April 13th, 2010
An Ancient Playground in Central Park
New York City is awash in theater, restaurants, architecture and museums, providing tourists and locals alike with something to do twenty-four hours out of every day. Many spots are well known to most visitors, even if they’ve never been in the city before: Grand Central Station, the Empire State Building , Times Square, Broadway, Fifth Avenue, and Central Park. Like a Russian doll that opens up, revealing another smaller Russian doll, which in turns opens up again, the city’s main attractions have sights inside other sights, making each stop a place in which you might spend hours. Imagine that you’ve found an excellent room near Central Park. What can you see just by crossing the street and strolling along the pathways?
Among the statues alone you’ll find several war memorials, including the 107th United States Infantry, a group of soldiers who served and died during the first world war. There’s a sculpture made of bronze that replicates a marble self-portrait by a Danish sculptor, Albert Bertel Thorvaldsen. Interestingly, there are no statues of other artists on exhibit in a New York City park. Thorvaldsen presently receives that honor alone.
There are sculptures designed to honor the work of other artists, though, especially literature, such as the Alice in Wonderland sculpture. Other sculptures honor politicians, such as Alexander Hamilton, which was donated in 1880 by his own son (John C. Hamilton). There’s also a memorial made of stone at the edge of the park for Arthur Brisbane, who was a newspaper editor.
For an interesting turn of phrase, you might want to pass by the Ancient Playground. The playground takes its name from the Metropolitan Museum’s Egyptian Wing , which is visible from the playground. Any mummies, though, are most likely contained inside the museum. You can stop by the Met at this point, or continue on your walk, where you’ll encounter many more sites inside the 1.2 square miles of urban parkland.
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