![Apríl 2004 004](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Apr%C3%ADl_2004_004.jpg)
Sheep Meadow is a
meadow
A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifi ...
near the southwestern section of
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
, between West
66th and 69th Streets in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. It is adjacent to
Central Park Mall
The Central Park Mall is a pedestrian esplanade in Central Park, in Manhattan, New York City. The mall, leading to Bethesda Fountain, provides the only purely formal feature in the naturalistic original plan of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calve ...
to the east,
The Ramble and Lake
The Ramble and Lake are two geographic features of Central Park in Manhattan, New York City. Part of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux's 1857 Greensward Plan for Central Park, the features are located on the west side of the park between ...
to the north, West Drive to the west, and
Heckscher Playground and Ballfields to the south.
Sheep Meadow was originally designed as a
parade ground
A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually celebrations of s ...
and incorporated into the
Greensward Plan
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated 42 ...
, the original plan for Central Park developed in the 1850s. However, Central Park's designers
Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...
and
Calvert Vaux
Calvert Vaux (; December 20, 1824 – November 19, 1895) was an English-American architect and landscape designer, best known as the co-designer, along with his protégé and junior partner Frederick Law Olmsted, of what would become New York Ci ...
opposed the use of the meadow for military purposes, so it was instead converted to a pasture with sheep. Housed in a nearby sheepfold that now contains the
Tavern on the Green
Tavern on the Green is an American cuisine restaurant in Central Park in Manhattan, New York City, near the intersection of Central Park West and West 66th Street on the Upper West Side. The restaurant, housed in a former sheepfold, has been op ...
restaurant, the sheep were removed in 1934.
Sheep Meadow has a long history as a gathering place for large-scale demonstrations and political movements. These have included festivals, rallies, concerts, and protests such as the
be-ins of the 1960s. Though sports and gatherings were gradually allowed through the late 19th century, Sheep Meadow saw significant deterioration because of overuse. A regulation prohibiting sports was enacted following a 1980 renovation, and the meadow was restored again in 2000.
History
Construction
In 1857 a design competition was held for
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
. The applications were required to contain extremely detailed specifications, including at least four east-west transverse roads through the park, a parade ground of , and at least three playgrounds of between .
The winning design was
Frederick Law Olmsted
Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822August 28, 1903) was an American landscape architect, journalist, social critic, and public administrator. He is considered to be the father of landscape architecture in the USA. Olmsted was famous for co- ...
and
Calvert Vaux
Calvert Vaux (; December 20, 1824 – November 19, 1895) was an English-American architect and landscape designer, best known as the co-designer, along with his protégé and junior partner Frederick Law Olmsted, of what would become New York Ci ...
's
Greensward Plan
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated 42 ...
, whose name referenced a nineteenth-century term for broad open lawns.
The plan offered a reduced parade ground on the western side of the proposed park.
When the location of Sheep Meadow was decided, some small communities of poorer New Yorkers were uprooted, including Irish, Germans and African-Americans.
Sheep Meadow was to be located in a relatively flat patch of land within the park site.
To produce the almost of "level or but slightly undulating ground" in the specifications, the ten acres of poorly-draining ground was filled to a depth of with fill from
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. Additionally, large boulders and a rocky ridge that stood out of the finished grade were blasted out, and the reshaped landscape was covered with topsoil.
Sheep Meadow was the most expensive project within the park.
It was the largest meadow in Central Park until the old
Croton Aqueduct
The Croton Aqueduct or Old Croton Aqueduct was a large and complex water distribution system constructed for New York City between 1837 and 1842. The great aqueducts, which were among the first in the United States, carried water by gravity from ...
collecting reservoir was emptied and made into the
Great Lawn
The Great Lawn and Turtle Pond are two connected features of Central Park in Manhattan, New York City, United States. The lawn and pond are located on the site of a former reservoir for the Croton Aqueduct system which was infilled during the ...
in 1937.
![Detail Thaddeus Wilkerson Postcard Sheep Fold Central Park NY](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Detail_Thaddeus_Wilkerson_Postcard_Sheep_Fold_Central_Park_NY.jpg)
Despite Central Park's growing popularity, the park commissioners were loath to allow large events, especially military practices and picnics.
The committee instituted a ban on military parades in the Parade Ground in 1865.
In its place, Olmsted and Vaux believed that the introduction of sheep enhanced the romantic English quality of the park and to re-enforce the quiet nature of the "Greensward", 200 sheep were added in 1864.
The flock of pedigree
Southdown sheep
The Southdown is a British breed of domestic sheep, the smallest of the British breeds. It is a shortwool breed, and the basis of the whole Down group of breeds. It was originally bred by John Ellman of Glynde, near Lewes in East Sussex, in abo ...
were joined later by
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...
sheep.
The sheep were housed in a fanciful
Victorian-style
sheepfold
A pen is an enclosure for holding livestock. It may also perhaps be used as a term for an enclosure for other animals such as pets that are unwanted inside the house. The term describes types of enclosures that may confine one or many animal ...
created in 1870 by
Jacob Wrey Mould
Jacob Wrey Mould (7 August 1825 – 14 June 1886) was a British architect, illustrator, linguist and musician, noted for his contributions to the design and construction of New York City's Central Park. He was "instrumental" in bringing the Brit ...
under the direction of Calvert Vaux.
The animals also trimmed the grass and fertilized the lawn.
A sheep crossing was built across the drive, and twice a day a
shepherd
A shepherd or sheepherder is a person who tends, herds, feeds, or guards flocks of sheep. ''Shepherd'' derives from Old English ''sceaphierde (''sceap'' 'sheep' + ''hierde'' 'herder'). ''Shepherding is one of the world's oldest occupations, i ...
would stop traffic as the sheep traveled between the sheepfold and meadow.
The Central Park commissioners would often sell wool and once a year would also auction off some sheep.
Conversion to open space
In its earliest years, Sheep Meadow was also known as "the Commons" or "the Green".
For the first few decades of Central Park's existence, it was forbidden to play most sports in Central Park, because Olmsted and Vaux believed that the park should be used for scenic enjoyment rather than recreation.
As such, in the park's earliest years, Sheep Meadow was only available to the public during certain times such as on Saturdays, as indicated on signs posted on the meadow's perimeter.
By the 1870s, the park's patronage increasingly came to include the middle and working class, and strict regulations were gradually eased, such as those against public gatherings.
Though certain sports such as lacrosse, tennis, American football, and roller skating were allowed during the 1880s, the commissioners were still reluctant to repeal the "keep off the grass" rules.
However, by the 1890s, the regulations against walking on the grass had also been repealed.
Tennis nets were installed in Sheep Meadow in 1915 due to the large number of tennis permits distributed by the city that year.
There were efforts to demolish the sheepfold as early as 1912, when it was suggested that the
Lenox Library be relocated there. A subsequent proposal in 1921 called for a police garage to be built on the site. These efforts were not successful.
By the 1920s, Central Park was undergoing minor renovations, and in 1928, part of Sheep Meadow was set aside for a
plant nursery
A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which sell to the general p ...
to store plants and trees that would be installed during these renovations.
At the same time, the successive generations of sheep in the meadow were supposedly
inbreeding
Inbreeding is the production of offspring from the mating or breeding of individuals or organisms that are closely related genetically. By analogy, the term is used in human reproduction, but more commonly refers to the genetic disorders and o ...
, leading to alleged deformities in later generations.
In 1934, to make way for a restaurant in the sheepfold,
park commissioner
Robert Moses
Robert Moses (December 18, 1888 – July 29, 1981) was an American urban planner and public official who worked in the New York metropolitan area during the early to mid 20th century. Despite never being elected to any office, Moses is regarded ...
evicted the sheep from Sheep Meadow.
The sheep were moved to
Prospect Park in Brooklyn and soon thereafter moved to a farm near
Otisville, New York
Otisville is a village in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 969 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–N ...
, in the
Catskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, also known as the Catskills, are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains, located in southeastern New York. As a cultural and geographic region, the Catskills are generally defined as those areas c ...
. After the sheep were removed, the sheepfold was converted into what later became the
Tavern on the Green
Tavern on the Green is an American cuisine restaurant in Central Park in Manhattan, New York City, near the intersection of Central Park West and West 66th Street on the Upper West Side. The restaurant, housed in a former sheepfold, has been op ...
restaurant.
The restaurant opened in October 1934.
Restorations
![Sheep Meadow Central Park NYC 2007 001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Sheep_Meadow_Central_Park_NYC_2007_001.jpg)
The large events and the lack of maintenance of the 1960s and 1970s severely eroded the lawn, and it was one of the first parts of Central Park to be restored by the
Central Park Conservancy
The Central Park Conservancy is a private, nonprofit park conservancy that manages Central Park under a contract with the City of New York and NYC Parks. The conservancy employs most maintenance and operations staff in the park. It effectivel ...
.
This led New York state government to give $310,000 toward replacing Sheep Meadow's sod in 1979. With the help of
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...
, who held a free benefit concert that July,
the city renovated the meadow and installed a sprinkler system beginning in September 1979. The renovation was supposed to be completed within six or seven months, but because of discrepancies during construction, the grass began turning brown before the renovation was complete, and the reopening date was delayed. Sheep Meadow was reopened in September 1980.
Once the lawn was reopened, team sports were banned and had to use the Great Lawn instead. In 1985, Sheep Meadow and four city beaches were designated as "quiet zones" where loud radio-playing was prohibited.
In 1992, a consortium of cheese producers brought a flock of sheep to graze on the meadow as a promotional stunt. They also pledged to finance the meadow's maintenance through 1993.
In November 2000, the Central Park Conservancy began the installation of a new irrigation system. The project, funded from a grant by the
Marc Haas Foundation Marc or MARC may refer to:
People
* Marc (given name), people with the first name
* Marc (surname), people with the family name
Acronyms
* MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging,
* MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...
, was completed in five months, and Sheep Meadow reopened in April 2001.
Features
![Central Park Jul 2019 13](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Central_Park_Jul_2019_13.jpg)
Sheep Meadow is on the western side of Central Park just north of the 65th Street transverse road. Adjacent features include
The Dairy
The Dairy is a small building in Central Park in Manhattan, New York City, designed by the architect Calvert Vaux. The building was completed in 1871 as a restaurant but is now one of the park's five visitor centers managed by the Central Park ...
and
Central Park Carousel
The Central Park Carousel, officially the Michael Friedsam Memorial Carousel, p.413 is a vintage wood-carved carousel located in Central Park in Manhattan, New York City, at the southern end of the park, near East 65th Street. It is the fourt ...
to the southeast,
Central Park Mall
The Central Park Mall is a pedestrian esplanade in Central Park, in Manhattan, New York City. The mall, leading to Bethesda Fountain, provides the only purely formal feature in the naturalistic original plan of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calve ...
to the east,
The Ramble and Lake
The Ramble and Lake are two geographic features of Central Park in Manhattan, New York City. Part of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux's 1857 Greensward Plan for Central Park, the features are located on the west side of the park between ...
to the north,
Strawberry Fields memorial to the northwest, West Drive to the west, and
Heckscher Playground and Ballfields to the south.
Mineral Springs
In 1865, Vaux and Mould designed the Moorish-style Mineral Springs Pavilion at the northwestern edge of Sheep Meadow. The Mineral Springs Pavilion had cusped arches supported on slender colonnettes, and flaring, complex roofs, reminiscent of Saracenic architecture. In 1957, park commissioner Moses demolished the structure.
The Mineral Springs Cafe was built on the site of the pavilion in the 1960s.
In 2009, it became a cafe operated by
Le Pain Quotidien.
Statues
There are two monuments and statues near Sheep Meadow. ''
Giuseppe Mazzini
Giuseppe Mazzini (, , ; 22 June 1805 – 10 March 1872) was an Italian politician, journalist, and activist for the unification of Italy (Risorgimento) and spearhead of the Italian revolutionary movement. His efforts helped bring about the in ...
'' (1878), a bronze
bust
Bust commonly refers to:
* A woman's breasts
* Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders
* An arrest
Bust may also refer to:
Places
*Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France
*Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically
Media
* ''Bust'' (magazine ...
by
Giovanni Turini
Giovanni Turini (May 23, 1841 – August 27, 1899) was an American sculptor, born in Verona, Austrian Empire. He immigrated to the United States in the late 1860s. He is best remembered as a portrait and historical sculptor.
His portrait bust o ...
, overlooks the Meadow on a high pedestal. It honors
Giuseppe Mazzini
Giuseppe Mazzini (, , ; 22 June 1805 – 10 March 1872) was an Italian politician, journalist, and activist for the unification of Italy (Risorgimento) and spearhead of the Italian revolutionary movement. His efforts helped bring about the in ...
, an Italian patriot and revolutionary. The pedestal contains two Italian phrases, translated to "thought and action" and "God and the people". ''
Indian Hunter'' (1869), created by American sculptor
John Quincy Adams Ward
John Quincy Adams Ward (June 29, 1830 – May 1, 1910) was an American sculptor, whose most familiar work is his larger than life-size standing Statue of George Washington (Wall Street), statue of George Washington on the steps of Federal Hall, Fe ...
, is on the east side of Sheep Meadow near the Mall. It was the first statue in Central Park created by an American artist.
Notable uses
Sheep Meadow has held many large-scale events, and people have gathered for many uses. However, managerial neglect took a toll on the park's condition, and by the 1970s, the frequent festivals and concerts in Central Park were later identified as part of the cause for the park's subsequent deterioration.
After the 1970s renovation, the open space of Sheep Meadow was surrounded by a
chain link fence
A chain-link fence (also referred to as wire netting, wire-mesh fence, chain-wire fence, cyclone fence, hurricane fence, or diamond-mesh fence) is a type of woven fence usually made from galvanized or linear low-density polyethylene-coated st ...
.
The perimeter contains signs saying that team sports, ballplaying, bike riding, skating, glass bottles and dogs are prohibited.
Sheep Meadow opens at 11 a.m. each day between April and October each year.
The meadow is closed during winters to allow the sod to grow back.
The Conservancy internally classifies Sheep Meadow as one of seven "A Lawns", indicating that it has the highest level of use out of the park's four classes of lawns.
Sheep Meadow is heavily used: in 2009, it was utilized by 30,000 people each day. A survey conducted in 2010 found that the meadow saw three million people that year.
Past events
Early and mid-20th century
![107th Infantry Memorial, Central Park, NYC](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/107th_Infantry_Memorial%2C_Central_Park%2C_NYC.JPG)
In the early 20th century, the flock of sheep started sharing space with a variety of festivals and children's pageants, though political protests were not yet permissible.
In 1912, an event called ''Around the World in Search of Fairyland'' featured children in brightly colored costumes.
Children's competitions were also held in Sheep Meadow, such as playground contests and model airplane races.
Starting in 1935, troupes of schoolgirls from the city's
five boroughs
5 is a number, numeral, and glyph.
5, five or number 5 may also refer to:
* AD 5, the fifth year of the AD era
* 5 BC, the fifth year before the AD era
Literature
* ''5'' (visual novel), a 2008 visual novel by Ram
* ''5'' (comics), an awar ...
competed at an annual concert attended by thousands of spectators. This practice continued even through
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Another popular festival was a
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
sponsored event in 1936, attended by 25,000 people.
During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, Sheep Meadow was the site of patriotic wartime celebrations. In 1916, the 107th Infantry, the 7th Regiment Reserves, marched daily from their
Park Avenue Armory
__NOTOC__
The Park Avenue Armory Conservancy, generally known as Park Avenue Armory, is a nonprofit cultural institution within the historic Seventh Regiment Armory building located at 643 Park Avenue on New York City's Upper East Side. The inst ...
to Sheep Meadow for maneuvers and drill, before being deployed that August. They are memorialized by the
107th Infantry Memorial, east of the Meadow at 5th Avenue and 67th Street. In 1917, 20,000
liberty war bond marchers participated in a "Liberty Day Parade" that ended in Sheep Meadow. The following year, there was a proposal to install trenches in Sheep Meadow as part of a wartime exhibition, the reason being that Sheep Meadow was in worse shape than
North Meadow
North Meadow, Cricklade () is a hay meadow near the town of Cricklade, in Wiltshire, England. It is 24.6 hectares in size. It is a traditionally managed lowland hay-meadow, or ''lammas land'', and is grazed ''in common'' between 12 August and 12 F ...
, the other large meadow in the park at the time. However, this was controversial because it was seen as detrimental to the naturalistic character of the park. The meadow was also used for patriotic gatherings during World War II. On October 27, 1945,
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
spoke to 50,000 people at Sheep Meadow on
Navy Day
Several nations observe or have observed a Navy Day to recognize their navy.
By country
Argentina
The Argentine Navy day is celebrated on May 17, anniversary of the victory achieved in 1814 in the Battle of Montevideo.
Bahrain
The R ...
.
1960s and 1970s: be-ins
![CROWD GATHERED AT THE SCHAEFER BANDSTAND IN CENTRAL PARK TO HEAR SINGER JUDY COLLINS ALSO GET A DRAMATIC VIEW OF THE](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/CROWD_GATHERED_AT_THE_SCHAEFER_BANDSTAND_IN_CENTRAL_PARK_TO_HEAR_SINGER_JUDY_COLLINS_ALSO_GET_A_DRAMATIC_VIEW_OF_THE..._-_NARA_-_551673.jpg)
Starting in the 1960s, Sheep Meadow was used for events of unprecedented scale. Concerts,
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
protests, and hippie "
love-in
A love-in is a peaceful public gathering focused on meditation, love, music, sex and/or use of recreational drugs. The term was coined by Los Angeles radio comedian Peter Bergman, who also hosted the first such event on Easter, 26 March 1967 in ...
s" and "
be-ins" were attended by hundreds of thousands of people.
The demonstrations included a "be-in style" peace demonstration attended by 10,000 people in March 1967, and an anti-Vietnam War rally attended by 400,000 people in April of that year. In Easter 1968, mayor
John Lindsay
John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, mayor of New York City, and candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regular ...
, an opponent of the Vietnam War, met with protesters and marchers in an event attended by 90,000 people who assembled at Sheep Meadow. On June 28, 1970, there was a massive gay march and "be-in" that traveled from
Stonewall Inn
The Stonewall Inn, often shortened to Stonewall, is a gay bar and recreational tavern in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City, and the site of the Stonewall riots of 1969, which is widely considered to be the s ...
to Sheep Meadow to commemorate the first anniversary of the
Stonewall riots
The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of Ju ...
.
Another large Vietnam War protest march, which occurred in 1971 and included 20,000 protesters, marched up Sixth Avenue and ended at Sheep Meadow. These be-ins stopped by the 1970s as attitudes toward large protests in Central Park changed.
Other large gatherings included an event in 1969 when large crowds gathered to watch
Apollo 11
Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, an ...
, the first crewed mission to land on the
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...
.
That same year, a group of 15,000 to 20,000 people assembled in Sheep Meadow for a bonfire event.
This period was also marked by performances, such as a 1967 event where
Barbra Streisand
Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers List ...
performed in front of 135,000 people,
as well as summertime concerts in Sheep Meadow that each drew tens of thousands of people.
Additionally,
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor (born March 12, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A six-time Grammy Award winner, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, havi ...
's free benefit concert for the restoration of Sheep Meadow, hosted in July 1979, drew 250,000 people.
1980s to present
In 1995,
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
paid the city government $1 million to show the New York City premiere of the film
''Pocahontas''. Then in 1998, Disney rented the park area for a $105,000 fee, to have 1,300 children stand in formation, spelling out the name of the newly opened
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Disney's Animal Kingdom Theme Park is a zoological theme park at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. Owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Parks, Experiences and Products division, it is the l ...
theme park. The scene was filmed from helicopters and from ground-level cameras set up outside Sheep Meadow.
For sixteen days in 2005, Central Park was the setting for
Christo and Jeanne-Claude
Christo Vladimirov Javacheff (1935–2020) and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (1935–2009), known as Christo and Jeanne-Claude, were artists noted for their large-scale, site-specific environmental installations, often large landmarks and ...
's installation ''
The Gates
''The Gates'' were a group of gates comprising a site-specific work of art by Bulgarian artist Christo Yavacheff and French artist Jeanne-Claude, known jointly as Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The artists installed 7,503 vinyl "gates" along of p ...
''.
The opening ceremony for the installation was officiated by mayor
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...
, who raised a long metal pole to release fabric from the top of a gate in Sheep Meadow. Although the project was the subject of mixed reactions, it was nevertheless a major attraction for the park while it was open, drawing over a million people.
Recurring events
The
AIDS Walk New York AIDS Walk New York is an annual fundraising walkathon, held in Central Park, that benefits Gay Men's Health Crisis and over 50 other local AIDS service organizations. Founded in 1986, it is now the largest walkathon in the world, and the largest AI ...
, an annual event that draws up to 40,000 people, begins and ends in the Meadow. It started in 1986 and has since grown into one of the largest
AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
fundraising events ever, raising $139 million by 2015. After Sheep Meadow experienced extensive damage from the opening ceremonies for the AIDS Walk, NYC Parks determined that after the 2003 event this gathering could no longer take place in Sheep Meadow and would instead be held on the paved surfaces near the Bandshell in the Central Park Mall.
Since 1995, the NYC Urban Starfest has convened in Sheep Meadow on an ongoing annual basis. Sheep Meadow is reportedly one of the only open areas of Central Park "free of glare from local lighting and where almost the entire sky can be seen".
Emergency and other uses
![Winter view of the Sheep Meadow, Central Park](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ac/Winter_view_of_the_Sheep_Meadow%2C_Central_Park.jpg)
At times the Meadow has been used for emergency helicopter air operations:
* On June 8, 1968, U.S. president
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...
flew in and out of New York in a helicopter to attend
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...
's funeral at
St. Patrick's Cathedral.
* In 1986, emergency services met a helicopter carrying a heart patient from
Smithtown, Long Island, in Sheep Meadow, The patient was destined for the
New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
in the Upper East Side.
* Following the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
in 2001,
Black Hawk Black Hawk and Blackhawk may refer to:
Animals
* Black Hawk (horse), a Morgan horse that lived from 1833 to 1856
* Common black hawk, ''Buteogallus anthracinus''
* Cuban black hawk, ''Buteogallus gundlachii''
* Great black hawk, ''Buteogallus ur ...
helicopters used Sheep Meadow as a base of operations. At one point, a portable
air traffic control
Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...
tower was assembled there.
At least one child is said to have been born in Sheep Meadow. Isidore Block, known locally as a street poet, has stated that he was born in Sheep Meadow in 1920.
Use in media
Film and television production is allowed on Sheep Meadow only with an official permit and when it is open. The meadow is open for production in dry weather from May through October, from 11 a.m. to dusk.
Beginning with ''
Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
'' in 1908, films such as ''
It Could Happen To You'' (1994), ''
The Fisher King
''The Fisher King'' is a 1991 American fantasy comedy-drama film written by Richard LaGravenese and directed by Terry Gilliam. Starring Robin Williams and Jeff Bridges, with Mercedes Ruehl, Amanda Plummer, and Michael Jeter in supporting roles, ...
'' (1991), ''
Wall Street
Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...
'' (1987), ''
Ghostbusters
''Ghostbusters'' is a 1984 American Supernatural fiction, supernatural comedy film directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, and written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. It stars Bill Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis as Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and ...
'' (1984), ''
Enchanted'' (2007), and ''
The Manchurian Candidate
''The Manchurian Candidate'' is a novel by Richard Condon, first published in 1959. It is a political thriller about the son of a prominent U.S. political family who is brainwashed into being an unwitting assassin for a Communist conspiracy.
The ...
'' (1962) have used Sheep Meadow as a setting.
The meadow has been used for scenes depicting romantic moments, large dance numbers, and car chases.
The director
Mark Levin
Mark Reed Levin (; born September 21, 1957) is an American lawyer, author, and radio personality. He is the host of syndicated radio show
Broadcast syndication is the practice of leasing the right to broadcasting television shows and rad ...
wanted to fill Sheep Meadow with sheep for a scene in his 2005 romance ''
Little Manhattan
''Little Manhattan'' is a 2005 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Mark Levin and written by Jennifer Flackett, starring Josh Hutcherson and Charlotte Ray Rosenberg. It is set in Manhattan, and follows a ten-year-old boy as he exper ...
''. After NYC Parks refused this request, the filmmakers placed temporary sod along the path surrounding the meadow, then filmed the sheep atop the temporary sod.
References
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
External links
*
{{Central Park
Central Park
Upper West Side
Meadows in the United States