Last February Bethesda Terrace was vandalized! The taggers were promptly arrested for spray-painting on the murals and pillars — damages that would cost around $40,000 to repair. Now the NY Post reports the graf-happy trio struck a plea deal yesterday. They won't be going to jail, but rather they'll perform 200 hours of community service cleaning Central Park's horse stables. The lawyer for one of the teens, Victoria Beniaminova, told the paper: "The Central Park Conservancy insisted that their community service be shoveling shit in the stables. It beats going to prison." more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] Central Park is filled with street performers and artists, but one has an entire Oscar-winning short documentary about him. Thoth, who performs at Bethesda Terrace, was arrested with another artist yesterday for what he calls "prayforming." He wrote:

"Today, I had my feelings hurt, because as much love and goodness as I have given to the park (the many uncounted times I have cleaned up dog poop in the tunnel while cleaning men passed by), they still do not respect the gift of my being there. How could they sanction the arrest of me and Pink Angel? We still have the handcuff burns on our wrists. Who are the real BUMS? more ›

On Saturday night, four people were arrested for spray-painting on the murals and pillars of Bethesda Terrace arcade in Central Park. The Post reports, "David Gonzalez Jr., 20, Aisha Calow, 18, Victoria Deniaminova, 16, and Sabrina Santiago, 16, were charged with misdemeanors for allegedly scrawling '3D' and 'U not ready' in purple and black on wall murals and sandstone pillars." According to the NYPD, a passer-by alerted two police officers that the group was tagging the arcade. more ›

Spring appears to have, er, sprung, at least temporarily, in most of the Ist-A-Verse, so naturally, we're all feeling pretty good. (Yes, we know that spring doesn't start till later this month. Just let us enjoy our weather!) And that makes us that much more eager to share all of the nifty things we're up to... more ›

Earlier today, the city's Parks & Recreation department and the Central Park Conservancy cut the ribbon on the restoration of Central Park's Bethesda Terrace Arcade. As we mentioned yesterday, the tiles were removed from the Arcade's ceiling more than 20 years ago due to severe damage. While two panels were restored in 1998 and 2002, it wasn't until the Central Park Conservancy was given $3.5 million by Evelyn West that the rest of the tiles could be restored. more ›

The Parks Department is opening up the arcade at Bethesda Fountain Terrace tomorrow. The Terrace Arcade had a Minton tile ceiling and the the tiles were removed for cleaning in 1984. Now, after a $7 million effort funded by the Central Park Conservancy, the 16,000 tiles are ready to be seen by New Yorkers again. more ›

The front page of the NY Times' Metro Section has a big graphic showing how the Central Park Conservancy is restoring Bethesda Terrace that's very nice, but the interactive graphic from NYTimes.com is very cool as it breaks apart the terrace. It explains the different parts of the project, from the the new waterproof membrane on the upper terrace to reinstalling tile patterns. more ›

The Central Park Conservancy, the private, non-profit organization that manages the park, let us know about some new signs that will be appearing soon. It's a call to action for park goers to help out: Fifteen signs are being installed with "before" photographs showing how far the park has come since the 1970s and 1980s, with the words "What would we do without your donations?" on them. This is a rendering of the sign that'll go in front of the Belvedere Castle, which certainly doesn't look like that anymore. more ›

Central Park is celebrating its 150th anniversary all summer long, but the official birthday this tomorrow. There are many events all day tomorrow, from croquet to walking tours, watching archery championships to a birthday cake cutting at 11AM. It looks to be beautiful tomorrow, so spending the day at the park doesn't sound all that bad. more ›