PART 1
Manhattan’s urban environment in the early 1800s was full of “increasing congestion, pollution, and social unrest” (Gandy 82). In turn, there was a growth in demand for new public spaces, as a way to possibly improve these hazardous conditions. Besides the working-class that desired these changes, wealthy merchants and landowners were also avid supporters of public spaces, especially after seeing one in Europe. The people in New York also believed in the “curative and circulatory powers of green spaces” and considered parks to be “urban lungs” (Gandy 83), which was characteristic of the public health reform of that period.
Furthermore, there arose a realization that the establishment of a public park in the middle of Manhattan would present immense economic advantages to the city’s property owners while benefitting the general public. Finally, new steps were made by the City to create a public park; in 1853, the City was authorized to use about 700 acres of land, and in 1857, the Central Park Commission was created to “control the park’s construction and design” (Gandy 85).
Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux’s chosen plan of Central Park included “a pastoral landscape with open rolling meadows…a more naturalistic ‘picturesque’ design, and a variety of formal elements…” (Gandy 87). Their goal was also to separate the park from the rest of Manhattan “not just aesthetically but also in it culture of use” (Gandy 88).
The people of New York City had numerous goals for Central Park, many of which have certainly evolved since its construction. Olmsted intended for the park to be used mainly by the working-class. Specifically, he wanted it to be “a ground to which people may easily go after their day’s wok is done, and where they may stroll for an hour, seeing, hearing, and feeling nothing of the bustle and jar of the streets” (Olmsted 22). However, most people had trouble reaching the park without an established system of transportation. This allowed only wealthy people who owned carriages to be the most common visitors of the park. The park, in turn, became an “enlargement of the private sphere through the extension of 19th century conceptions of bourgeois domesticity into a public arena” (Gandy 99). Furthermore, the park was very limiting and had “rules to discourage picnics and other group activities” (Gandy 99). Olmstead was also avidly against the inclusion of any sports facilities in the park, stating, “‘no sport can be permitted which would be inconsistent with the general method of amusement’” (Gandy 101).
Nowadays, most of these early aspects of Central Park have been reversed or greatly altered. For instance now that we have an operable system of transportation, “‘accessibility for poorer and more distant parts of the city improved, and thus the restrictions on park were gradually relaxed’” (Gandy 101). Central Park is no longer a luxury for the elite, but a commodity for the general public. Despite all the previous rules prohibiting various types of relaxation, Central Park is now a playground for all types of activities. It has two skating rinks, a baseball stadium, a boathouse, a zoo, etc. Now, it really is a reflection of Olmsted’s vision for a park: “We should undertake nothing in a park which involves the treating of the public as prisoners or wild beasts” (Olmsted 24).
PART 2
Animals were displayed at Central Park soon after its construction began in the late 1850s. Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux’s initial plan for Central park didn’t include a zoo, but park commissioners looked for a location for a “menagerie” that wouldn’t compromise the park’s pastoral scenery. State legislation in 1861 allowed for a “‘portion of [Central Park], not exceeding sixty acres [be set aside] for the establishment of a zoological garden . . .’” The public responded excitedly to the menagerie; there was a daily attendance of about 7,000 people by 1873, and an annual attendance of three million by 1902 (Central Park Zoos).
Despite improvements to the care and environment of the zoo in 1900, the animals weren’t always placed first. In 1934, however, Parks Commissioner Robert Moses addressed the poor conditions of the zoo by saying now, “only healthy animals in more humane circumstances would be displayed.” Construction on the zoo took only eight months, and the zoo opened again on December 2, 1934. However, the zoo also became a filthy place for many nearby residents; Fifth Avenue tenants complained about the noise and smell, while others found the cages gloomy. Evidently, the public was displeased with the zoo, and by 1970s it was clear that the zoo needed some serious alterations. Parks Commissioner Gordon Davis even called the zoo a “Rikers Island for animals” (Central Park Zoos).
The New York Zoological Society (today the Wildlife Conservation Society), along with some private financing, began to manage the zoo in 1980. When the zoo reopened on August 8, 1988 after a 5-year, $35 million renovation, “the new facility delighted visitors with its naturalistic tropical zone, expanded polar bear environment, a Japanese snow monkey island,” and 4,000 square feet of laid out planting beds. Since the zoo was so small (six acres), large animals were either given more space or removed altogether. The biggest change was the removal of the cages, which meant that the Society could exhibit the animals in a more organized fashion; in 1941, the Society set up the animals by continents and maintained the three biomes (tropical, temperate, and polar). A Children’s Zoo was also established at Central Park in 1961 with many naturalistic features and a petting zoo (Central Park Zoos).
The numerous changes applied to the Central Park Zoo over the period of about 100 years reflect the changing views of what a park should represent to the public. The zoo was initially a prison-like, foul, unsanitary, and unrealistic environment. It limited the animals, which were kept confined in cages, and provided a highly unhealthy home for them. As for the visitors, they were given a false impression of the animals’ habitats and had to deal with the mismanagement of the zoo. Over time, however, these issues were brought to light and the arising idea of a clean, wholesome park was carried over to the reconstruction of the zoo. Towards the late 1900s, the zoo became a much more comfortable and natural home for its animals, and allowed people to experience how animals lived and behaved in their natural habitats.
Works Cited
“Central Park Zoos.” New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. Web. 21 Sept. 2011..
Gandy, Matthew. Concrete and Clay: Reworking Nature in New York City. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2002. Print.
Olmsted, Frederick Law. Public Parks and the Enlargement of Towns. Cambridge, MA: Printed for the American Social Science Association, 1870. Print.
