The Nicole: New York’s Landscaped Green Spaces, Great and Small

July 10, 2015

The Nicole offers residents something that New Yorkers of all stripes seem to crave: a patch of green to call their own. The third floor terrace of the building is landscaped, open to amenity space members, and some apartments have their own terraces. Despite choosing to live in a busy, urban center, New Yorkers do know the value of a shade tree and a ring of daffodils. Some of the best green spaces in the city are within walking distance of The Nicole; if you’re inspired by the terrace’s botanical flair, you’ll enjoy exploring a few of these great New York City parks as well:

 

Just a few blocks away on West 52nd Street and 11th Avenue sits the home of the first community garden in New York City, Dewitt Clinton Park. A small but lovely oasis in far West Midtown, this park is home to a dog run, the evocatively named Erie Canal Playground, and Maria’s Perennial Garden, which features specimen flowers from the 19th century as well as plants that attract butterflies, birds, and bees. The park’s sports field is a local treasure where kids and adults come to play basketball, baseball, soccer, and handball. As one of the first parks designed right on the working waterfront of the Hudson, Dewitt Clinton Park was named for businessman Dewitt Clinton, who launched a period of great prosperity on the river when he opened the Erie Canal in 1825.

 

Further inland is the jewel in the crown of the New York City Parks Department and the most visited park in the United States, Central Park. New Yorkers of a certain generation will remember when Central Park was neglected and rife with graffiti, but that’s almost unimaginable today thanks to the valiant efforts of the Central Park Conservancy, a non-profit organization that raises money to provide landscaping, restoration, and maintenance for every part of the park. Buildings, footpaths, bridges, playgrounds, plants, and trees are thriving today thanks to the work the conservancy began back in 1980. For residents of The Nicole, a stroll heading East along 59th Street will take you right to the foot of Central Park at Columbus Circle. Enter the park walking north on West Drive to reach Strawberry Fields and then walk to the Loeb Boathouse, or start out walking East on Center Drive and make your way to the Central Park Zoo to visit the local critters. With 778 acres to explore, and activities for all seasons (including ice skating), having Central Park at your feet is one of the very best things about living in Midtown Manhattan. For more info about events in Central Park year ’round, visit http://www.centralparknyc.org.

 

The great thing about The Nicole’s terrace green space is that you can easily take ideas from the big parks and apply them locally here. Use the plants to practice drawing, listen to some music, pour a glass of wine, perhaps watch a movie under the stars on your tablet, and all the fun of New York City’s outdoor spaces can be recreated on an intimate scale up on the terrace of your own home.

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