Central Park

The Daily Plant : Thursday, May 17, 2001

A SECOND YOUTH FOR SEWARD PARK THE NATION’S FIRST PLAYGROUND

Photos by Spencer (Flasher) Tucker

Seward Park is where it started: the playground movement that swept the United States, turning concrete lots into outdoor gymnasiums. Seward Park, which opened in 1903, is the patriarch of playgrounds. And its legacies are the swingsets, the slides, the basketball courts and the game tables in playgrounds dotting New York City's streets.

For the 200th birthday of New York State Senator William H. Seward, for whom the playground is named, Parks completed a renovation that introduced sculptures and play equipment to recall the act that made Seward famous. In 1867, he arranged the purchase of Alaska from Russia. In this redesign, a water-spouting seal and a play unit with the crags and curves of Mount McKinley evoke the coldest state in the union. An historic fence and a marble mosaic map of the neighborhood were added too. Togo the sled dog joins Central Park's Balto as one of only two historic dogs commemorated in a statue in New York City's parks. Designer Chris (Snowcat) Crowley was the author of these innovations.

Mayor (Eagle) Giuliani, Borough President (Sparrow) Fields, and Council Members (Punster) Freed and Lopez funded the $2.4 million that enabled Parks to resuscitate a 100-year-old historic site, and usher in its second youth. Parks' young friends from P.S. 42 and the Educational Alliance attended the ribbon cutting as the rightful inheritors of the playground movement, 100 years old and gathering speed.

CPF'S FIRST READ

On Tuesday, May 15, students from P.S. 159 gathered in Central Park's Literary Walk to enjoy the first in a series of 50 stories that will be told this summer to kids in more than 40 parks in all 5 boroughs of New York City. Each story will tell about the different neighborhoods and people that make New York unique. Lomas Brown, left tackle for the New York Giants, and artist Peter Max entertained the kids at the reading. Altogether, the City Parks Foundation expects to see 10,000 children at their 4th annual Readings in the Parks series this summer. Participating parks include St. Mary's Playground in the Bronx, McCarren Park in Brooklyn, Marcus Garvey Park in Manhattan, and Forest Park in Queens.

AFFECTIONATE TABBY NEEDS GOOD HOME, LOTS OF TLC

Calling all cat lovers! Presently residing at Olmsted Center, Bonnie is an orange and white, green-eyed tabby awaiting a good home. She is an extremely affectionate and cuddly cat, greeting everyone with an abundance of motorboat purrs. De-clawed and spayed, she would be a perfect indoor pet.

Bonnie is an offspring of Pinky, a resident of Olmsted Center for over 13 years. Recently adopted, Pinky now resides with a family in Long Island. We would like to find Bonnie a good home as well. With loving care and attention, Bonnie would make an excellent addition to anyone's life.

Please call Maria Rodi at (718) 760-6817 or Noël (Cabana) Kopa at (718) 760-6891 for more information about adopting Bonnie.

By Noël (Cabana) Kopa

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO IN THE PLANT
(Thursday, May 19, 1988)

BETHESDA TERRACE ANGEL RESTORATION UNDERWAY

The bronze Angel of the Waters statue, the much-loved centerpiece of Central Park's Bethesda Terrace, is being restored thanks to a $100,000 gift from Sidney and Arthur Diamond, Commissioner Stern and Central Park Administrator Elizabeth Barlow Rogers announced today.

The donation was made to the Central Park Conservancy through the Diamond Brothers Foundation. Preliminary restoration approval was granted by the Bronze Committee of the Art Commissioner on May 9. The work began last Wednesday, May 11 and is expected to be completed by mid-June.

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

"Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh."

W. H. Auden (1907-1973)

Know Before You Go

Harlem Meer Center (formerly Lasker Rink)

Harlem Meer Center