Morningside Park, Public park between Morningside Heights and Harlem, Manhattan, US
Morningside Park is a public green space between Morningside Heights and Harlem on Manhattan, covering about 30 acres and built around a steep cliff of exposed bedrock. The park offers sports courts, playgrounds, and a small pond surrounded by trees and pathways.
The site was proposed as parkland by Central Park commissioners in 1867, after serving for centuries as a natural boundary between different settlement areas. The park was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux during the 1870s and 1880s, and officially completed in 1895.
The park features three notable sculptures: Lafayette and Washington, Carl Schurz Monument, and Seligman Fountain, installed after its completion in 1895.
The park runs from 110th Street to 123rd Street, with Morningside Avenue on the east side and Morningside Drive on the west. The steep steps and varied elevations make parts of the park difficult for wheelchairs, while other sections are easier to reach.
The natural rock face separates two different elevations and creates a height difference of about 100 feet (30 meters) between Morningside Heights and the lower Harlem area. This geological feature makes the park one of the few places in Manhattan where you can still see the island's original landscape so clearly.
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