Overhaul of Central Park lawns completed

They stretched out their legs and read a book. They perched on a rock and people-watched. They walked their dogs and ran soccer drills.

New Yorkers made the most of a lush green lawn that reopened to the public last Tuesday in Central Park. The newly restored East Meadow, the seventh and last in a series of lawn overhauls, allowed patrons to take a break from the bustle.

Amy Ferriso, 25, of Copiague, who frequents Central Park, had for months watched the work from behind a cordon and said she had been eager to enjoy the 6-acre sprawl.

Ferriso sat there Thursday, playing with her boyfriend's dog, Cassius. "We were just walking around, taking it in," said Ferriso, who teaches special education in Brooklyn. "I'm excited for it to be open."

The yearlong, $3 million restoration of the meadow near Fifth Avenue between 97th and 100th streets, included new sodding, a regraded lawn for better drainage and reconstructed paths.

Last week the meadow had been meticulously mowed and smelled of fresh-cut grass. The idyllic experience was made complete with the sounds of children playing and wind whistling through trees, including a nearby 70-foot elm believed to be one of the park's oldest.

Decades of use and poor irrigation had led to the deterioration of the lawn, according to the public-private Central Park Conservancy, which manages the park and oversees improvements. The expanse had been unsightly, residents said.

"It was a big patch of dirt. We called it the Dust Bowl," said Micah Nite, 29, of the Upper East Side, a resident at Mount Sinai Medical Center.

Nite, who sometimes played pickup football there, said athletic activity used to kick up unpleasant clouds of dust. "Now we have a nice, flat area where we can play sports," he said.

Conservancy president Douglas Blonsky said he was proud that all seven lawns had been restored. The East Meadow will close again in late fall, along with the park's other lawns, for seasonal maintenance.

"Each of the park's lawns have gone from dust bowls to great meadowlands under the conservancy's stewardship," Blonsky said. "The difference that makes in the number of visitors and their enjoyment of the park is tremendous."

Landscapers had little problem getting the sod to set because they used a hardy Kentucky bluegrass, he said.

Tracy Geoffrion, 27, a medical student doing a rotation at Mount Sinai, perched on a rock in her scrubs. She said she was glad she could access the park for her last week in New York before returning home to San Antonio.

"It was really quiet before," Geoffrion said. "Now there are a bunch of kids. It brought life back to the area."

David Allred, 24, of Syracuse, reasoned that the reopened meadow provided the city's hottest commodity: open space. "Any grass is really valuable in New York City," he said.