Central Park

===Late 19th and early 20th centuries: first decline===
[[File:Belvedere Castle, Central Park.jpg|thumb|upright=1|alt=Belvedere Castle|[[Belvedere Castle]], completed 1869]]
[[File:Flickr - …trialsanderrors - Lower end of mall, Central Park, New York City, 1901.jpg|thumb|upright=1|alt=The tree-lined mall with people walking and others seated on benches on either side|Lower end of the mall, seen in 1901]]
By the 1870s, the park's patrons increasingly came to include the middle and working class, and strict regulations were gradually eased, such as those against public gatherings.{{sfn|Berman|2003|p=81}} Because of the heightened visitor count, neglect by the Tammany administration, and budget cuts demanded by taxpayers, the maintenance expenses for Central Park had reached a nadir by 1879.{{sfn|Berman|2003|p=41}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=281–283}} Olmsted blamed politicians, real estate owners, and park workers for Central Park's decline, though high maintenance costs were also a factor.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=264–266}} By the 1890s, the park faced several challenges: cars were becoming commonplace, and with the proliferation of amusements and refreshment stands, people were beginning to see the park as a recreational attraction.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=84–85}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=315–317}} The 1904 opening of the [[New York City Subway]] displaced Central Park as the city's predominant leisure destination, as New Yorkers could travel to farther destinations such as [[Coney Island]] beaches or [[Broadway theatre|Broadway theaters]] for a five-cent fare.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=386–387}}

In the late 19th&nbsp;century the landscape architect [[Samuel Parsons]] took the position of New York City parks superintendent. A onetime apprentice of [[Calvert Vaux]],{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=89–90}} Parsons helped restore the nurseries of Central Park in 1886.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1886/10/10/archives/renewing-central-park-detective-management-of-the-trees-and.html |title=Renewing Central Park; Detective Management of the Trees and Shrubbery to Be Remedied|date=October 10, 1886|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 9, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190409175428/https://www.nytimes.com/1886/10/10/archives/renewing-central-park-detective-management-of-the-trees-and.html|archive-date=April 9, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Parsons closely followed Olmsted's original vision for the park, restoring Central Park's trees while blocking the placement of several large statues in the park.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=91–93}} Under Parsons' leadership, two circles (now [[Duke Ellington Circle|Duke Ellington]] and [[Frederick Douglass Circle]]s) were constructed at the northern corners of the park.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1888/07/15/archives/new-central-park-plaza.html |title=New Central Park Plaza|date=July 15, 1888|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 14, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414210427/https://www.nytimes.com/1888/07/15/archives/new-central-park-plaza.html|archive-date=April 14, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=294–295}} He was removed in May 1911 following a lengthy dispute over whether an expense to replace the soil in the park was unnecessary.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=91–93}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/55203962/ |title=Samuel Parsons Dismissed|date=May 12, 1911|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=March 30, 2019|page=20 |via=Brooklyn Public Library; newspapers.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423183947/https://www.newspapers.com/image/55203962/ |archive-date=April 23, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> A succession of Tammany-affiliated Democratic mayors were indifferent toward Central Park.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=99–100}}

Several park advocacy groups were formed in the early 20th&nbsp;century. To preserve the park's character, the citywide Parks and Playground Association, and a consortium of multiple Central Park civic groups operating under the Parks Conservation Association, were formed in the 1900s and 1910s.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=115–116}} These associations advocated against such changes to the park as the construction of a library,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1912/06/01/archives/to-oppose-library-in-central-park-we-object-even-to-art-museum.html |title=To Oppose Library in Central Park|date=June 1, 1912|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 11, 2019 |issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411184915/https://www.nytimes.com/1912/06/01/archives/to-oppose-library-in-central-park-we-object-even-to-art-museum.html|archive-date=April 11, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> sports stadium,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1919/12/16/archives/to-oppose-stadium-in-central-park-three-directors-of-parks-and.html |title=To Oppose Stadium in Central Park|date=December 16, 1919 |work=The New York Times|access-date=April 11, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411184908/https://www.nytimes.com/1919/12/16/archives/to-oppose-stadium-in-central-park-three-directors-of-parks-and.html|archive-date=April 11, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> a cultural center,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1923/11/28/archives/resist-plan-to-rob-park-of-412-acres-playgrounds-association-pro.html |title=Resist Plan to Rob Park of 41.2 Acres|date=November 28, 1923|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 11, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411184905/https://www.nytimes.com/1923/11/28/archives/resist-plan-to-rob-park-of-412-acres-playgrounds-association-pro.html|archive-date=April 11, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and an underground parking lot.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/01/07/archives/objects-to-a-park-garage-central-park-association-writes-protest-to.html |title=Objects to a Park Garage|date=January 7, 1927|work=The New York Times |access-date=April 11, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411190030/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/01/07/archives/objects-to-a-park-garage-central-park-association-writes-protest-to.html|archive-date=April 11, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> A third group, the Central Park Association, was created in 1926.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=115–116}} The Central Park Association and the Parks and Playgrounds Association were merged into the Park Association of New York City two years later.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/05/14/archives/park-bodies-merge-in-new-association-to-speed-city-plans-nathan.html|title=Park Bodies Merge In New Association To Speed City Plans|date=May 14, 1928|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 11, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411184907/https://www.nytimes.com/1928/05/14/archives/park-bodies-merge-in-new-association-to-speed-city-plans-nathan.html|archive-date=April 11, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Heckscher Playground]]—named after philanthropist [[August Heckscher]], who donated the play equipment—opened near its southern end in 1926,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/06/22/archives/to-raise-3000000-for-central-park-august-heckschers-proposal-is.html |title=To Raise $3,000,000 For Central Park|date=June 22, 1926|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=April 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411184905/https://www.nytimes.com/1926/06/22/archives/to-raise-3000000-for-central-park-august-heckschers-proposal-is.html|archive-date=April 11, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=395–397}} and quickly became popular with poor immigrant families.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=395–397}} The following year, Mayor [[Jimmy Walker]] commissioned landscape designer Hermann W. Merkel to create a plan to improve Central Park.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=99–100}} Merkel's plans would combat vandalism and plant destruction, rehabilitate paths, and add eight new playgrounds, at a cost of $1&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/30440263/|title=New Central Park Outlined in Plans|date=December 20, 1927|work=New York Daily News|access-date=March 30, 2019|page=215 |via=newspapers.com}}</ref>{{sfn|Herrick|1928|p=5 (PDF p. 6)}} One of the suggested modifications, underground irrigation pipes, were installed soon after Merkel's report was submitted.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=99–100}}<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/03/29/archives/favors-irrigation-for-central-park-city-takes-first-step-in-its.html |title=Favors Irrigation For Central Park |date=March 29, 1927|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 9, 2019 |issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190409220558/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/03/29/archives/favors-irrigation-for-central-park-city-takes-first-step-in-its.html|archive-date=April 9, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> The other improvements outlined in the report, such as fences to mitigate plant destruction, were postponed due to the [[Great Depression]].{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=101–102}}