Playmates Arch was designed by Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould and built in 1863 of pressed Philadelphia red brick with Milwaukee white brick-belt coursing and granite trim... [more]

A number of small wood bridges cross streams in the park. [more]

OCTOBER 2007 » book review

Photographic Survey

The Bridges of Central Park
by Jennifer C. Spiegler and Paul M. Gaykowski
Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC; 2006
144 pp.; paperback; numerous b&w contemporary
& historic photos; $26.99
ISBN 0-7385-3861-2

Reviewed by Raymond M. Pepi

The designers of New York’s Central Park incorporated a revolutionary circulation plan that to this day enables millions of vehicles and 25 million pedestrians to seamlessly navigate through the park each year. The plan included four east-west transverse roads that were a continuation of the street grid, a loop road, miles of bridal paths and carriageways and hundreds of pedestrian paths.

Most of these arteries intersect at various locations but on a casual stroll through the park, you might not be aware of it, thanks to the genius of Frederick Law Olmsted and his collaborators, who came up with a plan that wove it all together without any diminishment of the park experience. The bridal paths, carriage ways and equestrian uses represented important and original recreational features that are now, except for the tourist carriages at the south end of the park, nearly obsolete, as the last riding stable (Claremont Stable) near to Central Park is scheduled to close.

The solution to the intersection of roads and paths seems fairly obvious today but Olmsted solved the problem in his 1858 design of Central Park by avoiding at-grade crossings. He did this by sinking the major east-west crosstown roads – or transverse roads – below the level of the park and bridging over them with utilitarian structures mostly carved out of native stone. For more visible overpasses in the landscape, at the intersection of bridal paths, carriage paths, pedestrian paths and water features, Olmsted’s chief collaborators Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mold designed ornamental bridges using cast iron, pressed brick and colored stones. There are also a number of small rustic wood bridges throughout the park bridging over small streams. All of these structures were carefully sited and finished to harmonize with the landscape and collectively they contribute to the overall character of the park.

Photographers Jennifer C. Spiegler and Paul M. Gaykowski have compiled historic and contemporary photographs into a book that includes most, if not all, of the bridges. The Bridges of Central Park grew out of the Spiegler and Gaykowski’s long-time fascination with the bridges and years of wandering, examining and photographing. A number of archival photographs and illustrations augment the authors’ photos. It is always welcome to have additional documentation about Central Park, but this work has some shortcomings that detract from its potential.

There is virtually no official accounting or documentation in the book, no master index enumerating the original names and numbers to verify what was originally built, so it is difficult to tell what the authors left out, if anything. One needs to turn to other sources, such as Bridges of Central Park (1990) by Henry Hope Reed, Robert M. McGee and Esther Mipaas, to learn that there were originally 35 bridges with numbers assigned and four without numbers, plus numerous small rustic (wood) bridges. Three bridges have been demolished – Spur Rock Arch, Marble Arch and Outset Arch – which leaves 36 extant. This corresponds to the number listed on the Central Park Conservancy website (36).

The Board of Commissioner’s 1860 Report planned 11 bridges for the transverse roads and “about” 30 ornamental bridges plus “…other smaller bridges of wood, stone, iron, &c., of rustic and other forms…” That number represents two more bridges than we know about, so perhaps they were never built. The commissioners also stated that the bridges over the transverse roads “…are designed to be mainly concealed from view from the Park, and are therefore built in a plain manner, without attempt at adornment…” and, regarding the ornamental bridges, that “…materials and workmanship are intended to be of the best description…the bulk of the stone used is from the gneiss rock of the Park.” They acknowledge the “…facings of two of the bridges that are built, Nos. 2 and 3, are of Philadelphia brick with (New Brunswick) freestone trimmings.” Elsewhere in the same report the commissioners disclose their overarching goals regarding the walks and bridges:

A carriage coming directly upon the course of a pedestrian or of a man on horseback, is often an annoyance, sometimes positively dangerous. A horseman riding close upon a man on foot, on the same path, will unpleasantly disturb him, even without coming in direct contact. The mere consciousness that one’s path may be crossed by a horse or carriage, causes with some a feeling of anxiety. The sunken and tunneled street thoroughfares across the Park were planned to remove what would otherwise have been a ceaseless annoyance…all parts of the lower Park may be traversed on foot without encountering a single carriage or horseman. The rides are everywhere in like manner made independent of the drives, but horsemen can enter the carriage-roads if they choose.

Aside from their brief introduction, Spiegler and Gaykowski’s book is composed entirely of black and white photographs, historic illustrations and captions. The lack of contemporary color photographs is unfortunate because this is the only way to show the amazing variety of colored bricks and stones used on the bridges and that make them so picturesque. Color would have been a welcome contrast to the stunning historic black and white photos. A minor point is that the authors’ photos have a distracting gold border that is meant to avoid any confusion with the historic photos, but unfortunately it is a distraction, marring the layout and graphic design.

The book can be read in one sitting, which is perhaps its strongest attribute. The captions are a miscellaneous collection of facts, but they are well worth reading. There just does not seem to be any logic to it all aside from the fact that they start at the south end of the park and march north. This is essentially a homage to the bridges. The authors do their best to describe the locations, but because the park has no straight lines, this is bound to confuse anyone not already familiar with the park. Most questions regarding location could have been easily addressed by including a map. This simple omission is a serious shortcoming that makes locating the bridges a laborious exercise.

Spiegler and Gaykowski did a good job finding historic photographs and these represent the primary reason to have this book. The historic images are so powerful that they overshadow the authors’ own photographs, some of which seem flat and without purpose. On a positive note, the authors’ photos of the rustic bridges do a good job of capturing the character of these little gems, possibly because the texture of wood is easier to photograph than stone.

There are two photos on each page but the photos are not numbered, so you often wonder which one is being discussed in the captions. The authors went to some trouble to create contemporary pictures with the same view seen in the archival images and this could be very useful to anyone interested in tracing changes that have occurred on or near the bridges. In some of the authors’ photos there are mystery people in the shot – one supposes for scale – who seem to be posing in a staged natural way, not looking at the camera. Perhaps it is purely coincidental, but having these nameless people in the frame throws the composition off balance because they are not subject or background. In the historic photographs people always stopped and posed in a way that locked the image, as though frozen in time, and they looked at the camera so there was an honest visual connection with the subject.

If you are looking for a guidebook that you can use to visit each of the bridges in Central Park, this is not the book. You should instead obtain a copy of Henry Hope Reed’s book, which has numerous maps and details. As for contemporary photographs, you can do just as well by visiting one of several websites that can be found by searching “bridges of central park.” For more information about the technical construction of the bridges, consult the original commissioner’s annual reports, which contain very detailed information, illustrations and maps.

Although The Bridges of Central Park has some shortcomings, I still welcome this book and recommend it for the archival photographs. I only wish there were more of them. TB

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