Prospect Park is a 526 acre (2.1 km²) public park in Brooklyn, New York located between Park Slope, Kensington, Windsor Terrace and Flatbush Avenue, Grand Army Plaza and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and seven blocks north east of Green-Wood Cemetery. The park was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux after they completed Manhattan's Central Park. Attractions include the Long Meadow, a ninety acre (360,000 m²) meadow thought to be the largest meadow in any U.S. park; the Picnic House which houses offices and a hall that can accommodate parties with up to 175 guests; Litchfield Villa, the historic home of the previous owners of the southern part of Park; Prospect Park Zoo; a large nature conservancy; the only urban Audubon Center & Visitor Center at the Boathouse; Brooklyn's only lake, covering 60 acres (240,000 m²); the Prospect Park Bandshell that hosts free outdoor concerts in summertime; and various sports and fitness activities including seven baseball fields. There is also a private Quaker cemetery on the grounds of the Park in an area known as Quaker Hill. An Australian park A park is any of a number of geographic features. ... For other meanings, see Brooklyn (disambiguation). ... Park Slope is a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, USA, roughly bounded by Fourth Avenue, Prospect Park West (Ninth Avenue), Flatbush Avenue, and Fifteenth Street. ... Kensington is a neighborhood in the center of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. ... Windsor Terrace is a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. ... Flatbush Avenue is Brooklyns signature Avenue. ... The Soldiers and Sailors Arch at Grand Army Plaza Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, New York forms the main entrance to Prospect Park. ... The Cranford Rose Garden at Brooklyn Botanic Garden The Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) is a botanical garden located next to Prospect Park near Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, New York. ... The Chapel at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn NY Green-Wood Cemetery was founded in 1838 as a rural cemetery in Brooklyn, New York, several blocks west of Prospect Park. ... Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822–August 28, 1903) was a United States landscape architect, famous for designing many well known urban parks, including Central Park in New York, New York, the countrys oldest coordinated system of public parks and parkways in Buffalo, New York, the countrys oldest... An unobtrusive bridge in Central Park, designed by Calvert Vaux, separates pedestrians from the carriage drive. ... A wintry aerial view, looking south: ice on the frozen lakes, the Metropolitan Museum in the park at left, the East River and the Empire State Building in the distance Central Park (40°46′59″ N 73°58′20″ W) is a large urban public park (843 acres or 3. ... The Prospect Park Zoo is a zoo located in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York. ... Baseball is popular in the Americas and East Asia. ... The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, or Friends, is a religious community founded in England in the 17th century. ... Graves at Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York A cemetery or graveyard is a place (usually an enclosed area of land) in which dead bodies are buried. ...

The Long Meadow's grass stretches wide for relaxation and recreation

Download high resolution version (1400x373, 137 KB)Prospect Park Long Meadow panorama, Aug 2003, © 2003, by Wikipedia user:alex756, all rights reserved; the license granted herein is to Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. ... Download high resolution version (1400x373, 137 KB)Prospect Park Long Meadow panorama, Aug 2003, © 2003, by Wikipedia user:alex756, all rights reserved; the license granted herein is to Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. ...

History of Prospect Park

Originally the terminal moraine and outwash plain of the receding glaciers of the ice age, the area around the Park was the site of the Battle of Long Island during the U.S. Revolutionary War and became known as Battle Pass where the highest point known as Prospect Hill jutted up approximately 200 feet (60 m) from sea level. In the nineteenth century the Park was mostly farm land; the cost of acquiring the Park land by the City of Brooklyn was upwards of $4 million. The actual cost of construction of the Park amounted to more than $5 million. Originally the Park was to straddle Flatbush Avenue and go past the later built Eastern Parkway. Planning and construction of the Park was originally begun before the Civil War in 1860 but stopped during the war. After the war in 1865 Olmsted and Vaux were hired and Vaux convinced the city that more lands to the east and nearer to Green-Wood Cemetery should be purchased including the area of the park known as Nethermead and the farm land where Prospect Lake was built. Battle Pass, Brooklyn circa 1792 etching, public domain. ... Moraine is the general term for debris of all sorts originally transported by glaciers or ice sheets that have since melted away. ... Mouth of the glacier Schlatenkees near Innergschlöß, Austria. ... Variations in CO2, temperature and dust from the Vostok ice core over the last 400 000 years For the animated movie, see Ice Age (movie). ... The Battle Pass area, also known as Flatbush Pass in the area of Prospect Park and Green-Wood Cemetery. ... The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was a war fought primarily between Great Britain and revolutionaries within thirteen of her North American colonies. ... A civil war is a war in which the competing parties are segments of the same country or empire. ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... 1865 is a common year starting on Sunday. ...

The artistic vision of Olmsted and Vaux

As a work of engineering and landscaping Prospect Park was so revolutionary in its time that some considered the Park a work of art in itself; others were critical of the ideas of Olmsted and Vaux as they were seen as breaking with European traditions. Olmsted and Vaux literally engineered the Park to recreate wild nature as they had experienced in photographically documented trips across the United States. They created the large Long Meadow out of land that was filed with lowland peat bogs, they moved and planted trees, hauled topsoil and created a vast mowed turf with specifically placed trees (which have been recently been replanted to bring back the original design). Large swathes of trees were planted around the perimeter of the Park to create a buffer zone between the surrounding urban landscape so that the Park could be a true rural oasis away from the hustle and bustle of the city of Brooklyn; other major landscaping projects under the Olmsted, Vaux * Company plan transformed the Park by the time it was finished in 1868. Landscaping can refer to more than one subject: Real estate on large scale, see Landscape architecture Gardening on a large or small scale, see Landscape gardening Artwork, see Landscape painting Maintenance, see Landscape maintenance This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share... 1868 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

On the Bridle Path, 1912

In designing the watercourse Olmstead and Vaux also took advantage of the pre-existing glacier formed kettle ponds and lowland outwash plains. A winding naturalistic stream channel with several ponds feeds a sixty acre (240,000 m²) lake. They crafted the watercourse to include a steep, forested Ravine — perhaps their greatest masterpiece of landscape architecture — all with significant river edge flora and fauna habitats. This was all done to give the urban dweller a "sub-conscious" experience of nature within the city as Olmsted believed it was possible and necessary to provide such nourishment for the general public in the overwhelming urban environments of his time! Horse riders on the Bridle Path in Prospect Park 300 p. ...

The Prospect Park watercourse

Perhaps the most fascinating of Olmsted and Vaux's creations is the Prospect Park watercourse. All the waterways and lakes in Prospect Park were man-made. Originally engineered by Olmstead and Vaux to be a vast nature preserve recreating American wilderness areas as an oasis for urban residents, by the mid-twentieth century these landscaped waterways fell into a state of terrible disrepair. In 1994 the Prospect Park Alliance launched a 25-year, $43 million restoration project for the watercourse.

If one follows the water from its source the water in Prospect Park takes us on a course starting at the top of Fallwill Falls into Fallwill Pool past the Fallwill Bridge through the recently restored Upper Pool and Lower Pool, where migratory birds rest and marsh and other water plants can be found. Past the Esdale Bridge through Ambergill Pond one enters into a tree covered area then on to the smaller Ambergill Falls through Rock Arch Bridge past the gorge area called The Ravine. The design called for the trickle of water to be heard throughout the forest and this effects lasts on to the Nethermead Arches through the Binnen Water where a variety of waterlilies can be found. The watercourse then moves on to the Music Pagoda Bridge where performances of music were often given.

Near the Boathouse, circa 1900s

The waters then move past the Binnen Bridge to the once again operative Boathouse (now Audubon Center & Visitor Center) on to the Lullwater pond and then under the Lullwater Bridge around the Peninsula — an area that is a sanctuary for birds where wild meadows can be found. Moving under the large Terrace Bridge the waters move to their final destination, entering into the sixty acre (240,000 m²) artificially built Prospect Lake that includes several islands. Once severely polluted Prospect Lake now boasts an annual fishing contest; now, again, boats of visitors once more move across the Lake. Prospect Park Boat House, 19th century, public domain image. ...

This trip along the watercourse demonstrates the revolutionary approach of Olmsted and Vaux in their re-creation of various types of natural water formations; not only did they plant a variety of trees, bushes and other plants, but they moved rocks, boulders and earth to recreate a variety of natural environments for the pleasure and stimulation of Brooklyn’s nineteenth century urban dwellers.

Map of the Park, c. 1880s

Public domain, map of Prospect Park, c 1880s This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ...

The Ravine District

With the watercourse moving through it a 146 acre (0.6 km²) section of the Park's interior that is the center of Brooklyn's only forest is known as the Ravine District. Olmsted and Vaux saw the Ravine as the heart of Prospect Park and the centerpiece of mountainous tableaux similar to the Adirondack Mountains. As of 2003 the Ravine has been partially restored and the restored section is open to the public. The perimeter of the area is a steep narrow 100 foot (30 m) gorge. Still recovering from decades of overuse that caused soil compaction and erosion, the Ravine and surrounding woodlands have been undergoing restorations since 1996. The watercourse goes through the Ravine leading to the Boathouse which was designed by the famed architectural firm McKim, Mead, and White and was one of the most fashionable destinations in the Park in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. As the Park decayed, this historically significant structure was in peril of destruction; luckily, the Boathouse was saved in the 1980s by the then New York Mayor Edward Koch and has been completely restored and refurbished; now housing the Audubon Society's only urban interpretive center in the United States. Eagle Lake, Adirondack region The Adirondack mountain range are a group of mountains in north-eastern New York, USA, which extend into Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Herkimer, Lewis, and Warren counties. ... McKim, Mead, and White was the premier architectural firm in the eastern United States at the turn of the twentieth century. ... // Events and trends The 1980s marked an abrupt shift towards more conservative lifestyles after the momentous cultural revolutions which took place in the 60s and 70s and the definition of the AIDS virus in 1981. ... Ed Koch, a Democrat, speaks at the 2004 Republican National Convention in support of the re-election of President George W. Bush. ... The National Audubon Society is an American non-profit environmental organization dedicated to nature conservancy. ...

Robert Moses and Prospect Park

During the twentieth century a variety of innovations were introduced by Robert Moses into Prospect Park, including a variety of playgrounds for children; he also supervised the building of the Prospect Park Bandshell near the statue of the Marquis de la Fayette on Ninth Street and Prospect Park West. However the landscaping of the interior of the Park continued to hide the original plan of Olmsted and Vaux as soil erosion and lack of maintenance caused the landscaping to deteriorate. In the 1990s a new volunteer and privately controlled non-profit organization was founded to help revitalize the Park; to date the Prospect Park Alliance has begun the work of transforming the Park back to its original state. Robert Moses. ... Marie-Joseph-Paul-Roch-Yves-Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette (September 6, 1757–May 20, 1834), was a French aristocrat most famous for his participation in the American Revolutionary War and early French Revolution. ... A non-profit organization (sometimes abbreviated to not-for-profit or non-profit) is an organization whose primary objective is to support some issue or matter of private interest or public concern for non-commercial purposes. ...

A snowy day in the park, February 2003

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1500x1000, 650 KB)Photo of Prospect Park, Brooklyn. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1500x1000, 650 KB)Photo of Prospect Park, Brooklyn. ...

Recreation

The Prospect Park Women's Softball League has been playing softball games on summer evenings in Prospect Park for over 23 years. Horseback riders from Kensington stables are often seen on paths in the park. Paddleboating is open to the public on the lake. The Bandshell hosts frequent concerts, most notably the Celebrate Brooklyn! Performing Arts Festival, a series of summer concerts founded in 1979. Softball is a team sport in which a ball, eleven to twelve inches in circumference, is thrown by a player called a pitcher and hit by an offensive player called a batter with a round, smooth stick called a bat. ... Binomial name Equus caballus Linnaeus, 1758 The Horse (Equus caballus) is a sizeable ungulate mammal, one of the seven modern species of the genus Equus. ... A paddle steamer, paddleboat, or paddlewheeler is a ship driven by one or more paddle wheels driven by a steam engine. ... This page refers to the year 1979. ...

Traffic v. recreation

A contentious debate is underway in city government concerning the role of automobile traffic in the park. One side argues that if the ability of cars to use Prospect Park as a thoroughfare were reduced, traffic on either side of the park would be increased. The other side argues that the park is designed to be a haven from the type of city stress that automobiles represent, and that having them use the park sacrifices the safety of those using the park for recreation. Current (fall 2004) regulations state that automobile traffic is allowed to use the park only 7-9 am and 5-7 pm on weekdays. While these are an increase of car-free hours from the past, they leave automobiles in the park at rush hour, the precise time when cyclists, runners, walkers and other park users would otherwise be most likely to use the park. A similar debate is underway concerning Central Park. See link below. An automobile is a wheeled vehicle that carries its own motor. ... In many parts of the world traffic is generally organized, flowing in lanes of travel for a particular direction, with interchanges, traffic signals, or signage at intersectons to facilitate the orderly and timely flow of traffic. ... Tigers playing in the water Girl playing on tyre swing Adults enjoying the day. ... Venice (J.H. Crawford) Auto-free zones are also known as car-free zones and pedestrianised zones. ... Rush hour in a city A rush hour is a part of the day with busy traffic and hence traffic congestion on the roads and crowded public transport; normally the two periods in a day when people are travelling to or from work or school. ...

External links

• Prospect Park Alliance
• Map of Prospect Park pdf file
• Transportation Alternatives Car-Free Prospect Park Campaign