Harlem Meer

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Harlem Meer
Central Park New York October 2016 panorama 1.jpg
The Harlem Meer and Dana Discovery Center (far shore)
Location of Harlem Meer in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.
Location of Harlem Meer in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.
Harlem Meer
LocationCentral Park, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
Coordinates40°47′47.8″N 73°57′6″W / 40.796611°N 73.95167°W / 40.796611; -73.95167Coordinates: 40°47′47.8″N 73°57′6″W / 40.796611°N 73.95167°W / 40.796611; -73.95167
Typelake

Harlem Meer is a lake at the northeast corner of New York City's Central Park. It lies west of Fifth Avenue, south of 110th Street, and north of the Conservatory Garden, close to the Harlem and East Harlem neighborhoods of Manhattan. On its southern side, the Meer's meandering shoreline wraps around a bluff that contains the remains of gun emplacements erected during the War of 1812, but never used. After the completion in 1966 of the Lasker skating rink and swimming pool, the Harlem Meer was reduced to 11 acres (45,000 m2) in area and 0.75 miles (1.21 km) in circumference.

History[]

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Creation[]

The Harlem Meer, named after the nearby neighborhood of Harlem and the Dutch word for "lake", occupies the northeast corner of Central Park, near North Woods and North Meadow. The Meer is located in the northernmost section of the park, added to the original park site which ended at 106th Street. The Meer, as referred to by Central Park designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, was excavated at the lowest-lying section of the park. At the time, the Meer was part of Harlem Creek, a semi-brackish, partly tidal wetland, which drained slowly into the East River.[a][2]: 46  It separated the former suburb of Harlem to the north from the lower part of Manhattan island. To avoid the swamp, the Boston Post Road detoured westward into the future park site, rising to cross McGowan's Pass (alternatively McGown's Pass).[3][2]: 46 

The creation of the Meer and its adjacent wooded landscape was carried out by Andrew Haswell Green, to Olmsted and Vaux's specifications, from 1861, when Olmsted had been relegated to an advisory capacity.[4][5]: 193–195 

Modifications[]

Over the years, several modifications were made to the Meer. In the 1940s, the Parks Department installed a concrete curb at the Meer's shoreline and lined the lake bed with a clay liner, which made the Meer less hospitable to wildlife.[2]: 48 

In 1962, Mayor Robert Wagner announced that the Parks Department would build the Loula D. Lasker Memorial Swimming Pool and Skating Rink, designed the by architects Fordyce & Hamby Associates, over the mouth of the Loch at the southwestern corner of the Meer.[6] The new structure reduced the Meer from 10.6 acres (4.3 ha) to 8.1 acres (3.3 ha) and required that the Meer be temporarily drained,[7] but which, when completed in 1966, served as an ice rink in winter and as Central Park's only swimming pool in summer.[2]: 48 [8]

In 1973, the Harlem Meer's boathouse (built in the 1940s and demolished in the early 1990s) was renovated in anticipation for conversion into a restaurant, a project that was never executed.[9]

Harlem Meer and Dana Discovery Center

During the years 1988–1993, the Central Park Conservancy restored Harlem Meer. They removed the concrete perimeter curb, replacing it with a more natural shoreline, and dredged 34,000 cubic yards (26,000 m3) of sediment and debris.[10][11] On the north shore, the Conservancy built the Charles A. Dana Discovery Center, the first information center at the north end of Central Park. The 5,200-square-foot (480 m2) building was designed by the architects Buttrick White & Burtis in a style intended to harmonize with Calvert Vaux's original Victorian park structures.[12][13][14] A proposed restaurant, planned to sit just to the east of the Discovery Center, was never built.[11]

In 2018, the Central Park Conservancy announced a $150 million redevelopment of the Lasker Rink,[15] requiring the rink to be closed from late 2021 until 2024.[16][17][18] As part of the plan, the existing facility will be demolished. The portion of the Loch and Harlem Meer covered by the existing structure will be restored to a more natural state, and a boardwalk added along the Loch. A new rink and pool will be built to the east of the Loch, set into the sloping grade, lower in elevation and less obtrusive than the older structure.[16]

Activities[]

The waterside plaza next to the Dana Discovery Center is currently the site for the Sunday afternoon Harlem Meer Performance Festival, from mid-June to the first week of September. Catch-and-release fishing is a favorite summertime occupation along the Meer's banks. Besides the usual yellow perch and crappie, anglers have reported catches of the predatory Asian northern snakehead, Channa argus, a notoriously invasive species.[19]

An island in the Meer provides a retreat for waterfowl, particularly black-crowned night herons. The Meer also has a resident population of muskrats.

In literature[]

Clarence Cook's A Description of the New York Central Park, published in 1869, contains early illustrations by Albert Fitch Bellows of the Harlem Meer.

Ron P. Swegman's collection of fly-fishing essays, Small Fry: The Lure of the Little, includes details of the Meer's history, and chronicles Swegman's experiences while fly-fishing there in the early years of the 21st century.[20]

Gallery[]

  • A Detail of the 1859 Central Park Map, Before the Design of the Harlem Meer was Completed

  • A Detail of an 1868 Map of Central Park including the Harlem Meer (aka Harlem Lake)

  • An 1869 View of the Harlem Meer Looking South

  • An 1869 View from the Northwest Corner of the Meer

  • An 1869 View from the Northeast Corner of the Meer

  • A detail of an 1873 Central Park Map, including the Harlem Meer

  • 1902 Sanborn Insurance Map including the Harlem Meer (aka Harlem Lake)

  • Detail of North Facade of Dana Discovery Center

  • Entrance to the Dana Discovery Center

  • Dana Discovery Center (view looking northeast)

  • Spring that feeds Harlem Meer from North Meadow

  • Canada goose flying into the meer (looking east with the Dana Discovery Center in the background)

References[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Harlem Commons, as the area was known, was disputed between the City of New York and the heirs of the Harlem freeholders for most of the 18th century. It was divided into house lots and sold in 1825.[1]

Citations[]

  1. ^ James Riker, Harlem (City of New York): its origin and early annals 1881, p. 472f.
  2. ^ a b c d Kadinsky, Sergey (2016). Hidden Waters of New York City: A History and Guide to 101 Forgotten Lakes, Ponds, Creeks, and Streams in the Five Boroughs. New York, NY: Countryman Press. pp. 46–48. ISBN 978-1-58157-566-8.
  3. ^ "Early New York History: Old Days In Yorkville And Harlem" 1893
  4. ^ "Andrew H. Green and Central Park". The New York Times. October 10, 1897. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  5. ^ Rosenzweig, Roy & Blackmar, Elizabeth (1992). The Park and the People: A History of Central Park. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-9751-5.
  6. ^ "Central Park to Get Swimming Pool and Ice Rink; Combined 110th St. Facilities Will Cost $l,800,000". The New York Times. 1962-02-24. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  7. ^ "Go to the Park, Get Stuck in the Mud, Cause a Big Commotion, and Then See What Mother Has to Say; LAKE BED IS FUN TO GET STUCK IN; Children Find Diversion in Drained Harlem Meer". The New York Times. 1964-07-31. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  8. ^ "Lindsay and Hoving Give New Skating Rink a Whirl". The New York Times. 1966-12-22. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  9. ^ Jr, Nathaniel Sheppard (1973-08-03). "The Harlem Meer Being revitalized". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  10. ^ Central Park Conservancy, 1989-92.
  11. ^ a b Kennedy, Shawn G. (1993-05-09). "A Nature Center Blooms in Central Park Woodlands". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  12. ^ Arcidi, Philip (1993-01-12). "Learning by the Rules" (PDF). Progressive Architecture. Retrieved 2020-05-01.
  13. ^ Branch, Mark Alden (1991-08-12). "Flirting with Folly in Central Park" (PDF). Progressive Architecture. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
  14. ^ Stephens, Suzanne (1990-01-18). "Currents; Towers and Turrets at Harlem Meer". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  15. ^ Durkin, Erin (July 18, 2018). "Central Park's Lasker pool and ice rink set for $150 million makeover". nydailynews.com. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  16. ^ a b Barron, James (2019-09-18). "$110 Million to Fix Central Park Section Far From 'Billionaire's Row'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-01-19.
  17. ^ Cohen, Li Yakira (September 18, 2019). "Central Park's $150M redesign focuses on north end improvements". AM New York. Newsday. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
  18. ^ Glasser-Baker, Becca (September 18, 2019). "Central Park to get new, improved pool and ice-skating rink". Metro US. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
  19. ^ "'Fishzilla' loose in Central Park lake"; accessed 5 May 2013.
  20. ^ The Whitefish Press, 2009

External links[]

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