The Central Park Conservancy has been using a program called TreeWorks to determine which trees in the park are in need of attention and care. Trees are tagged with labels like "Priority 1" and "immediate action," and are ideally attended by CPC employees. However, the recent series of injuries and deaths caused by falling tree limbs in the park has sparked an investigation into how well the system works. According to the Post, it doesn't. more ›

An investigation is under way to determine which organization is responsible for maintenance on a tree that killed a 6-month-old baby in Central Park over the weekend. Karla DelGallo was holding her child, Gianna Ricciutti, while her husband snapped a picture of the two when a tree branch came crashing down on them, killing Gianna and hospitalizing her mother (she's in stable condition). The tree's roots are planted in the Central Park Zoo, which maintained by the Wildlife Conservation Society, but the branches hung over into the park, which is maintained by the Central Park Conservancy. more ›

On Friday, the NY Times reported that the Google engineer struck by a falling tree branch in Central Park was suing the city and Central Park Conservancy for negligence. Now, it turns out the still-hospitalized Sasha Blair-Goldensohn's lawsuit is worth $120 million. more ›

The 33-year-old who suffered brain and spinal injuries this summer when he was struck by a falling tree limb in Central Park is suing the city and the Central Park Conservancy for negligence. more ›

This morning in Central Park the Oak Bridge (also known as the Bank Rock Bridge) was unveiled... for the second time. The bridge was originally constructed in 1860 and provided a decadent connection in Central Park from the path along the West Drive into the Ramble. The architecture firm that restored it notes that it was "constructed of carved white oak with panels of decorative cast iron set in the railings and a deck of yellow pine." more ›

Last Tuesday, a sudden storm which downed hundreds of trees in city parks, creating what the Parks Department called the worst damage in 30 years. Our own Joe Schumacher visited Central Park and said the devastation was "heartbreaking" and took note of a raccoon who was confused: "The raccoon was disoriented. It went up and down the tree, looking around. It seemed like it didn't know what to do." 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 ›

The Central Park Conservancy working on renewing the lake, which means removing some sediment, draining some parts of the lake, and rescuing the wildlife in it. The NY Times witnessed the "fish rescue" in one area, and the findings included finding a 30-pound snapping turtle and almost 3,000 fish, like a bullheaded catfish and pumpkinseed sunfish. All of the inhabitants--see the slideshow here-- were relocated to another watery home in the lake. more ›

Gucci has been touting its love (or ♥) of New York with a new "Gucci ♥ NY" line of luxury products and 46,000 flagship store on Fifth Avenue, but its legal department never cleared the usage of the trademarked "I ♥ NY" logo. According to the Post, the Empire State Development agency was never contacted for permission. more ›

Within the 843 acres of Central Park one will find 9,000 benches, and many of them tell a story (or at least a name). In 1986 the Central Park Conservancy began their Adopt-A-Bench program to raise money for upkeep. more ›

Have you re-read the classic coming-of-age JD Salinger novel, Catcher in the Rye, lately? amNewYork takes a trip down memory lane, and 5th Ave, with a pair of Holden Caulfield-tinted glasses. Apparently people like the Central Park Conservancy historian get a ton of inquiries about the New York references in the novel. The most popular question, "Where do the ducks go in the winter?" Referring to the ducks in the Central Park pond that our... more ›

Green M&Ms have held this mythic place in many people's candy-eating consciences, whether due to fables, Van Halen's concert riders or advertising. And now green M&M's will be associated with a very real place in New York - Central Park. Tomorrow, M&M's World Store in Times Square will start selling a special new color, Central Park Green, and a portion of the proceeds will benefit the Central Park Conservancy. These M&M's have a mottled... more ›

While 30 Rock writers are on the picket line, Alec Baldwin is worried about his neighborhood.. And listening to the Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. This morning, during a segment where Brian was discussing the future of NYC's streetscape with Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and the Open Planning Project's Mark Gorton, the acclaimed actor and gossip target made his debut as a caller. After joking that he needed a job, here's a transcription... more ›

New York City is in the middle of Fashion Week, and last night was Ralph Lauren's 40th anniversary as a designer. And, as Style.com reports, he "staged an extraordinarily lavish runway show and black-tie after-party in the Central Park Conservancy" last night. It was such a big deal that Mayor Bloomberg and his lady friend Diana Taylor stepped out! New York magazine's Show & Talk blog wrote this:

Ralph himself seemed blasé. Standing by an unruly, high-spurting fountain (it was spraying guests), he dismissed the idea that he picks special models as openers: His entire shows, he told us, are filled with “the most beautiful models in the world.” Would he be seeing any other shows this week? “No. No one invited me.” (Good thing he threw a party for himself.) But no one beat Matthew Broderick in the “oh-whatever” department: “I don’t know anything about this stuff,” he said, going on to say that even so, he saw the Valentino show in Italy during his summer vacation. How did it compare Mr. Lauren's event? Valentino “was by the Coliseum, which is pretty exciting. This is Central Park.” Touché.

Dipping your toes into a city fountain could mean a $50 fine, the Parks Department wants to remind us. Although cascading waters are tempting, the city says that the fountains' water is recirculated and treated with chlorine, which can make it a breeding ground for bacteria. Mmm, bacteria. Plus, there may be broken glass or other objects that you can't see. more ›

When the Parks Dept. started to dredge The Lake in Central Park, they found huge fish specimens that have flourished unnoticed in the waters for years. Like the apocryphall tales of unseen alligators growing to enormous lengths in the sewers, dredgers found koi that were three feet long and weighing up to 30 pounds in the lake. Dredgers also dug up 50 lb. turtles and freshwater clams. Who knew? more ›

As we mentioned last month, The Central Park Conservancy was fed up dealing with park vagrants given to scaring away visitors and dropping prodigious amounts of feces all over Olmstead & Vaux's urban jewel, so it hired a pack of dogs to chase the interlopers off. This is not as horrifying as it sounds, unless you are a huge fan of the Canada geese that have made Central Park their year-round home. The large honking birds are considered a pest by the conservancy because they scare away ducks and other birds, eat the park's well-tended grass, and excrete an average of a pound of feces a day. 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 ›

+ Delays are plaguing Philip Johnson’s Urban Glass House. more ›

There are lunatics out there. Some jerk left a 2 pound ham in Central Park that a dog found and, being a 6 year old Labrador retriever, he ate the meat. Only for the dog's owner, Martha Redding, to throw away the meat and discover it was full of 3-inch pins. Milo the dog ate 31 pins, and his vet fed him three cans of dog food and induced vomiting to get rid of them. Luckily, the vomiting was successful and Milo is pin-free. The Central Park Conservancy emailed dog walkers to warn them about suspcicious packages. The ASPCA's Special Agent Joseph Pentangelo says they are investigating the matter: "It certainly is a crime. No reasonable person could commit an act like this and think it wouldn't be harmful to an animal... I've heard about chemical poisoning - people who are annoyed about cat colonies in their area or people getting tired about dogs urinating in front of their houses. I've never seen anything like this." Redding says that the incident "reminds me of all those thriller movies of serial killers who start by hurting animals."
more ›

Way back when, Gothamist had a favorite playground. Well, we had many favorite playgrounds, but there was one that always made our heart jump: the Ancient Playground. Anytime that the family would head up to get some "culture" at the Metropolitan Museum we that a trip to the playground just to the north be a part of the package. And we know we weren't alone. What kid didn't love crawling through sandy tunnels and over tactile brick pyramids? Whereas most playgrounds nowadays, and then even, are pretty similar and plastic we've never seen another playground quite like the Ancient one. Though it isn't all that ancient - it was built in 1972. more ›

Since the deal to have it manage Central Park for the Parks Department was first hammered out in 1998, we've been pretty big fans of the Central Park Conservancy. It is very hard to argue that the park is not in better shape now that in was then and that its future looks even better. Sure there have been some hiccups, but these things happen when you manage a public space of that scale.. more ›