Throughout the time I was at Central Park I stopped by Heckscher Playground. It is the largest playground in Central Park at nearly three acres and is also the oldest playground in which opened in 1926. This playground was named after August Heckscher Sr., a real estate magnate, financier, philanthropist and also grandfather of August Heckscher III, who was Parks Commissioner under Mayor John V. Lindsay. Born in Hamburg, Germany, Heckscher studied in Switzerland and then moved to New York in 1867. The purpose of the development of the Heckscher Park has always been debated. Some said it was made to display the formal aspects of traditional parks in Europe. Others say it was made to be a “pastoral retreat from bustling city around the park,” Another common purpose was that it was created for recreational use. So what was the real reason for the creation of this playground? As stated in Central Park’s website, “it benefits all the users of the park.” Which means if you use this as a “get-away” from the loud city then that was the purpose of the park and if you use it as a recreational center then that was the purpose as well. Every time I visit Central Park I always come across playgrounds, landscapes, sculptures etc. that I’ve never seen before and after visiting Heckscher Park for the first time today I actually appreciated it more than everything else I saw in this park. Not only because I brought my baby nephew along and played with him in the playground but also because of the structure of the playground. It’s not like your ordinary park with slides and swings. One side of the park had a rock that kids could climb and on the other end of the rock there was a slide that ended in a sand box. Also, on the top of the rock the kids could climb down through the middle and go through a tunnel inside of the rock!  What I like the most about this park is that it allows for kids to expand their imagination and to have so much free space to do whatever their hearts desire. I would like to thank August Heckscher III for opening this park and for making it the largest playground in Central Park!

Source: http://centralpark.org/attractions/heckscher-playground