Ella (Fitzgerald) sings “Autumn in new york…Why does it seem so inviting…” Louis (Armstrong) follows “On the benches in central park…Great autumn in new york…Its good to live it again…”

What makes Central Park so inviting in the Fall months?
There are many obvious reasons including breath-taking fall colors of the elms, pine, oaks and locusts; artfully placed benches, terraces, lakes and ponds (think reflection – double the foliage) leaving you to appreciate every moment and every step you take in the park. For me, it’s the immediate stress relief from the day to day life in NYC and unless you live close to the park, it is likely you will experience some form of stress just getting to the park.

The Science
Bill Berliner is the Central Park Conservancy’s Associate Vice-President of Horticulture and knows the facts about fall. “Three factors influence leaf color — leaf pigments, length of day, and weather. As days grow shorter and nights grow longer and cooler, biochemical processes in the leaves take place. Leaves lose their green when chlorophyll production slows and finally breaks down, allowing other pigments in the leaf to show through.” Which is why November is the best month to see fall foliage in Central Park this year.

The Players
Maples, Oaks, Pine, Elm, Gingkos are just a few of the diverse tree types in Central Park. Keep this in mind as you walk through the park.

The Locations – Top 3 Best Places
1. Great Hill and the Ravine in the North End – 103rd to 105th Street on the West side of the Park
The North End is the considerably more rugged area of the park north of the Reservoir. Covered in acres of woodlands, Great Hill is a rare meadow sitting amongst a true deciduous forest of elm, oak, hickory, maple, and ash. Walk down the slope to the Ravine where you’ll find arches and streams and some of NYC’s hidden waterfalls. With the city’s skyline no where to be seen and surrounded by vast natural beauty, this fall foliage experience is as good as being in the Adirondacks!

2. The Mall – 66th to 70th Street on the East side of the Park
The Mall is the grand promenade of Central Park, a 40-foot-wide walkway surrounded on each side by quadruple rows of American Elm, providing a living cathedral ceiling high over the walkway. These giant Elms offer a lime green shade in the summer and as autumn’s yellow and gold leaves fall, they reveal the bold architecture of the trees’ skeletons. Directly east of Sheep Meadow and stretching north to Bethesda Terrace, the Mall is breathtaking in any season. Benches line the mall for strollers to relax or socialize and let go of the hustle and bustle of the big city.

3. Bow Bridge & The Lake – 74th Street in the middle of the Park
Our last location to experience fall foliage in Central Park is the surrounding area around the Lake. In particular by the handsome cast-iron suspending bridge is the shape of an archer’s bow. Connecting the areas of the Ramble and Cherry Hill, the bow bridge is a famous romantic setting in NYC and a signature design feature of Central Park. The lake provides such beauty in reflection of the bridge and the foliage.

With only one month left before the leaves fall and the freezing winds of winter around the corner, I prescribe to you the medication for curing the headaches from your high-stress job and the rush of your every day life – take a walk through Central Park and enjoy autumn in New York!

Central Park extends from Fifth Avenue to Central Park West and 59th Street to 110th Street in over 6 miles of perimeter. With 136 acres of woodlands, 250 acres of lawns, and 150 acres of water, it’s no wonder visiting the Park in one day is physically impossible. Central Park is divided into four sections: South End, Great Lawn, The Reservoir, and North End. So where is the heart of Central Park? Only have a few hours to spare? Let Islandwoo Tips be your guide…

Conservatory “Model Boat” Pond
Entering the park on the east side between 72nd and 75th Streets, you will discover the Conservatory Pond. Named after the site’s original plans for a conservatory of tropical flowers, the pond was added and modeled after the model boat ponds of Paris. Today, you’ll find just that: radio-controlled model sail boats gliding across the water seeking your attention. Nearby you’ll find children climbing a bronze sculpture of “Alice in Wonderland.” Continuing due west from the pond is the famous Loeb Lake…

Loeb Boathouse
Lunch or dinner at the restaurant and cafe overlooking Loeb Lake, bike rentals, row boat / kayak rentals, and even an authentic Venetian gondola ride can all be experienced here at Loeb Boathouse.
Row boat and Kayak rentals: March through October, weather permitting: Daily 10:00 a.m. – 5 p.m. $12 first hour and $3 each additional 15 minutes, $30 cash deposit required; up to four people per boat. The lines can be long on a weekend afternoon so prepare early.
Bicycle Rental: $9 to $15 per hour; Must leave credit card, driver’s license or passport as deposit.

Bethesda Terrace and Fountain
In their master plan for Central Park, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux proposed an architectural “Heart of the Park” defined by a sweeping Promenade that would culminate in a Terrace overlooking Loeb Lake. They have accomplished just that with Bethesda Terrace where from the upper terrace, visitors can look across at the Lake; and from the lower terrace, sit around one of the most photographed fountains in the world, “Angel of the Waters” or Bethesda Fountain, as it is often called. Continuing south, the promenade or “the Mall” leads you to Naumburg Bandshell and nearby Roller Skating…

Roller Skating (Disco Skating)
The “skate circle” is home to some serious roller skating / dancing! Open to the public, roller skaters not only skate in a circle, they dance (on skates) to disco music! Look out for some outrageous costumes and synchronized dancing. The video below captures the spirit of an afternoon in the skate circle.

Beach Volleyball
You heard me right. Just south of the “skate circle,” an elevated beach volleyball court with sand! is part of three volleyball courts bordering Sheep Meadow on the east. Surprisingly beach volleyball (with imported sand) can also be played at the Water Taxi Beach across the river in Queens. No shoes, shirts optional and open to the public.

Sheep Meadow
This 15 acre lush meadow was indeed once inhabited by sheep from 1864 until 1934. Today it is one of New York’s best places to relax with a blanket with friends or loved ones. You’ll find kites and frisbees flying, guitars playing, and much much more. Whatever the activity, New Yorkers love to relax and sunbathe on this over-sized piece of heaven. Did you know that the first landing on the moon was televised to a large crowd at Sheep Meadow in 1969?!

Islandwoo’s quick 30 second video recap…

Experience more:
Music of Central Park
Running in Central Park

The Brooklyn Bridge spans over one mile connecting Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan and offering pedestrians who walk and bike across the bridge spectacular views of city skylines. Recently one of the four NYC Waterfalls is constructed underneath the Brooklyn Bridge visible from the Manhattan side.

Although walking across the Brooklyn Bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan offers a more dramatic skyline view, the opposite path is equally charming. How else are you going to get to the Brooklyn Bridge Park for Movies with a View? Of course be sure to stop once in a while and turn around to soak in the views.

Pedestrian access to the Brooklyn Bridge from the Brooklyn side is from either Tillary/Adams Streets (in between the auto entrance/exit), or a staircase on Prospect St between Cadman Plaza East and West. In Manhattan, the pedestrian walkway is accessible from the end of Centre Street, or through the unpaid south staircase of Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall IRT subway station.

The Brooklyn Bridge has a wide pedestrian walkway open to walkers and cyclists, in the center of the bridge and higher than the automobile lanes. While the bridge has always permitted the passage of pedestrians across its span, its role in allowing thousands to cross takes on a special importance in times of difficulty when usual means of crossing the East River have become unavailable.

During transit strikes by the Transport Workers Union in 1980 and 2005 the bridge was used by people commuting to work, with Mayors Koch and Bloomberg crossing the bridge as a gesture to the affected public. Following the 1965, 1977 and 2003 Blackouts and most famously after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center, the bridge was used by people in Manhattan to leave the city after subway service was suspended.

Related Post: Scooting over the Brooklyn Bridge

Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge is a great experience for anyone. Scooting over the Brooklyn Bridge is a unique experience that is becoming more common as New Yorkers look for more effective ways of navigating around the city.

Come along for a exciting ride on a Vespa across the Brooklyn Bridge, under the Manhattan Bridge and glimpse at the NYC Waterfalls in the evening sky.

This post is inspired by the recent hoopla over the $15.5M installation of four “New York City Waterfalls” created by the Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson placed along the East River.

As many of you know, New York City is already home to numerous man-made waterfalls ranging from naturally set waterfalls in Central Park to waterfalls inside Midtown’s most prominent office towers, rental properties and hotels to waterfalls inside NYC Restaurants such as Rosa Mexicano and Highline in Manhattan and East Buffet in Elmhurst, Queens.

The most notable NYC waterfalls are:

• Central Park Waterfalls (100th to 105th street) – “Waterfall in the Loch” (at the footsteps of a wonderful hiking trail through Central Park in the Fall)

• Japanese Hill & Pond Garden Waterfalls in the Brooklyn Botanical Garden

• Bronx River Waterfall in the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx

• Paley Park’s 20 foot waterfall on 53rd Street and 5th Avenue (taken with my iPhone)

• Hearst Tower “Ice Falls” on 57th Street and 8th Ave – a cascading waterfall at the entrance of the building spanning 27 feet tall and 75 feet wide over glass.  Water is recycled from rain-water collected on the roof of the building that is piped to a 14,000 gallon tank in the basement

• Olympic Tower Three-tiered waterfall on 5th Ave btw 51st and 5nd streets

• Trump Tower Waterfall on 5th Ave and 57th street – a 7-story, 20 foot wide waterfall down a rose granite surface

• W Time Square Hotel Waterfall on Broadway and 47th Street – Guests wait for the elevator under a glass bottom of a pool that diverts water down a transparant wall

• Aon Center/Park Plaza Waterfall on 52nd Street and Madison Ave – a granite backed cascade waterfall that is 40 foot wide

Please feel free to comment and add your own NYC waterfall to this list!

New York City artist Jeff Koons is known for his flawless execution, transforming everyday objects and fantasies into high art. He is also known for his public sculptures, such as the monumental floral sculpture Puppy, shown at Rockefeller Center and permanently installed at the Guggenheim Bilbao, and Split-Rocker, exhibited at the Papal Palace in Avignon, France. Most recently, in 2006, Balloon Flower (Red) was unveiled at 7 World Trade Center in New York City.

His current exhibition ‘Jeff Koons on the Roof’ on the Cantor Roof Garden, the rooftop garden at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, NY can be seen until October 26, 2008. Included in the exhibition is his art piece “Sacred Heart,” (and as Danny kindly pointed out) not to be confused with “Hanging Heart” which on November 14, 2007 sold at Sotheby’s auction house for $23.6 million – the most expensive piece by a living artist ever auctioned, at the time. It was bought by the Gagosian Gallery. Below are pictures and a video tour of ‘Jeff Koons on the Roof’ exhibit.

Islandwoo Tips to make your trip to the Cantor Roof Garden better: Open only May through October and closed Mondays. Go on a Friday or Saturday evening (roof garden closes at 8:30pm) and you can enjoy a memorable sunset over-looking central park and the manhattan skyline. Any other night the garden is closed at 4:30pm. Grab a drink or sandwich from ‘the bar’ and soak in the sculptures outdoors!

Jeff Koons’ Balloon Flower (Red) at 7 World Trade Center on Vesey Street in New York City (just north of the World Trade Center)

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