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Central Park
Leave the noisy, crowded concrete city behind and enter the peaceful, green world of Central Park for an hour-long pedicab tour.
Our very friendly tour guide and pedicab operator will take you to the most famous attractions in the park and tell you everything about each one of them:
- Victorian Garden amusement park and ice-skating rink in winter
- Chess and checkers house
- The oldest carousel in the city
- Dairy house from the Great Depression
- Central Park Mall with its gorgeous American elm trees
- Statue of a very special dog, Balto
- Upper East Side’s history and "Gossip Girl" filming locations
- Famous SummerStage from Good Morning America
- Remote control boats from the movie "Stuart Little"
- Pilgrim Hill
- Worldwide famous Bethesda Fountain from dozens of movies including "Home Alone 2"
- Turtle Lake and Boathouse with its gondolas
- Bow Bridge
- Strawberry Fields and the Dakota building
- Sheep Meadow (Manhattan Green Beach)
- Bridge from the movie "Elf"
- The largest playground in the park
Duration: 60 minutes
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Central Park Carousel
Originally crafted in 1908 by Solomon Stein and Harry Goldstein, the current Carousel is one of the nation's largest merry-go-rounds, featuring 57 hand-carved horses and two decorative chariots. While still in working condition, it is over 100 years old and has undergone many rounds of repair and maintenance.
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Chess & Checkers House was built in 1952 to offer visitors of all ages a space to play games. Surrounding the octagonal brick structure are 24 game tables shaded by a wooden trellis
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Wollman Rink
From Movies: Serendipity, Rayn-o-Nyle, Home Alone 2. Wollman Rink is a public ice rink in the southern part of Central Park, Manhattan, New York City. It is named after the Wollman family who donated the funds for its original construction. The rink is open for ice skating from late October to early April
Duration: 5 minutes
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Gapstow Bridge
From films Home Alone 2, Gossip Girls, Jersey Girl, King Kong. It rustic stone construction, much of which is covered in vines, blends in with the surrounding landscape. The bridge brings visitors over the narrow neck of the Pond and is also a popular spot for enjoying an overview of scenery and taking photographs. From films Home Alone, Jersey Girl, King Kong
Duration: 3 minutes
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Famous place from movie Home Alone 2 (pigeon lady). The picturesque Pond, a 3.8-acre lake, was placed on the site of steep rock outcrops and a natural brook that came from the west side of Manhattan Island and emptied into the East River. In Olmsted and Vaux’s original plan, the area around the Pond was carefully designed to take the visitor through ever-changing scenery.
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Central Park Zoo
From Movie Madagascar, Mr Popper's Pinguin. The Central Park Zoo is a 6.5-acre zoo located at the southeast corner of Central Park in New York City. It is part of an integrated system of four zoos and one aquarium managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society.
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Balto Statue
National Hero Siberian Husky Dog From Movie Balto. Statue from 1925. A bronze statue of Balto by Frederick Roth is installed in Central Park, Manhattan, New York. Balto was an Alaskan husky and sled dog belonging to musher and breeder Leonhard Seppala.
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Rumsey Playfield
Good Morning America Show Summer Stage. Located on a hill overlooking the Concert Ground, the site originally featured a restaurant created by Park co-designer Calvert Vaux, which was known as the Casino. (The restaurant did not host any gambling; the name means “little house” in Italian.). In the 1920s, the modest building had become run-down and was replaced by a more elaborate structure in the Art Deco style that became a well-known, glitzy nightclub. Deemed too elitist by Parks Commissioner Robert Moses, it was razed in 1937 and a playground (named for Mary Harriman Rumsey, a well-known philanthropist and social reformer) created in its place. The Mother Goose statue, which marks the playfield entrance, was added at this time. The playground was not well-used and fell into disrepair. In the 1980s, the Central Park Conservancy converted it into a sports field for older children. SummerStage moved from the Naumburg Bandshell to the Rumsey Playfield in 1990.
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Conservatory Water
From Movie Stuart little. Its main feature is an ornamental pond, also known as the Model Boat Pond, where children and hobbyists launch and race miniature sailboats and yachts. These are stored and rented at the nearby Kerbs Boathouse, which also houses a cafe. The edges of the water, lined with benches, are popular spots for relaxing and watching boats and people. The area also draws visitors to two significant statues: Alice in Wonderland, one of the most popular statues in the Park, and the monument to the children’s book author Hans Christian Andersen. In the winter, when the water freezes all the way through, the pond is also open for ice skating
Duration: 1 minutes
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From Movie Made in Manhattan. This wide, straight path lined by two rows of American elm trees was designed by Park designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux as a formal promenade and gathering space. Like many areas of the Park, visitors can experience this landscape in largely the same way they would have in the 19th century: strolling, sitting, people-watching, listening to music, contemplating monuments, and admiring trees.
Duration: 5 minutes
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From Movies: Sex In The City, 27 Dresses. With their 1858 landscaping plan under construction, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux began adding architectural features to their Park design. Around 1874, Vaux designed a two-story boathouse at the eastern end of the Lake. Here visitors could purchase refreshments, take boat rides. After this wooden Victorian structure with sloping mansard roof burned down, the current Boathouse took its place in 1956. Today Boathouse visitors can enjoy a meal in any season, with overhead heating helping to extend as long as possible the pleasure of dining on the deck overlooking the Lake
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Bethesda Fountain
Bethesda Fountain is the central feature on the lower level of the terrace. The pool is centered by a fountain sculpture designed by Emma Stebbins in 1868 and unveiled in 1873. Also called the Angel of the Waters, the statue refers to the biblical healing of a disabled man at Bethesda, a story from the Gospel of John about an angel blessing the Pool of Bethesda, giving it healing powers. It was the only statue funded by the city in the original design for the park. Stebbins was the first woman to receive a public commission for a major work of art in New York City.
Duration: 10 minutes
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Bethesda Terrace
Bethesda Terrace From Movies : Gossip Girls, Home alone,Elf,Spider Man, Law and Order, 27 Dresses. Avengers, Made In Manhattan. The Mintons encaustic tiles of the arcade ceiling were removed in the 1980s renovation because the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission deemed the tiles too costly to restore. Instead, the Commission approved the commission of a ceiling mural in its place. Mayor Ed Koch declared in June 1987 that the tiles would be restored. The tiles sat in storage for more than 20 years until the Conservancy received a private donation for their restoration. The Conservancy began restoring the tiles for 7 million dollars in 2004, and the tiles were reinstalled in 2007. There are 14,000 such tiles; most of them are part of the original design
Duration: 10 minutes
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Cherry Hill Fountain is the most historical fountain in New York City's Central Park. It is located just to the west of Bethesda Fountain, enclosed in a circular plaza in Cherry Hill.
Designed by Jacob Wrey Mould and dedicated in the 1860s, the ornamental structure was originally designed as a watering trough for horses during the 19th century. The fountain consists of a granite dome and sculpted bluestone basin inset with Minton tiles. Crowning this 14 foot high tower are eight frosted round glass lamps.
Duration: 5 minutes
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This 20-acre water body connects the Ramble, Bethesda Terrace, and various west side landscapes to form what is often called the heart of Central Park. In addition to wandering its varied shoreline and appreciating its many vistas, visitors can also explore the Lake by boat thanks to rowboat rentals available at the Loeb Boathouse.
Duration: 3 minutes
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Bow Bridge
the bridge was designed by Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould, and completed in 1862. It was built by the Bronx-based iron foundry Janes, Kirtland & Co., the same company that constructed the dome of U.S. Capitol Building. The bridge was restored in 1974.The bridge was closed again in November 2023 for a two-month renovation. movies and television shows have Bow Bridge appeared in? Manhattan, The Way We Were, Spiderman 3, Highlander, Keeping the Faith, When in Rome, Made of Honor, Night at the Museum, Autumn in New York, Great Expectations, Uptown Girls, Glee.
Duration: 10 minutes
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The Falconer
The Falconer was donated to Central Park by the Irish-American businessman George Kemp in 1875. He saw the artwork while traveling in Europe and commissioned the artist, English sculptor George Blackall Simonds, to create a larger-scale version for the Park.
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Daniel Webster Monument
Daniel Webster served for nearly 40 years as a Representative, then Senator, and lastly as Secretary of State. His well-documented orations on the Constitution taught Americans their history in an era before textbooks.
The American manufacturing magnate Gordon W. Burnham donated the monument to the Park. Burnham hired the American sculptor Thomas Ball to create the monument, based on a statuette he had created that was popularly collected and displayed in American homes.
The placement of this colossal monument, which consists of a 20-foot pedestal and 14-foot figure, was controversial. Burnham wanted Webster placed at the southern end of the Mall, which had been designated as an appropriate space for monuments. However, Park designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux dismissed this idea because it would block views and compete visually with the trees. The site at the intersection of the West Drive and 72nd Street Cross Drive was chosen instead.
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Strawberry Fields, John Lennon Memorial
Strawberry Fields is a 2.5-acre (1.0 ha) landscaped section in New York City's Central Park, designed by the landscape architect Bruce Kelly, that is dedicated to the memory of former Beatles member John Lennon. It is named after the Beatles' song "Strawberry Fields Forever", written by Lennon. The song itself is named for the former Strawberry Field children's home in Liverpool, England, located near Lennon's childhood home.
Duration: 5 minutes
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The Dakota
After Clark announced plans for an apartment complex at the site in 1879, work began in late October 1880. The building was not given its name until mid-1882, and Clark died before the Dakota was completed in October 1884. The Dakota was fully rented upon its completion. The building was managed by the Clark family for eight decades and remained largely unchanged during that time. In 1961, the Dakota's residents bought the building from the Clark family and converted it into a housing cooperative. The Dakota has historically been home to many artists, actors, and musicians, including John Lennon, who was murdered outside the building on December 8, 1980. The building has remained a cooperative through the 21st century.
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This 15-acre lawn is one of the most popular destinations in the south end of the Park and ideal for relaxing, sunbathing, reading, and picnicking, as well as marveling at the contrast between the verdant Park and the towering skyline of Manhattan.
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Tavern on the Green is an American cuisine restaurant in Central Park. From its opening in 1934 to its closure in 2009, the restaurant changed ownership several times. From 2010 until 2012, the building was used as a public visitor center and gift shop run by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. After a multimillion-dollar renovation, the Tavern was reopened in 2014.T he restaurant building was originally the sheepfold for the sheep that grazed Sheep Meadow, built in 1870 based on a design by Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould. The sheep were evicted from the sheepfold in 1934 under New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks) commissioner Robert Moses
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From Movie Elf. Designed to be integrated with the landscape, it seems to emerge from rock outcrops on either end, and its lacy ironwork almost blends in with the surrounding foliage. The bridge is often photographed and is a popular spot from which to survey the surrounding landscapes and take photographs.
Duration: 1 minutes
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Heckscher Playground
Heckscher Playground is a play area located in New York City's Central Park, located close to Central Park South between Sixth Avenue and Seventh Avenue. It is the oldest and largest of Central Park's 22 playgrounds. Opened in 1926, Heckscher Playground is named for philanthropist August Hecksche
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Alice in Wonderland Statue
Included in 2 hours tour. Alice in Wonderland was a gift from the philanthropist and publisher George Delacorte. He intended the donation as a gift to the children of the City and a memorial for his recently deceased wife Margarita (1891–1956), an enthusiastic linguist and reader who helped him to establish his publishing empire. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was her favorite book to read to her children
Duration: 5 minutes
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Cleopatra's Needle
Included in 2 hours tour. Created roughly 3,500 years ago in Egypt, the Obelisk—also known as Cleopatra's Needle—was dedicated in Central Park in 1881. Standing between the Great Lawn and the Met Museum, the Obelisk is the oldest outdoor monument in NYC.
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The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Included in 2 hours tour. In 1874, the park commissioners offered the committee land in Central Park for the construction of a museum building and asked Park architect Calvert Vaux to design it. Vaux created a plan for a High Victorian Gothic building with multiple wings that spanned the area of the Park between 79th and 84th Streets and extended to the East Drive.
In 1880, the first Vaux-designed wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened to the public. Although Vaux’s master plan for the whole museum was never realized, future expansions did reach his proposed footprint. During the early 20th-century, the monumental Fifth Avenue entrance hall and façade were designed by the American architect Richard Morris Hunt. After Hunt, the architectural firm McKim, Mead and White designed five wings. Several other wings were added in the mid-century, which also saw major interior renovations.
Duration: 2 minutes
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Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir
Included in 2 hours tour. The Reservoir was built between 1858 and 1862 to provide additional capacity for the City’s first receiving reservoir, which pre-dated the Park and was located just to the south. While the original reservoir had a rectangular shape, the current Reservoir was designed with an irregular, curvilinear footprint to better harmonize with the Park. Spanning 106 acres and at 40 feet deep, the Reservoir holds more than one billion gallons of water. At the time of its construction, it was the world’s largest man-made water body. Along the shores of the Reservoir are three gatehouses, which house pipes and other infrastructure.
Duration: 5 minutes
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Belvedere Castle
Included in 2 hours tour. Belvedere Castle is a folly in Central Park in Manhattan, New York City. It contains exhibit rooms, an observation deck, and since 1919 has housed Central Park’s official weather station. Belvedere Castle was designed by Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould in 1867.
Duration: 10 minutes
