Swarm Defense: Life in the Stoplight-free Lane

Central Park

One of the great aspects of Manhattan, both in design and execution, is the existence of Central Park. Originally conceived of by Olmstead and Vaux in the late 1850s as a “democratic development of the highest significance” – few large, publicly funded city parks had yet been created anywhere – Central Park today is the epicenter of outdoor sports in Manhattan.

Offering both organized leagues such as softball and soccer, and plenty of hilly, open space for pick-up games of Frisbee, kickball, or even freeze-tag, Central Park is one of the first places Manhattanites head when they want to get outside and stretch their muscles.

In addition to ball fields and unreserved lawns for various activities, Central Park also offers some of the more popular running routes and biking circuits in the city – in large part thanks to the absence of cars on main roads in the park at most times of the day.

For those interested in biking, especially on warm summer weekends, the name of the game is “get there early.” In general, enjoying a relatively unobstructed biking route means hitting the park before 9 a.m. on Saturday or Sunday, lest your paths be blocked by the locust-like tourist hordes that constantly invade our fine city. One popular biking route in Central Park – and the longest – is 6.1 miles long, and follows the East Drive and West Drive roads through the length of the park. While exact (and somewhat tedious) instructions can be found here, the basic idea is to hop on the either of the two “Drives” and follow it the length of the park, connecting over to the opposite drive near 110^th or at 59^th, depending on which way you are traveling. The length of the route can be decreased a bit by taking shortcuts to the other side of the park at either 72^nd street or up before the Harlem Meer, though the full 6 mile path offers a nice combination of rolling hills and pleasant atmosphere.

For runners, the most popular track in Central Park tends to be the Reservoir. Disconnected from the city’s drinking water supply since 1991, the billion-gallon reservoir offers runners a 1.58 mile dirt running track, along with some great views of the UWS and UES skylines. Located between 86^th and 96^th, and with nearby access to the also popular bridal paths (now used more for jogging than horse riding), the reservoir’s jogging path is almost always busy without being too crowded, and includes water fountains and connected open areas for easy stretching – a two lap jog around the man-made body of water can be good start for most any runner. Unlike the main biking route, the reservoir track is almost completely flat, a bonus for some runners and a downer for others.

Central Park is a big draw for runners and bikers for several reasons, including the views, the lack of traffic and stop lights, and the well-plotted routes. Whatever your reasoning, it’s tough to go wrong with a little workout in the park, unless of course you fail to heed warnings about the vacationing crowds and find yourself cursing and spitting about people blocking your way and wearing that most reviled of unfashionable New York accoutrements – fanny packs.