5 Controversial City Programs That Changed New York Forever
“Greensward Plan” aka the Creation of Central Park
Not long after the implementation of the Commissioner’s Plan of 2011, New York City’s population quadrupled, and it became clear that the city would need to plan not just for gridded streets, but also for green spaces. The city’s legislature approved the idea of a large, 700-acre park in 1853, and architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux were chosen to design the great park based on their “Greensward Plan.” Now, while it might seem like such a plan would be relatively uncontroversial—after all, who hates parks?—the path to Central Park was actually full of hurdles. One major hurdle was the fact that people were living on the land where the park was to be constructed. Unfortunately, because the people who lived there were universally poor (many were free African-Americans) they were quickly kicked out and there aren’t records of their protests such as we have from Clement Clark Moore and Henry James. The residents of the park were kicked out under the power of eminent domain, their villages and communities were razed, and the park was constructed into a state very similar to what we see and enjoy today. Well, there aren’t any sheep in Sheep’s Meadow anymore, but otherwise it’s very similar.
Was it worth it? I would be inclined to say yes. The tragedy of turning people out of their homes and villages is obviously a considerable one, but the rapacious land-grab that was going on at the time almost certainly means that, without the construction of Central Park, the city would be an unending sea of blocks and buildings. And, instead, there is a stately park which doubles as a bird sanctuary right in the middle of the city. That can’t be all bad.