Central Park Zoo – Happy 29th! August 6, 2017

This Tuesday (8.8.17) will be the 29th anniversary of the Central Park Zoo (in its present form). I am happy to say I have been involved with the zoo for the past 28 of those 29 years. The zoo began in the 1860s as a menagerie. The 1905 postcard above depicts the menagerie with the Arsenal (built in 1848 – which now houses our WCS administrative offices and the NYC Parks Dept). The zoo was modified in 1934 as part of the WPA with the addition of many new buildings arranged in a quadrangle around the sea lion pool. In a contract with NYC, the zoo was completely renovated in the mid-1980s and with much fanfare, reopened on August 8th, 1988, replacing the old-fashioned cages with naturalistic environments. There are many great old photos of the menagerie and zoo with a simple google search. Happy Anniversary!