Visual Guided Tours of New York City

Southeast section, just west of Grand Army Plaza; Central Park South (59th street) to 62nd street. Work on the park began 1858, the vision of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, following approval by the N.Y. State Legislature five years earlier.

This was taken from the little bridge you see as you enter the park. There's the Plaza Hotel once again.

The green plant covering some of the surface of the Pond is duckweed, often mistaken for algae. It is beneficial to the Pond's inhabitants and helps keep noxious plants from taking over.

Paths, Roads and Bridges: Central Park has 58 miles of paths. The Park has many tunnels and bridges to accommodate traffic, park vehicles and pedestrians. You can drive across the park (east-west) about every 10 blocks at any time, day or night. Other drives in the park are closed to vehicles during non-peak hours. These include a circular drive near the perimeter as well as a few north-south drives below 72nd street. The park drives have lanes for biking, jogging and roller-blading as well as for cars, and are used by people for exercise at all hours of the day.

The Hallett Nature Sanctuary is west of the Pond. Central Park has 270 species of migratory birds.

Central Park South (59th) has large monuments honoring South American heroes Simon Bolivar, Jose Julian Marti, and Jose de San Martin.