Tour: Central Park as a Work of Art

Sponsored by the Municipal Art Society. Reservations required ($20; $15 MAS members). To register, call 212-935-3960, or click here to register on-line.

Perhaps best-known of New York’s official “Scenic Landmarks,” Central Park offers New Yorkers refuge, recreation and rejuvenation; a temporary haven from a city of brick and steel, concrete and glass. And yet this park which delights us with its lakes and streams, wildflowers and grand open spaces, is almost entirely artificial, carefully designed right down to the hidden pipes feeding a rustic waterfall. Protecting the historic design is just another responsibility of the Landmarks Preservation Commission.