New York

Parks and Recreation

Extending over 341 hectares (843 acres) at the heart of the city, Central Park is one of New York's most famous landmarks. Designed by famed landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead (1822–1903), together with Calvert Vaux (1824–95), the park was laid out between 1859 and 1870. In spite of its association with some high-profile crimes, the park is still heavily used by a wide spectrum of New Yorkers, from joggers and rollerbladers to picnicking families. Special features of the park include the Central Park Zoo (and recently opened children's petting zoo), International Peace Garden, Belvedere Castle Shakespeare Garden, Conservatory Garden, and many others. Other parks in Manhattan include Battery Park, at the island's southern-most tip; Bryant Park, located behind the public library at 42nd Street; Union Square Park, Gramercy Park, and Washington Square Park.

The Bronx Zoo—one of the nation's most famous—is home to more than 4,000 animals. Over the years, the century-old facility has transferred many of its animals from cages to areas resembling their natural habitats, a change reflected in the zoo's current name: the Bronx Zoo/Wildlife Conservation Park. Also located in the Bronx is the 101-hectare (250-acre) New York Botanical Garden, the city's oldest and largest public garden. Brooklyn is home to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Prospect Park, and Flushing Meadow-Corona Park is located in Queens.

In Manhattan, Central Park is a favorite venue for recreational activities of many kinds, including jogging, inline skating, walking, frisbee, and bicycling (altogether New York has some 161 kilometers/100 miles of bicycle paths). The Chelsea Piers Sports and Entertainment Complex in the Chelsea neighborhood offers a gymnastics center, golf club, running track, roller and ice-skating rinks, and rock-climbing wall.