Central Park

Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux laid out these 843 acres after winning an 1858 design competition with what they called the Greensward Plan. Eight lakes and ponds thread through the park, all dammed and shaped rather than natural, alongside the Great Lawn, the Central Park Zoo, and the wooded paths of the Ramble. The Central Park Conservancy, a private nonprofit, has managed day-to-day upkeep for the past 40 years. Gates stay open daily from 6am to 1am.