Park It

I recently visited one of my favorite places in New York City - C e n t r a l Park. It’s a sprawling 843 acres of water (150 acres), l a w n s (2 5 0 a c r e s) a n d 1 3 6 a c r e s o f woodlands, smack in the middle of the Isle of Manhattan. On my Sunday in the Park, there were c o n c e r t s i n p r o g r e s s , people playing bocce ball, runners, walkers, hikers a n d b o a t e r s interacting in peace. In s h o r t , t h i s w o n d e r f u l treasure is a testimony t o i t s c r e a t o r s .

In 1858, with the blessing of the New York State Legislature, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux set about creating a place where all kinds of people could get together and enjoy everything the p a r k h a s t o o f f e r . Last year, over 26 million people came to Central Park! I’m not sure this kind of land acquisition would be p o s s i b l e o r affordable today, so hail to the visionaries. As the S a n G . P a s s a r e a experiences staggering growth, I am happy to see t h a t p r e v i o u s a n d current city policy setters had their own vision and exerted legislative follow through. Banning is blessed with some outstanding parks.

I think we should treasure them, and as members of the business community, help support, preserve and enhance the Banning Park system.