Valuing Central Park's Contributions to New York City's ... - Appleseed

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38 The Angel of the Waters Among the many forms of artistic expression New Yorkers can find today in Central Park, sculpture is among the oldest. In 1873, Emma Stebbins was commissioned to create “The Angel of the Waters” at Bethesda Fountain – the Park’s first commissioned sculpture and the first commission for a major work of public art ever awarded to an American woman. Today the angel – one of 51works of sculpture found in the Park – remains one of the Park’s most popular figures, and one of its best-known images. it annually hosts major performances – Shakespeare in the Park, the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera, SummerStage and others – that together draw hundreds of thousands of people from throughout the City and beyond. But the Park also hosts a variety of other cultural activities serving the local community. They include, for example: • • • • • • The Harlem Meer Performance Festival, a weekly performance series by the Meer, at the north end of the Park; Sunday Latin, gospel and jazz concerts at the Dana Discovery Center; A marionette theater at the Swedish Cottage; Family music and art workshops; Winter Jam, an annual winter festival attracting more than 10,000 participants in 2007; and The Central Park Film Festival, featuring a different movie that was filmed at Central Park each evening for a week at the end of August. Building New York’s “social capital” While the numbers on New Yorkers’ use of the Park are impressive, Central Park has a value to the community that goes beyond what can be measured by aggregating numbers of individuals who use its facilities at various times for various purposes. The Park also represents a significant investment in building New York City’s “social capital” – the collective value that arises from the “trust, reciprocity, information, and cooperation associated with social networks.” Central Park contributes in several ways to the development of social capital. The Central Park Conservancy, for example – in addition to being an enterprise that generates substantial revenue and invests heavily in the management, maintenance and improvement of the Park – is also a focal point for volunteer activity. The Conservancy’s
volunteer programs provide opportunities for New Yorkers to work together to help maintain the Park and assist its users. In 2007, 339 volunteers contributed a total of 21,131 hours to help meet the Park’s various horticultural, maintenance and visitor needs. In the past twenty years, Central Park has also become a popular venue for large-scale, broad-based fund-raising events. Started in 1986, the annual AIDS Walk New York has grown to become the single largest HIV/AIDS fund-raising event in the world. The first AIDS Walk in the Park drew 4,500 participants; the 2007 Walk, 45,000. Since its inception, the event has raised $98 million for HIV/AIDS programs and services in the tri-state area. Other large-scale fund-raising events, as shown below in Table 7, include the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer – and (in part) the ING New York City Marathon. Other activities in the Park also contribute to the development of social capital. The activities of running clubs such as the New York Road Runners, the New York Harriers, the Reservoir Dogs and the Achilles Track Club are by their nature both athletic and social, as are the baseball, softball, and hockey leagues that play in the Park. Central Park also offers team-building programs in the Park for both youth groups and corporate clients, designed to increase participants’ teamwork skills, motivation, confidence and self-respect. In 2007, there were 693 participants in team-building programs for youth and 365 participants in the professional development program for corporate groups. By helping to make the Park a safer, more attractive and more engaging place for people who live in, work in or visit the surrounding area, the Central Park Conservancy has helped to sustain and enhance the value of real estate in the surrounding area – a topic that is addressed in the next part of the report. Charity event Participants Amount raised Race for the Cure 22,000 $4.2 million Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 28,000 $4.66 million Guggenheim International Gala 550 $4.4 million Parkinson’s Unity Walk 10,000 $1.6 million AIDS Walk NY 45,000 $6.957 million YAI 5K Run 6,000 $1.3 million Total 111,550 $23.1 million Table 7. Selected fundraising events held in Central Park: 2007 3
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