Celebration in Central Park

NEW YORK

Central Park is celebrating its 150th birthday and the city will spend the remainder of this year marking the anniversary with a light show, exhibits, performances and concerts.

The 843-acre park has much to celebrate. A $300 million restoration has returned it to the magnificence of its heyday.

Inside its 136 acres of woodlands, 250 acres of lawns and 150 acres of lakes and ponds, it's easy to forget that this public park -- designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux -- lies in the middle of a bustling metropolis.

The experiences in the park are as bountiful as they are beautiful. In the northernmost part of the park, the six-acre Conservatory Garden offers examples of English, Italian and French gardens. It's a favorite spot for wedding photos and marriage proposals.

If it's music you want, head for the Great Lawn, Central Park's outdoor concert arena. Its luxurious carpet of emerald grass is the spot on summer evenings for an alfresco dinner and free performances by the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera.

For something less formal, just a skip from the Great Lawn, there's Turtle Pond, an oasis for aquatic birds and dragonflies with a tiny island where turtles have a sandy and protected spot to lay their eggs.

For a totally different environment, the Ramble offers a taste of the Adirondacks without ever leaving the city. The 38-acre Ramble has been rated one of the top 15 bird-watching sites in the nation for the 215 species that can be spotted there. Olmsted called it a "wild garden," for its rocky outcrops, secluded glades and tumbling stream.

Meandering paths take strollers through a forest rich in plantings from the Adirondack and Appalachian Mountain ranges.

A more serene setting can be found at the nearby Shakespeare Garden where only flowers mentioned in the great scribe's works are planted.

Those seeking a more traditional park experience and a perfect vantage point of New York City's skyline should head for Sheep Meadow's 15-acre grassy expanse -- a great spot for sunbathing, picnics and kite-flying. Tavern on the Green, the park's only full-service restaurant, is a leisurely stroll away.

The celebration, which runs through December, will run the gamut from art shows and stage shows to concerts and exhibits, and a light show in the park that should be visible in all five boroughs on Sept. 15, the same night as a fund-raising event in which 150 apartments, hotels and clubs with views of the park will host $1,000-a-ticket dinners by New York's top chefs.

Other offerings include a concert on June 11 by the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, a daylong, parkwide celebration on July 19 which will culminate with a free performance by singer Andrea Bocelli, and a Central Park Film Festival beginning Sept. 3.