The few greenspaces that already existed in the City, such as Gramercy Park and St. Yet at the time, the idea of people from different walks of life intermingling in a public park wasn’t particularly welcomed. “The construction of the Park has been easily achieved, because the industrious population of New York has been wise enough to require it. The entryways “should be named in accordance with some simple but comprehensive plan that will fully meet the every-day wants of the public,” the board stated in its 1862 annual report. As for naming the gates, important cities, states of the Union, and prominent individuals were all considered before the commission settled upon the professions and groups of people that made up the mosaic of the City. The modest stone-wall openings that now define the Park perimeter could have been fancy gates or even an extravagant plaza, but Olmsted and Vaux’s humble designs ultimately won out. Instead, as they finalized Park plans in 1862, they embraced the ideals of democratic inclusion and the natural world championed by the Park’s designers, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux.
In deciding whom to commemorate (and how), the Park’s original commissioners rejected traditional European styles of urban-park grandeur. Even more, they reflect the intention of Central Park’s creators that the City’s premier greenspace should be a place that welcomes-and celebrates-all New Yorkers. As portals in time, the named gates offer a fascinating window on the New York and world of that era-when “Inventors” referred to the creators of the printing press, steam engine, and electric telegraph.
They poetically capture a city long defined by its remarkably diverse and intricately mixed population. These gate names, mostly inscribed by the Central Park Conservancy in the 1990s, were carefully chosen more than a century ago by the Park’s commissioners after vigorous debate. An observant visitor might notice chiseled words near certain entryways that evoke the richness of the City’s human fabric: Scholars’ Gate, Mariners’ Gate, Engineers’ Gate… Even the Park entrances harbor historic treasure. New York is a city of discovery, so it’s only fitting that you’re bound to come across something new and marvelous in Central Park.
0 kommentar(er)
