Central Park Attractions

Belvedere Castle
Mid-Park at 79th Street The Castle is located in the middle of Central Park at 79th Street. Since it was built on Central Park's highest natural elevation, you can see the Turtle Pond, the Great Lawn, and the Delacorte Theater, the as well as the rest of the park and the buildings that surround it. Belvedere Castle is now the home of the U.S. Weather Bureau as well as the Henry Luce Nature Observatory, The US Weather Bureau has had its automated meteorological equipment located at the castle since 1919. That's why they refer to the temperature in Central Park.

Strawberry Fields
West Side between 71st and 74th Streets When John Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono lived in the nearby Dakota on 72nd Street and Central Park West, they adopted this landscape as their favorite oasis in the Park.

The Boathouse in Central Park
E. 72nd St. and Park Drive North ( enter at 72nd Tt. & 5th Ave). Manhattan; info P.O. Box 1357, Gracie Station NYC 10028; (212)517-3623 or 988-0576. Central Park Lake boating. Venetian gondola rides, bike rentals till Spm. Seven days, Mar-Nov.

The Charles A. Dana Discovery Center, NorthEnd
Inside the Park at 110th Street and Lenox Avenue Perched on the northern shore of the Harlem Meer, the Park's northernmost body of water, is Central Park's newest building, which opened to the public in 1993. The Charles A. Dana Discovery Center so effectively follows Calvert Vaux's eclectic architectural style that you have to look very closely to note its modern-day origin. The Dana Center serves as the Upper Park's visitor center and is home to a wide variety of the Central Park Conservancy's free family and community programs.

Tavern on the Green
West Side between 66th and 67th Streets With a half million patrons a year Tavern on the Green must be doing something right. Once home to Central Park's flock of sheep and its shepherd (see Sheep Meadow) the building was converted in the 1930s into a restaurant. But it wasn't until 1976, when Warner LeRoy became the proprietor, that the restaurant earned its current popularity.

Conservatory Garden North End
The Gardens of Europe in Manhattan East Side from 104th-106th Streets; Six lush acres of Central Park’s only formal garden, with the most varied collection of flora in Manhattan.

Carousel
The Classic Childhood Memory Mid-Park at 64th Street Central Park's first carousel was built in 1870 and, according to Park lore, was turned by a blind mule and a horse. Whether this story is apocryphal or true, there is no question that the Carousel quickly became one of the Park's most popular features.