Central Park

Central Park isn't really a neighborhood, it's true, but it takes up so much real estate in Manhattan that I decided I needed to add it to the list. It is bordered on the north by West 110th Street (aka Central Park North), on the south by West 59th Street (Central Park South), and on the west by Eighth Avenue (Central Park West). It's eastern border is 5th Avenue (just 5th Ave.).

Many people don't realize that the park is not a pocket of untouched land from before we scraped our skies. In fact, Central Park was designed by architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux and is almost entirely landscaped. I would go into more detail about the history of the place, but it would take more room than I'm prepared to grant it here. Instead, I'd like to direct you all to The Bowery Boys' very entertaining and informative podcasts about Central Park's design and development. (God bless The Bowery Boys.)

My first trip to the park (for the purposes of this blog) took place on May 18th for the annual AIDS Walk New York. I met up with my friends Kristen and Melissa at 8am at the Apple Store on the corner of 59th and 5th and we made our way to the start line by the Sheep Meadow. Before the walk begins there a lot of speeches were the stars of such shows as CSI: New York and Law and Order tell you how awesome you are for walking. Melissa and Kristen and I took this as an opportunity to relax in the grass.

A lot of large groups from schools, churches and companies were walking, but none of them seemed as big as the group from Target. We saw red t-shirts with the "Target circles" everywhere! One Target guy had brought his dog with him and tied a Target bandana around his neck. This dog was the star of the show for me. He was, quite possibly, the happiest dog I have ever seen. He must have been happy knowing he was doing his canine bit to fight AIDS.

"I want to love you!"

Another noteworthy walker was the "bird man." This was an older guy, dressed in a colorful gown, with a dog in a baby carriage and a bird on his head. Perhaps this picture of him and Kristen will give you a better idea of his splendor...

Note the bird on Kristen's head and the Target balloons in the background.

The walk began around 10:30am as Shuler Hensley, star of Mel Brook's Young Frankenstein, serenaded us with "You'll Never Walk Alone." And we were off! The walk is over 6 miles in total. You walk all the way to Central Park North, out of the park and west on Cathedral Parkway, down Riverside Drive to 74th St., east on 74th to Central Park West, down Central Park West to the 72nd St. entrance to the park, back inside the park and down to the starting point. With all the traffic and bathroom breaks it took us 3 hours. I'm also a little embarrassed to mention that my feet were killing me towards the end.

We did have fun along the way, though. We stopped by Strawberry Fields.

A portrait of the blogger

We did a little off-roading when we got frustrated with the mob of people we had to walk through.

We saw lots of gay cheerleaders.

Kristen had a Chariots of Fire moment when we reached the finish line.

And we were rewarded for our efforts with t-shirts, hats, and the best ice cream any of us had ever tasted.

All in all it was a very successful day: we raised money for AIDS research, saw a lot of interesting people and took a nice walk in one of the world's most glorious parks. However, even though I spent a significant amount of time in Central Park that day, I felt I had barely scratched the surface of this things to see, so I planned another trip.

To be continued...