Sheep Meadow, Central Park
Encyclopedia
Design competition
The Sheep Meadow, Central Park, was the largest open meadow feature in the original plan for Central ParkCentral Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, as it was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted was an American journalist, social critic, public administrator, and landscape designer. He is popularly considered to be the father of American landscape architecture, although many scholars have bestowed that title upon Andrew Jackson Downing...
and Calvert Vaux
Calvert Vaux
Calvert Vaux , was an architect and landscape designer. He is best remembered as the co-designer , of New York's Central Park....
.
The open space had been a requirement of the design competition for Central Park, which specified a parade ground for the civic function of militia drills and military exhibitions. Olmsted and Vaux's winning "Greensward", a nineteenth-century term for broad open lawns, offered a reduced parade ground, sited towards the western side of the proposed park.
Construction
When the location of the Sheep Meadow was decided, some small communities of poorer New Yorkers were uprooted: including Irish, Germans and African-Americans. To produce the almost 15 acres (60,702.9 m²) of "level or but slightly undulating ground" in the specifications, 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) poorly draining ground was filled to a depth of two feet with fill from New Jersey. Additionally, disruptive boulders and a rocky ridge that stood sixteen feet out of the finished grade were blasted out, and the reshaped landscape was covered with topsoil. Sheep Meadow was the most costly construction undertaken in the new park.Few sunbathers today realize the effort that created this "natural" grassy terrain. This meadow was the largest meadow in Central Park until the old reservoir was emptied in 1929 and made into the Great Lawn in 1935.
Introduction of sheep
After the design competition was over, Olmsted and Vaux managed to convince the commissioners that a quiet park landscape was perhaps not the best place for military displays. After the expansive open area was created, visitors were usually not allowed to walk on it. Olmsted and Vaux believed that the introduction of sheep enhanced the romantic English quality of the park and to re-enforce the quiet nature of the "Greensward", 200 sheep were added in 1864. The flock of pedigree SouthdownSouthdown
Southdown may refer to:* Southdown , a breed of sheep* Southdown, Harpenden, a region in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, England* Southdown, New Zealand, a suburb of Auckland* Southdown Creative, an American film and video production company...
(and later Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
) sheep were used and housed in a fanciful Victorian building or "Sheepfold" created by Jacob Wrey Mould
Jacob Wrey Mould
Jacob Wrey Mould was an architect, illustrator, linguist and musician, noted for his contributions to the design and construction of New York City's Central Park...
under the direction of Calvert Vaux. The animals served a practical purpose as well—they trimmed the grass and fertilized the lawn. A Sheep crossing was built across the drive in 1870 and twice a day a shepherd would hold up carriage traffic, and later automobiles, as he drove the animals to and from the meadow.
Sheep grazed the meadow until 1934, when Robert Moses
Robert Moses
Robert Moses was the "master builder" of mid-20th century New York City, Long Island, Rockland County, and Westchester County, New York. As the shaper of a modern city, he is sometimes compared to Baron Haussmann of Second Empire Paris, and is one of the most polarizing figures in the history of...
, the city's parks commissioner, moved them to Prospect Park, Brooklyn, and then to the safety of the Catskill Mountains
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, an area in New York State northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, are a mature dissected plateau, an uplifted region that was subsequently eroded into sharp relief. They are an eastward continuation, and the highest representation, of the Allegheny Plateau...
. There was fear for the sheep's safety by hungry folk during the great depression. Officials were concerned that starving men would turn the sheep into lunch. After the sheep had been banished to Brooklyn the Sheepfold was converted into what later became the Tavern on the Green
Tavern on the Green
Tavern on the Green was a privately owned American cuisine restaurant located in Central Park on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, in New York City. It remained in operation from 1934 to 2009 under various owners...
restaurant. In 1992, a consortium of cheese producers brought a flock of sheep to graze on the meadow as a promotional stunt.
Large-scale uses
Sheep meadow has held many large scale events and people have gathered for many uses. In the 1960s and the 1970s Sheep Meadow was used for events of unprecedented scale. The large scale outdoor concerts including those of the New York PhilharmonicNew York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
, Vietnam protests, and hippie "love-in
Love-in
A love-in is a peaceful public gathering focused on meditation, love, music, and/or use of psychedelic drugs. The term was coined by Los Angeles radio comedian Peter Bergman, who also hosted the first one in March or April 1967 in Elysian Park.It has been interpreted in different ways by...
s" were attended by hundreds of thousands of people and the lush green grass of the Sheep Meadow became mutilated by the massive crowds.
During this time, the Parks Department, with limited funding, opened the Park to any and all activities that would bring people into it—regardless of their impact and without adequate management oversight or maintenance follow-up. Some events became important milestones, fondly remembered by participants. However, absent proper maintenance, they also significantly damaged the greensward through erosion
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
and addition of unwanted substances, such as broken glass.
In the 21st century the open space of Sheep's Meadow is fenced and protected from overuse. Signs are posted in many locations warn that the following are not allowed: Team Sports, Ballplaying, Bike Riding, Skating, Glass Bottles, and Dogs. On wet days the gates are not opened.
Past large events
Past large events and current use have included:- In the 1910s and 1920s, the flock of sheep shared space with a variety of folk-dancing festivals, children's pageants, and patriotic celebrations.
- In 1911, 10,000 schoolgirls danced in a folk dancing tournament.
- In 1912, an event called Around the World in Search of Fairyland featured children in brightly colored costumes.
- In 1916 the 107th Infantry, the 7th Regiment Reserves, marched daily from their Park Avenue Armory to Sheep Meadow for maneuvers and drill. On August 5, men from this regiment were sent off to World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. They are memorialized by a statue in the park, 600 yards (500 m) east of the Meadow at 5th Avenue and 67th Street. - In 1917, 20,000 liberty war bondWar bondWar bonds are debt securities issued by a government for the purpose of financing military operations during times of war. War bonds generate capital for the government and make civilians feel involved in their national militaries...
marchers held a "Liberty Day Parade" which ended in Sheep Meadow.
- On October 27, 1945, Harry S. TrumanHarry S. TrumanHarry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
spoke to 50,000 people at Sheep Meadow in Central Park on Navy DayNavy DaySeveral nations observe or have observed a Navy Day to recognize their navy. The term is also used in Britain to mean an open day at a dockyard such as HMNB Portsmouth, when the public can visit military ships and see air displays, roughly along the lines of an American Fleet Week .- Argentina...
. - In 1967 Barbra StreisandBarbra StreisandBarbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
performed in front of 135,397 people. - In 1967, about 10,000 people attended the "be-in-style". This was a peace demonstration which was heavily covered by police. Groups of people covered cop cars with flowers while chanting "daffodil power" and later hundreds surrounded a small group of officers alternatively crooning "we love cops...turn on cops".
- In April 1967 a peace rally had 400,000 people attend. The protesters gathered in Sheep Meadow in Central Park and walked to the United Nations. At the edge of the meadow a group of young men burned their draft cards—sloags chanted "I Don't Give a Damn for Uncle Sam" and "No Viet Cong Ever Called Me Nigger."
- On Easter 1968, Mayor LindsayJohn LindsayJohn Vliet Lindsay was an American politician, lawyer and broadcaster who was a U.S. Congressman, Mayor of New York City, candidate for U.S...
, an opponent of the war in Vietnam, greeted the marchers & protesters. This event was atteneded by around 90 thousand people who assembled at Sheep Meadow. - In 1969, the first landing on the moon was televised to a large crowd in the Meadow.
- Also in 1969, between 15 and 20 thousand people assembled in Sheep Meadow. This event had a tragic twist as later in the evening one attendant jumped into a bonfire severely burning himself.
- On June 28, 1970, there was a massive Gay "Be-In"Central Park Be-InBetween 1967 and 1968 several "be-ins" were held in Central Park to protest against various issues such as US involvement in the Vietnam War and racism. This park was a place where all of the different types of people that New York contained could mingle....
held in Sheep Meadow to commemorate the first anniversary of the Stonewall RiotsStonewall riotsThe Stonewall riots were a series of spontaneous, violent demonstrations against a police raid that took place in the early morning hours of June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City...
. The Gay march went from Washington Place in Greenwich Village uptown on Sixth Avenue to end with a the "gay-in" in Sheep's Meadow. - In February 1979, A large sheep dog show was held in the Meadow. Participating were Ada Karrasch, Lewis Pence, Ralph Pulfer, Lewis Pulfer and Jim McEwen.
- Begun in 1985, The AIDS Walk New YorkAIDS Walk New YorkAIDS Walk New York is an annual fundraising walkathon that benefits Gay Men's Health Crisis and over 50 other local AIDS service organizations. Founded in 1986, it's now the largest walkathon in the world, and the largest AIDS fundraiser in the world by participation....
begins and ends in the Meadow. This is an annual event and draws up to 40,000 people. Experiencing extensive damage in Sheep Meadow from the opening ceremonies for the AIDS Walk, the Parks Department determined that after the 2003 event this gathering could no longer take place in the Sheep Meadow and would instead be held on the paved surfaces near the Bandshell in Central Park. - September 30, 1995, began the NYC Urban Starfest. The "star party" has continued on an ongoing annual basis since its inception. It is reported that Sheep Meadow is one of the only open areas of Central Park free of glare from local lighting and where almost the entire sky can be seen. "Many club members and other amateur astronomers bring large telescopes so that they and the public can share in the heavenly views during this event".
- In 1995, Disney paid the City of New York $1 million for the use of Central Park to show the NYC premiere of the film PocahontasPocahontasPocahontas was a Virginia Indian notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan, the head of a network of tributary tribal nations in Tidewater Virginia...
. - June 28, 2008, saw the largest water fight—People were encouraged to bring a super soakerSuper SoakerSuper Soaker is a brand of recreational water gun, first sold in 1990 by Larami and now produced by Hasbro under the Nerf brand. Invented by Lonnie Johnson on November 13, 1989, the first Super Soaker, the Super Soaker 50, was originally called the Power Drencher...
, water guns and sense of game for the largest water war imaginable. - On Sunday, June 21, 2009, the Great Bed-in was held here. This was to celebrate the 40th year of the 1969 Yoko Ono and John Lennon Bed-in where the song Give Peace a Chance was first sung and became the symbol of that time. Participants were encouraged to bring a sheet or blanket and form a big Peace Symbol.
- On an ongoing basis, CircusYoga holds free practice every Sunday late spring into the fall—until it gets cold
- Annually, people will gather for 4 July fireworks.
- There have been a number of attempts to hold large scale "freeze" events... attempts to have people freeze in unison.
Emergency uses
At times the Meadow has been used for emergency helicopter air operations.- June 8, 1968, the United States President flew in and out of New York in a helicopter to attend Robert F. Kennedy's funeral at St. Patrick's Cathedral.
- In 1986 when emergency services meet a helicopter carrying a heart patient from Smithtown, L.I.Smithtown, New YorkAs of the census of 2000, there were 115,715 people, 38,487 households, and 31,482 families residing in the town. The population density was 2,159.9 people per square mile . There were 39,357 housing units at an average density of 734.6 per square mile...
The patient was destined for the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center. - During the September 11 Attacks, Black Hawk helicopters used Sheep Meadow as a base of operations. At one point, a TSW-7A portable control tower was assembled there.
At least one child is recorded to be born in Sheep's Meadow:
- Isidore Block, known in NYC as a street poet, was born in Sheep Meadow in 1920.
Wireless Internet
On Jul 24, 2007, the Meadow was the first of Central Park's areas to go high speed. Park officials said the wireless Internet service in that part of the park was upgraded to 15 megabits per second from the previous rate of 3 Mbit/s... "feel free to hop onto the Information Superhighway at full speed."
Statues
- Giuseppe MazziniGiuseppe MazziniGiuseppe Mazzini , nicknamed Soul of Italy, was an Italian politician, journalist and activist for the unification of Italy. His efforts helped bring about the independent and unified Italy in place of the several separate states, many dominated by foreign powers, that existed until the 19th century...
—Overlooking the Meadow and located on a high pedestal, is a statue of Giuseppe Mazzini. He was an Italian patriot and revolutionary. In 1861 he had an immeasurable role in the unification of the Italian liberal movement Risorgimento. The pedestal has the words "Pensiero Ed Azione" which translates to "thought and action"—the name of the newspaper he founded in London 1858. - The Indian Hunter—This was one of four statues created by American sculptor John Quincy Adams WardJohn Quincy Adams WardJohn Quincy Adams Ward was an American sculptor, who is most familiar for his over-lifesize standing statue of George Washington on the steps of Federal Hall on Wall Street.-Early years:...
. It is located on the side of Sheep Meadow near the Mall. - A historical sign can be found at Sheep Meadow, placed there by the Historical Society Monday, Aug 27, 2001.
Structures
In 1865, Olmsted and Vaux added a new feature to enhance the park's attractions and convenience. Vaux (working with his assistant, architect Jacob Wrey Mould) designed the Moorish-style Mineral Springs Pavilion at the northwestern edge of the Sheep Meadow. The Mineral Spring Pavilion had cusped arches supported on slender colonnettes, and flaring, complex roofs, reminiscent of Saracenic architecture. In 1957, Moses demolished the structure.Art displays
In 1970, Garry WinograndGarry Winogrand
Garry Winogrand was a street photographer known for his portrayal of America in the mid-20th century. John Szarkowski called him the central photographer of his generation....
took a black-and-white photo of a peace demonstration, which shows thousands of just-released balloons floating over a sea of Vietnam War protesters. In 2005, Mayor Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
hosted the opening of the project by Christo and Jeanne-Claude's
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Christo and Jeanne-Claude were a married couple who created environmental works of art...
entitled the "Gates"
The Gates
The Gates was a site-specific work of art by Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The artists installed 7,503 vinyl "gates" along 23 miles of pathways in Central Park in New York City. From each gate hung a panel of deep saffron-colored nylon fabric...
to Central Park. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg raised a long metal pole to release fabric from the top of a gate in the Sheep Meadow.
Film and media productions
With permission, production activity is permitted on the Sheep Meadow only when it is open. The meadow is open for production in dry weather from May through October, from 11 am to dusk.Beginning in 1908, with Romeo and Juliet, films have used The Meadows as their backdrop for love scenes, large-scale song-and-dance numbers, car chases and even (in Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters
Ghostbusters is a 1984 American science fiction comedy film directed by Ivan Reitman and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film stars Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, and Rick Moranis and follows three eccentric parapsychologists in New York City, who start a...
) for a monster's rampage through Tavern on the Green restaurant. Sheep Meadow was used for famous scenes from It Could Happen To You
It Could Happen to You (film)
It Could Happen to You is a 1994 romantic comedy-drama film starring Nicolas Cage and Bridget Fonda. It is the story of New York City police officer who wins the lottery and splits his winnings with a waitress . The movie bears a striking resemblance to an actual event as documented by Snopes...
, Fisher King
The Fisher King (film)
The Fisher King is a 1991 American comedy-drama film written by Richard LaGravenese and directed by Terry Gilliam. It stars Jeff Bridges, Robin Williams, Mercedes Ruehl, Amanda Plummer and Michael Jeter...
, Wall Street, and The Manchurian Candidate
The Manchurian Candidate (1962 film)
The Manchurian Candidate is a 1962 American Cold War political thriller film starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh and Angela Lansbury, and featuring Henry Silva, James Gregory, Leslie Parrish and John McGiver...
. The animated film Antz
Antz
Antz is a 1998 American computer animated action adventure film produced by DreamWorks Animation. It features the voices of well-known actors such as Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Jennifer Lopez, Sylvester Stallone, Dan Aykroyd, Anne Bancroft, Gene Hackman, Christopher Walken, and Danny Glover as...
was also supposed to take place in Sheep Meadow.
- In 2005, director Mark LevinMark Levin (director)Mark Levin is an American film director and screenwriter. He is mostly known for directing the films Little Manhattan and Nim's Island. He is married to his collaborator, the screenwriter and director Jennifer Flackett. During the 1990s, he was a writer for the television series The Wonder Years,...
wanted to fill Sheep Meadow with actual sheep for a scene in his romance Little ManhattanLittle ManhattanLittle Manhattan is a 2005 romantic comedy film directed and written by husband and wife Mark Levin and Jennifer Flackett. Though Levin is credited as the director and Flackett as the writer, in the film's DVD commentary the two reveal that they collaborated on both tasks.Little Manhattan depicts...
, starring Cynthia NixonCynthia NixonCynthia Ellen Nixon is an American actress, known for her portrayal of Miranda Hobbes in the HBO series Sex and the City . She has received two Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, and a Grammy Award....
. The parks department refused this request, so the filmmakers put new grass on the walkway adjacent to the meadow and had the sheep on the path. In the movie, it was shot so that it looks like there are sheep all over the meadow. It was all a trick." - On October 21, 2009, Disney rented the park area for a $105,000 fee, to have 1,200 children stand in formation, spelling out the name of the theme park, Disney's Animal KingdomDisney's Animal KingdomDisney's Animal Kingdom is an animal theme park located at the Walt Disney World Resort. The fourth park built at the resort, it opened on April 22, 1998, and it is the largest single Disney theme park in the world, covering more than . It is also the first Disney theme park to be themed entirely...
. The scene was filmed from helicopters and from ground-level cameras set up outside Sheep Meadow.
The Central Park Website maintains a complete list of films shot in Central Park, some of which were shot at Sheep's Meadow.
Restoration and rededication
Sheep's Meadow had two large scale restoration efforts:- The large events and the lack of maintenance of the 60's and 70's severely eroded the lawn. Sheep Meadow was the first area in Central Park to be restored. With the help of James TaylorJames TaylorJames Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
who held a free concert to help the city's campaign to restore the park's Sheep Meadow in July 1979, Sheep Meadow was resodded in 1980. It reopened in 1981 as a swath of green dedicated to sunbathers, picnickers, and kite flyers. - In November 2000, the Central Park Conservancy began the installation of a new irrigation system whose design incorporated the latest technology. The project was funded from a grant by the Marc Haus Foundation. The project was completed in five months, and Sheep Meadow reopened in April 2001. The reopening was held on Tuesday, June 13, 2001, with the turn of a spigot to show a display of cascading water through the new sprinkler system in the meadow. In attendance and leading the ceremony were Commissioner Henry J. Stern; Regina Peruggi, Central Park Conservancy President; and Doug Blonsky, Central Park Administrator.
- A wonderful 360 degree panorama of the restoration work results can be seen.