Sheep Meadow

Sheep Meadow (April 2004)

Sheep Meadow is a 15-acre (61,000 m2) preserve located at the west side of Central Park from 66th to 69th Streets in Manhattan, New York City. It has a long history as a gathering place for large scale demonstrations and political movements. It is currently a favorite spot for families, sunbathers, picnickers, kite flyers, and other visitors to come relax and admire the New York City skyline.

The Sheep Meadow is open from April to mid-October dawn to dusk in fair weather. This open area is very popular and can draw up to 30,000 people a day, and in 2009, Doug Blonsky, president of the Central Park Conservancy, stated that there have been lines to get into the meadow.[1]

Construction

The Sheep Meadow was the largest open meadow feature in the original plan for Central Park, as it was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. The open space had been a requirement of the design competition for Central Park, which specified a parade ground for the civic function of militia drills and military exhibitions. Olmsted and Vaux's winning "Greensward", a nineteenth-century term for broad open lawns,[2] offered a reduced parade ground, sited towards the western side of the proposed park.[3]

The Sheep Meadow fills the area north of the 65th Street sunken Transverse Road and west of the Central Drive

When the location of the Sheep Meadow was decided, some small communities of poorer New Yorkers were uprooted: including Irish, Germans and African-Americans.[4] To produce the almost 15 acres (61,000 m2) of "level or but slightly undulating ground" in the specifications, 10 acres (40,000 m2) poorly draining ground was filled to a depth of two feet with fill from New Jersey. Additionally, disruptive boulders and a rocky ridge that stood sixteen feet out of the finished grade were blasted out, and the reshaped landscape was covered with topsoil.[5] Sheep Meadow was the most costly construction undertaken in the new park.[2] Few sunbathers today realize the effort that created this "natural" grassy terrain. This meadow was the largest meadow in Central Park until the old reservoir was emptied in 1929 and made into the Great Lawn in 1935.[6]

Grazing sheep

After the design competition was over, Olmsted and Vaux managed to convince the commissioners that a quiet park landscape was perhaps not the best place for military displays. After the expansive open area was created, visitors were usually not allowed to walk on it. Olmsted and Vaux believed that the introduction of sheep enhanced the romantic English quality of the park and to re-enforce the quiet nature of the "Greensward", 200 sheep were added in 1864. The flock of pedigree Southdown (and later Dorset) [7] sheep were used and housed in a fanciful Victorian building or "Sheepfold" created by Jacob Wrey Mould under the direction of Calvert Vaux.[7] The animals served a practical purpose as well—they trimmed the grass and fertilized the lawn. A sheep crossing was built across the drive in 1870 and twice a day a shepherd would hold up carriage traffic, and later automobiles, as he drove the animals to and from the meadow.

Usage

Sheep grazed the meadow until 1934, when Robert Moses, the city's parks commissioner, moved them to Prospect Park in Brooklyn; later, they were again transported to the safety of the Catskill Mountains.[8] There was fear for the sheep's safety by hungry folk during the great depression. Officials were concerned that starving men would turn the sheep into lunch.[9] After the sheep had been banished to Brooklyn the Sheepfold was converted into what later became the Tavern on the Green restaurant. In 1992, a consortium of cheese producers brought a flock of sheep to graze on the meadow as a promotional stunt; they also pledged to finance the meadow's maintenance through 1993.[10][11]

Sheep's Meadow then had two large scale restoration efforts:

A 360-degree panorama of the restoration work results can be seen.[15]

Notable uses

Large-scale uses

Sheep Meadow has held many large scale events and people have gathered for many uses. In the 1960s and the 1970s Sheep Meadow was used for events of unprecedented scale. The large scale outdoor concerts including those of the New York Philharmonic, Vietnam protests, and hippie "love-ins" were attended by hundreds of thousands of people and the lush green grass of the Sheep Meadow became mutilated by the massive crowds.[16]

During this time, the Parks Department, with limited funding, opened the Park to any and all activities that would bring people into it—regardless of their impact and without adequate management oversight or maintenance follow-up. Some events became important milestones, fondly remembered by participants. However, lacking proper maintenance, they also significantly damaged the greensward through erosion and addition of unwanted substances, such as broken glass.[17]

In the 21st century the open space of Sheep Meadow is fenced and protected from overuse. Signs are posted in many locations warn that the following are not allowed: Team Sports, Ballplaying, Bike Riding, Skating, Glass Bottles, and Dogs.[18] On wet days the gates are not opened.

Past large events

107th Infantry Memorial

Past large events and current use have included:

Emergency uses

At times the Meadow has been used for emergency helicopter air operations.

At least one child is recorded to have been born in Sheep's Meadow:

View of empty meadow in winter

Features

On July 24, 2007, the Meadow was the first of Central Park's areas to go high speed. Park officials said the wireless Internet service in that part of the park was upgraded to 15 megabits per second from the previous rate of 3 Mbit/s... "feel free to hop onto the Information Superhighway at full speed. "[36]

In 1865, Olmsted and Vaux added a new feature to enhance the park's attractions and convenience. Vaux (working with his assistant, architect Jacob Wrey Mould) designed the Moorish-style Mineral Springs Pavilion at the northwestern edge of the Sheep Meadow.[37] The Mineral Spring Pavilion had cusped arches supported on slender colonnettes, and flaring, complex roofs, reminiscent of Saracenic architecture.[38] In 1957, Moses demolished the structure.[39]

Statues include:

In 1970, Garry Winogrand took a black-and-white photo of a peace demonstration, which shows thousands of just-released balloons floating over a sea of Vietnam War protesters. In 2005, Mayor Bloomberg hosted the opening of the project by Christo and Jeanne-Claude's entitled the "Gates" to Central Park. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg raised a long metal pole to release fabric from the top of a gate in the Sheep Meadow.[40]

With permission, production activity is permitted on the Sheep Meadow only when it is open. The meadow is open for production in dry weather from May through October, from 11 am to dusk.[41] Beginning in 1908, with Romeo and Juliet, films have used Sheep Meadow as their backdrop for love scenes, large-scale song-and-dance numbers, car chases, and – in Ghostbusters – even for a monster's rampage through Tavern on the Green.[42]

References

  1. Seifman, David (2009-08-18). "New York City Residents Crowd Central Park, Creating Lines For Sheep Meadow". NYPOST.com. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  2. 1 2 "Central Park Highlights - Sheep Meadow : New York City Department of Parks & Recreation". Nycgovparks.org. 1969-07-20. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  3. Rosenzweig, Roy, and Elizabeth Blackmar. The Park and the People: A History of Central Park. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1992:142f.
  4. "researchd".
  5. Rosenzweig and Blackmar 1992:165
  6. "New York Travel Books and Pictures". Siamaffiliate.com. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  7. 1 2 https://web.archive.org/web/20090708193116/http://www.centralparknyc.org/site/PageServer?pagename=virtualpark_southend_sheepmeadow. Archived from the original on July 8, 2009. Retrieved October 21, 2009. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. "Sheep Meadow | Your Complete Guide to Central Park". Centralpark.com. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  9. "Big Apple History . New York Living . Bread Lines | PBS KIDS GO!". Pbskids.org. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  10. "CHRONICLE". 26 September 1992.
  11. http://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/28/nyregion/disney-can-use-park-meadow-closed-to-public.html
  12. "Music history for July 31 from". On-This-Day.com. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  13. "Media Advisories : A Turn of a Spigot Unleashes a Stunning Display of Cascading Water Throughout Sheep Meadow - : New York City Department of Parks & Recreation". Nycgovparks.org. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  14. "Daily Plant Newsletter: The Sheep Meadow to Be Watered with a New Sprinkler System - : New York City Department of Parks & Recreation". Nycgovparks.org. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  15. "Sheep Meadow".
  16. "Sheep Meadow: CW66-69". Centralpark2000.com. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  17. "Central Park: Definition from". Answers.com. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  18. Signs, image on Bridge and Tunnel Club website
  19. "Central Park Sheep Meadow • 7th Regiment • Cocktail Party Ideas". Shadesoffun.com. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  20. [ Displaying Abstract ] (1917-10-26). "20,000 Marchers in Loan Pageant - Mighty Engines of War Bring Cheers from Throngs Who See Fifth Ave. Parade. Acclaim the British Tank: Italians from the Air Conduct Sentimental Bombardment-BannersTell of Work Done. British Tank the Favorite. Thirty-seven Bands in Line. Mayor Detained at Flag Raising. Still Marching at Dark. - Article - NYTimes.com". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  21. 1 2 "Presidents in Parks : New York City Department of Parks & Recreation". Nycgovparks.org. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  22. "Sheep Meadow". Barbratimeless.com. 1968-09-16. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  23. 1 2 "Peace, Love and Central Park". His373.tripod.com. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  24. "National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam Records (DG 075), Swarthmore College Peace Collection". Swarthmore.edu. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  25. Friday, Apr. 21, 1967 (1967-04-21). "The People: The Dilemma of Dissent". TIME. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  26. "Department Of Parks & Recreation" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  27. Archived August 31, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  28. 1 2 Barron, James (1998-03-28). "Disney Can Use Park Meadow Closed to Public". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  29. "New York's Largest Water Fight - Sheep Meadow, New York | Going.com". Newyork.going.com. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  30. "Video Central Park New Year Fireworks 2007 broadband van Brian's Authentic Myspace - Myspace Video". Vids.myspace.com. 2007-01-11. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  31. "Agent Kaye's Page - The Urban Prankster Network". Improveverywhere.ning.com. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  32. Heller, Susan (1986-08-07). "New York Day by Day - New York Day by Day - Up in the Sheep Meadow". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  33. http://friendsofmeigs.org/background/Meigs_Field_Anti-Terrorism_Defense.PDF
  34. "When Sheep Ruled Central Park". Modern Farmer.
  35. "Dreamart Ltd". Nyfilmvideo.com. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  36. "CentralParkHistory.com". CentralParkHistory.com. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  37. "New York Architecture Images- SEARCH- central park". Nyc-architecture.com. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  38. "oof 9" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  39. "New York Architecture Images- Christo's Gates". Nyc-architecture.com. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  40. "Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre & Broadcasting - Permits". NYC.gov. 2011-02-16. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
  41. 1 2 Piazza, Jo (2008-08-15). "Central Park's on a movie role". New York: Nydailynews.com. Retrieved 2011-04-22.
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