In 1977, the City created a new agency to manage its water supply and wastewater treatment and to regulate air quality, noise, and hazardous materials: the Department of Environmental Protection. DEP inherited the infrastructure, responsibilities, and documentation of many predecessor agencies dating back to the 1840s. That documentation comprises the bulk of the DEP archives and is still used in planning capital construction and rehabilitation projects, as well as watershed land management, facilities maintenance, and other operations.

The Beresford, ca. 1913. The Beresford was an apartment hotel built from 1889-1892 on the northwest corner of 81st Street and and Central Park West. It was superceded by the Beresford Apartments, built 1928-29.

Tanner's Spring, 1897. Tanner's Spring is one of two still-active springs in Central Park. Today it doesn't look like much more than a murky pond or large puddle, but the spring has an interesting 19th-century history. In 1825 free African Americans began buying land in an area between 82nd and 89th Streets and Seventh and Eighth Avenues. The community grew to become Seneca Village and this spring provided the residents with water. The community was evicted in 1857 in preparation for the construction of Central Park. In 1880 the spring got its name when Dr. Henry S. Tanner, a proponent of therapeutic fasting, began a 40-day fast (under observation) with his only nourishment coming from the water at this spring. Local lore then developed that this water source contained some magically concentrated nutrients.

12-16 West 86th Street, ca. 1913. Designed by Alexander Welch, for speculative developers William and Thomas Hall, the row mansions were constructed in 1910. No. 14 (at center) was designed in the neo-Renaissance style, while no. 16 (at right) is neo-Georgian.

The Swedish style building seen here in Central Park arrived from Scandinavia in 1876 as Sweden’s exhibit for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. Following the close of the fair, Central Park planner Frederick Law Olmsted brought the structure, which was modeled on a schoolhouse, to the park. Similar to often structures in Central Park, the Swedish Cottage has hosted a number of tenants and functions. In its first 75 years, it was home to a tool house, a library, and Central Park's entomological laboratory, as well as headquarters for the Civil Defense during World War II. In 1947, the quaint building became the home of the Marionette Theater. From that time to the present day the marionette performances both here and in schools around the city have delighted generations of New York children.

Central Park Obelisk, 1899. The obelisk, affectionately known as “Cleopatra’s Needle” (though its construction was not related to the historical Cleopatra), was a gift to the United States in recognition of friendly relations. The obelisk was installed in February 1881.

Cleopatra’s Needle, as it has long been known, stands approximately 70 feet high on the east side of Central Park, behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art near 83rd Street. It is the city’s oldest man-made public sculpture. Cleopatra’s Needle is one of a pair of granite obelisks (the other today sits on the banks of the Thames in London) from the Temple of the Sun in Heliopolis (modern-day Cairo) built to commemorate the 40th year of the reign of Thothmes III (1476-1425 BCE). In 12 BCE, Roman Emperor Augustus moved the obelisks to Alexandria. In 1869, the Khedive of Egypt gave Cleopatra’s Needle to the United States after the opening of the Suez Canal. Because of the challenging logistics, it took over a decade to arrange its transport, which was overseen by Lieutenant Commander Henry Honneychurch Gorringe (1841-1885). The project included the construction of a specially-designed railroad track, for which William H. Vanderbilt donated over $100,000, for transport up the Hudson River. When the obelisk was officially installed in New York City in January of 1881, tens of thousands of people turned up to see it in person, and manufacturers and retailers responded to this enthusiasm by producing souvenirs and memorabilia related to the event. One such example, a bronze model of the obelisk, is included in the Museum of the City of New York’s collection. The model was designed by Gorringe and cast and retailed by Tiffany & Company. Its lengthy inscription honors Henry George Stebbins (1811-1881), president of the Central Park Commission in 1880-1881 and a founder of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vanderbilt’s donation, and Gorringe’s leadership in engineering its transport and erection. Since the obelisk’s installation, the City of New York, its caretaker, has made efforts to preserve its structure and make its history accessible to the public. In 1940, then-Parks Commissioner Robert Moses commissioned The New~York Historical Society to create a permanent plaque commemorating the monument’s history. Throughout the twentieth century, the surface of the obelisk degraded. In early 2011, Egypt’s then-Minister of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, wrote to the Parks department imploring it to take measures to protect the obelisk from environmental factors that he believed were contributing to its degradation. He went as far as to imply that Egypt’s government would move to have the obelisk returned to Egypt if no action was taken. In 2014 the Central Park Conservancy worked on a half-million dollar conservation program for the monument which cleaned and stabilized its structure so it may “endure as a testament to the genius of a vanished civilization, an awe-inspiring tower holding its own on an island of modern skyscrapers.”

The Beresford ARCHITECT: Emery Roth DATE: 1928-29 STYLE: Renaissance The Beresford Apartments, completed in 1929 and designed by Emery Roth, then at the pinnacle of his career as a specialist in apartment house design, is one of the largest and grandest of the apartment buildings along Central Park West. Prominently located at the corner of 81st Street across from the American Museum of Natural History, it takes full advantage of its site, with two monumental facades crowned by corner towers. Executed in brick with limestone and terra-cotta detailing, the Beresford is distinctively ornamented with a sculptural program of late Renaissance inspiration which features winged cherubs, angels, dolphins and rams’ heads, along with elaborate cartouches, festoons, rosettes and finials. Its vast scale and dramatic profile make the Beresford one of the most important elements on the Central Park West skyline, as well as a reminder of the heyday of luxury apartment building in New York.

Belvedere Castle Belvedere Castle is one of Central Park's five visitor centers. Calvert Vaux, co-designer of the Park, created the miniature castle in 1869 as a whimsical structure looking out on the reservoir to the north (now the Great Lawn) and the Ramble to the south. Belvedere provides the highest and best views of the Park and the adjacent cityscape. The castle's name is fitting, because it translates to "beautiful view" in Italian. "Right now, the temperature in Central Park is...." That information, heard frequently on radio and TV, originates here at Belvedere Castle. Since 1919, the National Weather Service has taken measurements of New York's weather from the castle's tower with the aid of scientific instruments that measure wind speed and direction. In a fenced-in compound just south of the castle, other weather data such as rainfall are recorded and sent to the weather service's forecast office at Brookhaven National Library on Long Island. After decades of deterioration, Central Park Conservancy renovated and reopened the castle in 1983 as a visitor center and gift shop.

Looking over Turtle Pond to Belvedere Castle and Vista Rock, c. 1976. Vista Rock is a 130 feet high formation of Manhattan schist. It is the second highest outcrop in Central Park. The massive rock formation sits in the path of the 79th Street Traverse, one of the four roads that Olmsted and Vaux designed for the Park. To complete the planned roadway, gunpowder was used to blow out the path for a tunnel. The Vista Rock Tunnel is 146 feet long, 40 feet wide, and just under 18 feet at the center.

King Jagiello monument, Central Park, ca. 1976. Created for the Polish pavilion at the 1939 World's Fair, the monument is a replica of a statue which stood in Warsaw, before being melted down for bullets during the Nazi occupation. It depicts Władysław II Jagiełło, the 14th and 15th century Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland.

By Justin Martin Once Frederick Law Olmsted and his mentor, the British-American architect and landscape designer Calvert Vaux received the nod to proceed with their design for Central Park, the commissioners pressed them to move quickly. By 1858, the issue of a large park in New York had dragged on for many years. Millions had been spent obtaining the land; thousands more had been spent clearing it. To justify all this expenditure, some progress needed to be shown. The plan was to open the park to the public in stages. The board asked Olmsted and Vaux to have certain sections ready by winter so the park could receive its very first visitors, ice skaters. Read this in its original format here

West Drive, Central Park, ca. 1910.

By Cynthia Brenwall The collection of Parks Drawings at the Municipal Archives are often called the “jewel in the crown” within the holdings. It includes hundreds of exquisite plans and designs of parks throughout the city and in particular, Central Park. Originally created to illustrate the park designers’ intentions and to guide those who built the parks, many of these drawings are now considered works of art. Some are again being utilized as “working” drawings, providing essential information for on-going restoration projects in the parks. One of the most visible of the recent projects is the Belvedere Castle. The original format of this story can be found with other excellent blogs: here.

Sandhogs are urban miners and underground construction workers who’ve been tunneling through sand, mud, and bedrock for well over a century. They dug New York’s subway, traffic, sewer, and water tunnels, as well as foundations for structures like the Woolworth Building. The term “sand hogs” originated with workers digging the sandy bottom of the East River inside caissons to build the Brooklyn Bridge. Over time, the term expanded to describe any laborer working underground in the City, and became specifically tied to the Local 147 Sandhogs Union. NYC built three deep pressure tunnels through bedrock to carry water throughout the five boroughs. Placing them hundreds of feet underground kept the water supply safely below any utility and subway tunnels, and the depth required laborers who could work under often grueling and dangerous conditions.

The Beresford, 1931 The Beresford was designed by famed architect Emery Roth, who also created the plans for numerous other CPW apartment houses including The El Dorado, The San Remo, and The Ardsley. It was named for the Hotel Beresford, which had previously occupied the lot. Completed in 1929, the building was one of the most prestigious addresses for much of the 20th century. Helen Gurley Brown and her husband lived for three decades in the four-story penthouse that topped one of the three corner towers. She once said," I’m slightly prejudiced, but I think it’s the best apartment in New York." The building has been called home by a number of other famous and infamous New Yorkers, including Jerry Seinfeld, Diana Ross, and mobster Meyer Lansky.

247-249 Central Park West, ca. 1975. Constructed between 1889 and 1890, developer William Noble and architect Edward Angell created a row of nine Queen Anne style homes. The buildings which ran from nos. 241 to 249, were speculatively built, intended for wealthy families. These grand homes facing Central Park spared no expense; they included stained glass, gargoyles, angled staircases, turrets, and balconies. The Real Estate Record & Builders’ Guide described the row as perhaps too whimsical, taking offense at their “giddiness.” Being the corner building, no. 249 (at right) was perhaps the most fanciful of the homes, with a faceted tower topped by a conical tiled cap and false balconies. It was first purchased by by wallpaper manufacturer Frederick Beck and hosted his daughter's extravagant society wedding in 1890. In 1914 it was owned by clergyman Luther Albert Swope and his wife, who came from a wealthy New York family. The home passed to a Swope nephew in 1930 and was sold in 1974. By that time some of the facade had been stripped of its ornamentation, it had been painted (!) white, the interior had been converted to apartments, and all of its neighbors (save no. 247 next door) had been demolished. Around 1990 the paint was striped to work on the facade which had begun to crumble. In 2006 the home was sold for $14.4 million and a conversion back to a single family house was undertaken. Amazingly, though the upper floors have been gutted, much of the original interiors of the lower floors remain intact, including an entirely oak-paneled dining room.

241 Central Park West, date unknown. Built between 1930-31 and designed by Schwartz & Gross, the 19-story Art Deco building is clad in brick and cast stone. The architecture firm was well-known for their apartment houses, particularly in Morningside Heights.