Central Park Historical Walking Tour 2024/05
Central Park Historical Walking Tour on May 11
Tour Description
Since the 1860s Central Park has acted as the “lungs” of the city, providing a refuge from the hustle and bustle of Manhattan for residents and tourists alike. This tour will explore Manhattan’s collective backyard. You will learn about the physical construction of the park, visit the scenic “literary walk,” enjoy the architectural details in the Bethesda Arcade and Terrace, and stroll through the rustic Ramble. Stops also include the Sheep Meadow, Belvedere Castle, Bow Bridge, and Cleopatra’s Needle.
When
May 11, 2024 2:00pm - 4:00pm
Meeting Site
66th Street and Central Park West by the Tavern on the Green sign.
Bio
Stephen Petrus is Director of Public History Programs at LaGuardia and Wagner Archives at LaGuardia Community College. He is a twentieth-century U.S. urban and cultural historian. Petrus received his Ph.D. from the CUNY Graduate Center and taught at Lehman, Hunter, and Baruch Colleges. He also led more than 1,000 historical walking tours of New York City neighborhoods and parks for the company Big Onion. In 2015, he curated the exhibition “Folk City: New York and the Folk Music Revival” at the Museum of the City of New York and co-authored the accompanying book, published by Oxford University Press. His research has been supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Pew Foundation. At LaGuardia, he curates digital exhibits on New York City LGBTQ political and cultural history. He has also curated exhibits at the Queens Museum, the Woody Guthrie Center, and the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art. His next publication will be “The Lights Are Out on the Mean Streets: Lou Reed’s ‘Dirty Blvd.’ and Inequality in New York City,” to be published in From the Bowery to the Bronx: A Cultural History of New York Through Song (Intellect Books, 2024). He is a member of the New York Academy of History.