Editing Central Park (section)

=== 1930s to 1950s: Moses rehabilitation ===
[[File:Fountain on the mall in Central Park on Sunday 8d22217v.jpg|thumb|Central Park in September 1942]]
In 1934, Republican [[Fiorello La Guardia]] was elected [[List of mayors of New York City|mayor of New York City]]. He unified the five park-related departments then in existence. Newly appointed city parks commissioner [[Robert Moses]] was given the task of cleaning up the park, and he summarily fired many of the Tammany-era staff.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=103–105}} At the time, the lawns were filled with weeds and dust patches, while many trees were dying or already dead. Monuments had been vandalized, equipment and walkways were broken, and ironwork was rusted.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=103–105}}{{sfn|Caro|1974|p=334}} Moses's biographer [[Robert Caro]] later said, "The once beautiful Mall looked like a scene of a wild party the morning after. Benches lay on their backs, their legs jabbing at the sky..."{{sfn|Caro|1974|p=334}}

During the following year, the city's parks department replanted lawns and flowers, replaced dead trees and bushes, sandblasted walls, repaired roads and bridges, and restored statues.{{sfn|Stern|Gilmartin|Mellins|1987|p=710}}{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=106–109}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=450–451}} The park [[menagerie]] was transformed into the modern [[Central Park Zoo]], and a rat extermination program was instituted within the zoo.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=106–109}} Another dramatic change was Moses' removal of the "[[Hoover valley]]" shantytown at the north end of Turtle Pond, which became the {{convert|30|acre|ha|abbr=|adj=on}} Great Lawn.{{sfn|Stern|Gilmartin|Mellins|1987|p=710}}{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=450–451}} The western part of the Pond at the park's southeast corner became an ice skating rink called [[Wollman Rink]],{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=106–109}} roads were improved or widened,{{sfn|Caro|1974|p=984}} and twenty-one playgrounds were added.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=450–451}} These projects used funds from the [[New Deal]] program, and donations from the public.{{sfn|Rosenzweig|Blackmar|1992|pp=450–451}} Moses removed [[Sheep Meadow]]'s sheep to make way for the Tavern on the Green restaurant.{{sfn|Caro|1974|p=984}}<ref name="NYTimes-Sheep-1934">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/03/18/archives/central-parks-sheep-join-the-fold-in-prospect-park.html |title=Central Park's Sheep Join the Fold in Prospect Park|date=March 18, 1934|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 9, 2019 |issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190409220559/https://www.nytimes.com/1934/03/18/archives/central-parks-sheep-join-the-fold-in-prospect-park.html |archive-date=April 9, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

Renovations in the 1940s and 1950s include a restoration of the Harlem Meer completed in 1943,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1943/12/08/archives/central-park-section-reopened-to-the-public.html |title=Central Park Section Reopened to the Public|date=December 8, 1943|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 11, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411190024/https://www.nytimes.com/1943/12/08/archives/central-park-section-reopened-to-the-public.html|archive-date=April 11, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> and a new boathouse completed in 1954.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1954/03/12/archives/new-305000-boathouse-at-central-park-lake-will-be-opened-today.html |title=New $305,000 Boathouse at Central Park Lake Will Be Opened Today|date=March 12, 1954|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 16, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416215133/https://www.nytimes.com/1954/03/12/archives/new-305000-boathouse-at-central-park-lake-will-be-opened-today.html|archive-date=April 16, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Loeb Boat House 1939">{{cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/highlights/12360 |work=Central Park Highlights|title=Loeb Boat House|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=April 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190416215624/https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/highlights/12360 |archive-date=April 16, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Conservancy Loeb Boathouse">{{cite web |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/loeb-boathouse.html |title=Loeb Boathouse|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417003341/http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/loeb-boathouse.html|archive-date=April 17, 2019}}</ref> Moses began construction on several other recreational features in Central Park, such as playgrounds and ball fields.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=110–111}} One of the more controversial projects proposed during this time was a 1956 dispute over a parking lot for Tavern in the Green. The controversy placed Moses, an urban planner known for displacing families for other large projects around the city, against a group of mothers who frequented a wooded hollow at the site of a parking lot.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=110–111}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/04/25/archives/parking-lot-foes-routed-by-moses-construction-of-parking-lot-begun.html |title=Parking Lot Foes Routed By Moses|last=Schumach |first=Murray|date=April 25, 1956|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 11, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411184904/https://www.nytimes.com/1956/04/25/archives/parking-lot-foes-routed-by-moses-construction-of-parking-lot-begun.html|archive-date=April 11, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Though opposed by the parents, Moses approved the destruction of part of the hollow. Demolition work commenced after Central Park was closed for the night and was only halted after the threat of a lawsuit.{{sfn|Kinkead|1990|pp=110–111}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1956/04/27/archives/court-stops-job-in-central-park-hearing-on-parking-lot-due.html |title=Court Stops Job In Central Park|date=April 27, 1956|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 11, 2019|issn=0362-4331|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190411184903/https://www.nytimes.com/1956/04/27/archives/court-stops-job-in-central-park-hearing-on-parking-lot-due.html|archive-date=April 11, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>