Great Lawn

This lush green 55-acre area at the geographical center of Central Park was originally the site of the Croton Reservoir. When the City's plans for a new water system rendered this reservoir obsolete, it was drained in 1931, filled in, and opened as a luxurious green 13-acre oval in 1937. In the 1950s, eight ballfields were added.

In time the Great Lawn became the venue for some of the City's biggest outdoor events, including concerts by Elton John, Diana Ross, Simon and Garfunkel, and Luciano Pavarotti, Disney's June 1995 preview of the movie Pocahontas, and a papal mass with Pope John Paul II in October 1995.

Heavy use of this popular and central site took its toll. By the 1970s the Great Lawn was called the "great dustbowl," with winds whipping up dry dirt from its compacted surface. From 1995 to 1997, the Central Park Conservancy and City of New York undertook the largest single restoration in Central Park's history. The Great Lawn is once again the setting for ballgames, sunbathing, and picnicking. Every summer, the Metropolitan Opera and the New York Philharmonic each give their two traditional free performances on the Lawn; on those nights a carpet of picnic blankets covers the lawn and the Manhattan skyline defines the most famous park view in the world.

Today there are benches everywhere for spectators — of both people and sports. At the northeast corner, under a canopy of London plane trees, are four courts (one of which is reserved for youth basketball only); an 1/8 mile track surrounds the courts. All activities are carefully monitored in accordance with the management guidelines instituted to ensure the continuing health of the Great Lawn.