Do you recreate in Central Park? Or create there, for that matter. How does it fit into your life, if it does? Do you feel safe there? All I know about Central Park is from movies and TV. And from reading about its history. (A really great idea.) Educate me, please. Tell me stories. Make me laugh, make me cry.
The most consistent thing I do with Central Park is attend Shakespeare in the Park there, every summer, often more than once (they usually put on two different plays), which requires me to get up before dawn, wait on line for free tickets that become available at noon or so, go back home (or to my office) to nap for a few hours, and then attend the play that evening, getting home at maybe 1 AM. On line, I sit with a laptop and a few magazines and some food, ideally beneath a shady tree.
Otherwise I walk through the park a few times a year. When I lived on the West Side of the park, I collaborated on a book with someone who lived on the east side who was disabled, so I would do all the travelling for our sessions together, which consisted of rollerblading through the park with a backpack full of manuscript, until my collaborator realized that if I had a terrible rollerblading accident, my brains might be spilled on the roadway “and until this book is finished, I need those brains to be in good condition,” so he forebade (!) me to rollerblade until the book was done. I also used to run through the park, or bike through it, for recreational purposes, and I’ve played softball on its many softball fields when I was younger and more sociable. I’ve attended concerts, some free, some famous, there, and I’ve rambled through the Ramble. I’ve taken walking tours of Central Park, and I suppose going to the Metropolitan Museum of Art counts since technically it’s a part of Central Park, as is the NYC Zoo, to which I’ve taken my kids many times. I’ve had picnics in the park, and attended birthday parties al fresco. It’s served as a cheap date, or a post-prandial part of a date, many, many times. I have never ridden on a horsecart through it, though.
Totally safe there, just like everywhere else in Manhattan that’s not Harlem. (And also most of Manhattan that is Harlem.) I visit rarely, just 'cause it’s not really in my neighborhood and requires me getting on a train and going up there. But every once in a while I get an itch to do a longer run that includes hills, or I just want to have a nice stroll–on a nice day, a good walk in the park can be very relaxing. Also, it’s a fairly common component of NYC Hash House Harriers trails, as it’s about as close as you can get to nature in the city. This is both good and bad–it’s a nice place to run, as mentioned, but we really aren’t very good at setting trail on surfaces that aren’t concrete. But hey–we always get to the on-in eventually. There’s beer at stake, after all. 
I’ll often walk through Central Park when I find myself needing to go across town and the weather isn’t crappy. I do a lot more recreating in Prospect Park, though, which is a block from my apartment. 
The park is wonderful and very safe. I take photos there frequently. It’s fun to just wander and hear the different musicians playing all over the the park. I love the central park lake. Bethesda Fountain, the Bow Bridge.
The midtown NikeTown store has runs Tuesday and Thursday which take place in the park and I used to regularly participate in.
I’d speculate that running is the most common activity in the park at any given time.
I’m rarely there - I grew up near Prospect Park in Brooklyn (designed by the same park designers and, arguably, the more beautiful of the two) and I don’t live in manhattan and I don’t work anywhere near there, so I’m rarely in the area. I wouldn’t take a special trip into manhattan when I have large parks right near me (Forest park & Flushing Meadows) except for a special event. So far I haven’t bothered (I like the idea of Shakespeare in the park, but the reality makes me stabby)
However I would not hesitate to hang out in Central Park if I found myself nearby, it’s safe, even at night, and picturesque.
Yeah. The first thing to understand about NYC is that it’s not like those movies you saw in the 70s and 80s. Basically, all of Manhattan is very safe. Most of Brooklyn and Queens are very safe, though there are still some bad areas. The Bronx is a bit dicier, and then there’s some other borough that I forget the name of. (In actuality, I ran a hash on Staten Island, and we ran through some pretty sketchy areas, so they do exist–I just don’t know much about it as a whole.) Central Park is no different.
So that’s what they’re calling it now. :dubious:
As for safety, I’ve seen multiple episodes of Law and Order and L&O/SVU where people couldn’t go off the Central Park footpaths for more than a couple of feet before stumbling over horribly murdered bodies. And Jews shoot Nazi war criminals there. So obviously it’s not safe. Very dangerous. 
I always tell friends who haven’t been to NY to not consider The Odd Couple a documentary - you don’t automatically get mugged in Central Park the minute the sun thinks about setting and, in fact, it’s quite safe. You would be more likely to fall off your bike than to get mugged.
I consider it the most beautiful place in the world. But, I live in Rhode Island so I don’t get there too often.
My favorite memory of Central Park is one time when I went there in college. There are plenty of places that seem very wooded, and isolated - that’s intentional, it’s designed so that a visitor can feel very removed from the city, and it’s kind of amazing how effective that is. Then you take five steps and turn slightly, and you’re back in the heart of Manhattan again, with crowds and a great view of the city. This feature is also what created risky situations back in the day when the city, and the park, were not so safe.
ANYWAY, I had wandered into one of the areas, and came across a single black lamp post, and it was snowing. It was really a magical moment.
I still enjoy it a lot, although it’s not really near my usual haunts, neither close to work nor where I live. But sometimes I am up in that neighborhood and enjoy a quick visit.
Oh man, I forgot about the old Children’s Zoo! That was splendid. It was fabulously mod. I had a Little Golden Book about a visit to that zoo, and was amazed when I learned it was a real place. It got really run down, but in great, creepy way. It’s been completely redone, which I’m sure is better for the animals, but design-wise, it’s A yawn. My two year old likes it well enough, but eh, her aesthetic taste is awful.
The Central Park conservancy does a lot of great stuff, including an elaborate Halloween party for kids. I have some issues with them, because they are based in a part of the park that is adjacent to neighborhoods that maybe need some targeted engagement that isn’t happening. But that’s just me, being a peevy New Yorker.
I do cringe, though, when visitors want to go to Central Park on a summer weekend.
Can be wonderful, depending on the crowds. I particularly enjoy walking through after snowfall, especially going up to Belvedere castle and overlooking the Great Lawn and so forth. Used to play softball at Hecksher fields near the carousel, great times!
The Sheeps Meadow in the spring is fun, w/people out sunbathing & throwing frisbees.
You can often hear impromptu live music in nice weather on the weekends at various locations. There used to be a gospel singing group that would perform in the tiled underpass near the bandshell/Belvedere fountain on weekends, haven’t seen them in awhile though. If you’re visiting, you might rent a bike nearby and cruise around.
Yeah, this is secretly what I was getting at. 
Seriously, it sounds like a beautiful place. And what a brilliant idea. The city would lose so much if it weren’t there…
Central Park is one of the nicest parts of New York. I can’t say it was a weekly part of my routine when I lived in New York, but I strolled through it quite a bit. It’s beautifully and interestingly laid out.
One tip, though - unless you know it very well, DON’T try to cut across it as a shortcut to get from one side of Manhattan to the other. Its paths are very winding (part of its appeal - a nice break from the incessant grid of most of Manhattan) and it’s easy to get turned around. I made that mistake once when I was running late trying to get somewhere, and at one point I found myself pushing through a little clump of trees and out onto a little clearing. A guy was standing there smiling at me, and I realized that I must look nuts, looking all flustered and sweaty, tramping through the undergrowth of Central Park. I thought he must be laughing good-naturedly, so I laughed, too, and kind of shrugged. “Sexy…” he whispered, much to my surprise. Whoops, guess he was thinking of something completely different. I got out of there quick.
As nice as Central Park is, it can get a little…precious at times. Okay, a lot precious. So as an alternative I would highly recommend Flushing Meadows Park in Queens. It’s not as beautifully landscaped as Central Park, it doesn’t have quite the history, blah blah blah. But it feels real and lived in and down to earth in a way that Central Park often doesn’t. The people who go there are also way more diverse. I remember having a great day walking around there, seeing such an amazing variety of people just hanging out, relaxing, barbecuing, playing soccer - it was great fun. Plus it has that cool globe and other stuff left over from the 1964(??) worlds fair.
Are there rats there at night?
Is it easy to get lost there?
Probably, though I imagine there are better pickins’ elsewhere.
Not lost in the sense of never finding your way out–you rarely, if ever, completely lose sight of the buildings on either Central Park West or Fifth Avenue, and if push comes to shove and you can’t figure out the paths, you can always just climb over fences and whatever. (Not something you should do under normal circumstances, of course.) On the other hand, it’s definitely possible to get into “can’t get there from here” situations where you know you want to be at that place you’re looking at over there and you can’t quite figure out how to make that happen.
I go to Centeral Park occassionally for specific reasons. But for the most part, I never really reacreated or created there on a regular basis, even when I lived in Manhattan. Union and Washington Squares were closer if I just wanted to hang out in a park for a bit.
Some specific Central Park stuff I do from time to time:
Annual JP Morgan Corporate Challege run
Philharmonic in the Park with the Mrs. and friends.
Central Park Zoo
Sometimes just wandering around if the weather’s nice and I’m above the 50s.
An occassional wedding at the boathouse. (Other people’s…I don’t keep getting married there).
Yeah, it’s really a lot more like the sitcoms and rom-coms from the 90s and 00s.
Surprisingly, I never saw an aquitted defendent get shot on the courthouse steps, even when I used to work in that neighborhood.
Oh, also, if you’re feeling romantic or just silly, renting a rowboat can be nice, and there’s the boathouse cafe and an outdoor bar set up near the boat rental area. Another favorite of mine is to check out the rollerskaters near the bandshell on weekends in warm weather. They often set up a big sound system and skate to disco music. Alot of them have some cool moves and really enjoy performing for the crowd!
(And sorry, meant to say Bethesda, not Belvedere Fountain, in my earlier reply).
And yes, I’ve done THAT in Central Park as well (in the Ramble).
Starting right about now through June 1, it is a world class birdwatching venue.
My favorite memories of the park are the Schaefer Music Festival in the late 60’s, early 70’s. That, and Shakespeare in the Park.
God I love that park. I live in New Jersey now, but I still find reasons to spend a day in the park.
In 76 I spent my honeymoon at the Essex House overlooking Central Park South.
I never felt unsafe there.