By Carol Tannenhauser
It’s a surreal experience walking into Central Park during or after a snowfall. It’s 12 inches deep all around you, but the Park paths are perfectly clear. You know you didn’t shovel, but who did?
“The Central Park Conservancy (CPC) [the nonprofit that cares for the Park] started snow cleanup efforts on Friday, working through the night and into the morning,” they told us by email. And they’re still working — “shoveling, plowing and clearing paved paths for people to safely explore the Park and play in the snow.”
And they made a video of it! Without further ado, here is the Central Park Conservancy 2022 Snow Clean-Up.
For anyone planning a visit to Central Park today, the CPC urges you to exercise caution in the icy and snowy winter conditions. Avoid walking on icy water bodies and under trees, and please be mindful of Conservancy staff as they work to shovel and clear paved paths.
Thanks to The Central Park Conservancy, the park provides endless enjoyment at all times of the year!
But it wasn’t always so great, as anyone who remembers The 70’s could attest.
The Conservancy changed all that; but it depends on financial donations.
Please donate…and YES, this reader DOES take his own advice.
The CPC starting picking up the tab when NYC was practically bankrupt. Tax dollars should be paying for this, but rich folks with (mostly_ Eat Side addresses are. No city government is going to go back to tapping public coffers.
Well, yes, the CPC has done some good work in the park.
However far too often the CPC has used parts of park for private functions. No, I don’t mean ticketed public events to which anyone with the price of a ticket could gain admission.
The CPC decides it’s acceptable to take over all of Bethesda Fountain for an afternoon and night fashion show. This is unacceptable.
Furthermore, for years the director of Central Park for the City Parks Department and the CPC’s director were the same person. This is a recipe for significant corruption and/or serious conflicts of interest. Thankfully this double dipping is past.
It would be nice if the grounds of Strawberry Fields were as well maintained as they used to be, with Ms Ono’s monies, 20 years ago. The sod is no longer aerated every season by an employee dedicated to that small area of the park. But I understand that the CPC has made some efforts to spend funds all over the park not just adjacent to the nice/famous addresses.
Your comment is outrageous. I was one of those shoveling, as I’ve done for years as a volunteer and a patron, at 67 years of age. Get off your high horse and do something. The conservancy deserves praise. Period.
Considering how little we pay for the park directly (zero dollars per visit, no deductible or copayment) or through our taxes, we can forgive the Conservancy for using the park for fund raising once in a while.
Why was it unacceptable for the CPC to hold a fashion show at Bethesda Fountain? It doesn’t seem like a life altering issue. Just curious.
I walked inside the park today between 72nd and 79th Streets and it was quite easy. The CPC did an excellent job of making it safe and there were many people in the park partaking of their great work.
The CPC does a great job. The reason people want to have private events in the park is because the CPC does such a great job keeping the park nice. In addition the CPC charges money for the private events and they would be derelict if they turned away a good source of income. The park looked fantastic yesterday. Thanks CPC.
I would be very interested if Jay or anyone else could provide data on how often parts of Central Park are closed for private functions. I am not writing to defend or attack the Central Park Conservancy. But that park is quite big. What parts of it are sometimes closed for private events? How often over the course of a year? If Bethesda Fountain is entirely closed for a private event for one afternoon and evening per year, is that “far too often”? If this happens five times in a year, is that “far too often”?
If even one UWSider is inconvenienced for even one second on one day of the year that is way too much.
You should know that by now.:)
Seriously though, God Bless that park and all the people that are responsible for keeping everything going. What would we do without it?
As a retired CPC volunteer, I can testify to the good work staff and volunteers do in cleaning up after a snowfall. It’s very satisfying to know you have made a playground usable by cleaning off all the equipment and clearing all the snow. If you are willing to work one day a week gardening and doing all kinds of useful maintenance work in the park, get in touch with the Central Park Conservancy.
Thank you CPC! The park paths and roads are much easier to walk on today than most others on the UWS.
Thanks for pointing this out Carol. I had no idea who was clearing the paths and roads. Great to be able to walk there and enjoy the beautiful scenery.
Hello jay, those private events are helping to pay for the park you love and enjoy. Did you think about it? It is a FUND RAISING event. Like Élpful Henry, we remember the time when Central Park was a wreck and the conservancy changed all this with lots of elbow grease and …. Yes, money. As we say in france, money is not found under the foot of a horse. And private events surely help. Thank you CPC, for providing us with a cleAn, well maintained and healthy park.
I live on the UWS and had to be at work at the UES Mount Sinai by 7:00 am on Saturday morning, and was amazed and thrilled to find that the paths in the park were already plowed and clear at 06:30! I just strolled across the park and was on time for work!