I reached Park Avenue and saw people walking while some were jogging or in rollerblades.  There were a lot of bikers, too.  It was unusual to see Park Avenue free of vehicles, but a joy to walk on.

At the Schwarzenbach Building between 31st and 32nd Streets, I saw the Silk Clock or Wizard Clock.

According to Scouting New York:

It was designed by McKim, Mead & White, and artist William Zorach. Apparently, this is not Merlin, but is in fact Zoroaster, “the mastermind and doer of all things.” At his feet is a cocoon, and beyond sits a slave representing the “primitive forces and instincts of man.” But it gets even better: Zoroaster waves his wand on the hour, and “the slave swings a hammer against the cocoon, triggering the emergence of the ‘Queen of Silk’, tulip in her hand, and not until the hour has ceased striking does she disappear.”

Walking further I had another awesome view of the Empire State Building taken from 33rd Street.

From 40th Street to 46th Street along Park Avenue is the Park Avenue viaduct which provides a pedestrian-, bicycle-, and bus-free express route for taxicabs and other automobile traffic.  That Saturday, it was the other way around as the viaduct was vehicle-free and full of pedestrians and bicycles.

From the south, traffic from Park Avenue or the Park Avenue Tunnel enters a ramp which rises a "T" above 42nd Street, over the street-level entrance to Grand Central Terminal below; side lanes of Park Avenue descend from 40th to end at 42nd Street. The elevated roadway then passes in front of Grand Central Terminal and around it to the east, passing the MetLife Building and descending again to ground level through the east portal in the Helmsley Building, arriving at 46th Street. Traffic coming from the north reverses this pattern.

The beautiful clock on top of the Grand Central Terminal's facade featuring Mercury, Hercules and Athena carved by the John Donnelly Company, and designed by French sculptor Jules-Felix Coutan greeted us as we came up the ramp.

Here's a closer look ..

That clock contains the world's largest example of Tiffany glass.  At the time of its unveiling (1914) this trio was considered to be the largest sculptural group in the world. It was 48 feet (14.6 m) high, the clock in the center having a circumference of 13 feet (4 m).

This clock is at the facade of Grand Central Terminal along 42nd Street. Standing on the ramp, here's my view of 42nd Street looking east.

If you look up from the street view, you can see the eagles jutting out near the top of the Chrysler Building.

And at ramp level is another beautiful building, which used to be the Bowery Savings Bank but now houses a Cipriani's restaurant.  The building was designated a New York City landmark in 1996. Here's a shot of the building's arches.

You can see one of the cast-iron eagles at the east side of the elevated roadway but since I decided to walk on the west side of the viaduct, I wasn't able to take a pic of the eagle. Here's a pic I took of the eagle some months ago.

I exited the eastern part of the Park Avenue viaduct through the Helmsley Building back to ground level, with the building's arches setting a nice view of Park Avenue.

Getting back into the street level of Park Avenue, I looked back to take a pic of the clock at the facade of the Helmsley Building.

After walking a few blocks, I came upon the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.  Look closely and you can see the gold eagle decorating its flag holder.

And looking back again at the Helmsley Building, I can now clearly see its tower from where I was standing.

A couple of blocks away is historic St. Bartholomew's Church.  The Cippolino marble used in its columns is unfit for New York’s climate and it has weathered badly.  Hopefully, there is some restoration work done.

Here's a pic of one of the church's bronze baptistry door along Park Avenue.

Walking further I saw some kids enjoying a huge inflatable chair in one of the buildings along Park Avenue. Guess it would make a good present to your couch potato friend.

In the same area, I passed by an open fire hydrant and some folks were enjoying the summer day getting wet.

By this time I was near the Seagram Building where Park Avenue's newest public art can be seen.  It features nine colorful gigantic works of Niki de Saint Phalle.  This is the first sculpture I came across, you can see and read about the rest on my previous blog.

After I got to the end of the Niki de Saint Phalle exhibit, it was already past 1 pm and traffic along Park Avenue has resumed.  However, I still continued walking up to 72nd Street in Central Park but instead of walking straight ahead along Park Avenue, I detoured to Central Park when I reached 60th Street.  That's the southeast part of Central Park where you can see the Pond and Gapstow Bridge.

I walked past many familiar places which I featured in some of my previous blogs.  On the way, I passed by the statue of Balto and couldn't resist taking a pic.

The NYC Summer Streets ended at 72nd Street in Central Park which is near the Conservatory Water.  I stopped there to have lunch at the Kerbs Ice Cream Café and watch the toy boats idly pass by. 

It was a tiring walk but made worthwhile by all the wonderful things I saw along the way, and most importantly, just by the sheer joy of walking.  The NYC Summer Streets ended last August 18.  I wasn't able to participate on the other Saturdays but I'm planning to walk again next year, hopefully, a longer one than my walk the first Saturday of August.

For the rest of my pics, here's the album on Flickr - NYC Summer Streets