The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1860-09-01
The Central Park Biunder-WiiI tt-e Up
per Park be Mutilated!

4
a bit.
The Central Park Biunder-WiiI ta-e Up
per Park be Mutilated!
II ls lamentable to know, and disgraceflr t
confess, that in great and prosperous city In
New York no public work of general utilit
Acan be undertaken without being bungled ant
| botched in an almost irremediable manner
The Central Park is one Of the latest evidence
of this fact. When the proposition was frs
made to purchase the extensive grounds wher,
the works of the Psrk are now drawing thei
slow length along" the proposition was re
ceived by the people Of this city with the ut
most favor. A great breathing place for the
weary, hardworking inhabitants was felt to be
desideratum, and a large sum OF money was
freely granted to be expended for the establish
ment Of park that should have no rival in the
world. The purchase of the land involved the
largest appropriation ever made by single
city for public place to be devoted to healthy
exercise and popular amusement 1t wa
therefore q matter Of the highest Importance
that the plan should Justify the expenditure of
ssch an amount Of money and that all the ne
cessities Of Srst class park should be conccn-
trated In this pablic rendezvous. Let US ex-
anime whether the end has been made to ccr
respond with the means.
In addition to the various d-for,nites
t. which we have had occasion previously
to allude, there are numerous others which cali
for prompt reparation. il indeed any improve
merit be possible at this late stage of TIE IN
dertaking. The drives and the ssrides'' are
80 utterly COMPOUNDED that il is next 70 iIzpos
sible to distinguish the one from the other
With such broad area Of land comprehend
ing over seven hundred aud fifty acres, auy
competent engineer could readily have devised
q ride that should be totally distinct from Size
drive, and which should be altogether secure
for the purposes Of equestrian exercise. The
"walks," although laid out with considerable
care and neatness, do not at all come UP to
the idea which the public has RICH. to form Of
them. To reach the promenade it is necessary
to intrude upon toe "drive"-a necessity that
might terminate in serious accidents some of
these days. There are nc cutters nor canals
bisccting the walks, which are only separated
from each other by small pice OF grass, with
polite printed directions to keep off," Now
the walks OF park are one II the most I'm
portant feature to be confidered, and the
closest attention should have been given to this
part Of the work in the beginning. II Is not
safe nor proper that the walks Of public park
should in any way be common to horses,
carriages and pedestrians. Where there are
SO many old men, women and children
so frequently congregated, every safeguard
should be provieed, and anything that might
lead to accidents carefully avoided The en-
tinct from those for the use Of pedestrians but
ut present men, women. horses and carriages
have to struggle In ss best they een, enveloped
In clouds of sand and dust. TIE entrances, a.
they are now constructed, are miserable fail
ures. Without any large trees or shade Of auy
kind, they look more like openings into some
arid desert than eraboachures i5to what was To-
tended to be cecil and refreshing park.
The fact Is tina, the plan OF he Park never
was study. Ii was a mere picture. which no
doubt, pleased the architect greatly, and he
therefore exhausted all his iagsaai,y to ft the
land 70 Il. The proper course would have been
70 open entrances on Fifty-rinth street, 10 front
Of Sixth and Seventh ascnnss for the eN.
elusive use Of pedestrians The walks could
then have been 80 arranged "a to command tall
views Of the rides aud drives without danger
OF any Kind. A great error has also been CON
mtted In not embracing tue walls OF the ~"
great reser-olrs In the walk. They woald no
doubtedly odd very greatly to tae spsendor aud
magniicenoe OF the Park, and bein- hroasat
under the more frequent obseE IA ion OF visitors
would be more appreciated than they row are.
They arc unriyalled artificial lakes pre-
senting ca unbrokan surface Ct water one haa-
dred ara fifty acres in extent The water i
brough.. from distance OF over forty miles
through aqueducts, supported b. mfrbtc
bridges and arches more magnificent than thoss
OF a-cient Rone II was certainly gress
oversight not TO lave iHeladed these majestic
works iu the general outline OF the WALKS
The attractions OF the Park are IN fact DALI
Diminishing. Time, Il is true changes all thinss,
l,nt |. has done very lille a. yet &c the Cca'rai
Park. What may D. IL he fI,lgc + s-othar
question. u certainly does not scem - Is that
there arc many groanda Zoe hoping liat the
lower raIk can ever H. made O. correspond
with pubaic taste within period less ban The
next decade of 6 oeatuty. 0aly Link Of a
park q seven hundred ard fny AGREE with sixty
bridges In H. Ias'eid 81 landscape gardening,
We afc bcwildored by clumsy attempts al mill
taiy engineering IN The oppressive heat Of a
snmmes's day, one may as well look or roses
a. rere ,nhrr "a fYr shade "a the Park Not q
single large tree l. there to invite the pedes
,tisn under iis cooling aud outrageous shadow
This should not be. sud would not have beer
~ II proper measures had originally beet
saortcd. when The grand walk was drs
designed II was intended that II should imme
4 oiatcly be covered by elms Of the larges
growth, transplanted by the machine MacLach