Battery Park

Beginning at the lower end of the city, the first of these is Battery Park, which comprises an area of twenty-one acres, and occupies the extreme southern most point of Manhattan Island. It derives its name from the battery, built on the site by order of the English authorities, in 1734. The Battery is handsomely planted with shade trees, flowers, and shrubbery, and is provided with broad stone walks, which traverse it in every direction.

In the centre is a tasteful music pavilion, where concerts are given by the city band at stated times in the warm season; and close by is a tall flag-staff, from which the national ensign floats proudly in the breeze. The eastern portion of the Park is traversed by the line of the New York Elevated Railroad, which has one of its principal stations at the South
Ferry, just beyond the limits of the grounds.

The Battery is by far the coolest place in New York in summer. Here one may escape from the heats of the city and enjoy the delicious sea-breeze which sweeps in unobstructed from the blue water, which can be faintly seen beyond the Narrows. The Inner Bay, a portion of the East River, the Hudson, with Brooklyn, the islands of the Bay and their fortifications, and Jersey City, and the shipping in the harbor, and the wharves, are full in sight, and make
up one of the grandest views to be seen on earth.

Bowling Green

It is the name given to a small, circular space at the lower end of Broadway. It is well shaded, is filled with pretty shrubbery and flowers, and is ornamented with a fountain in the centre. It was the first public pleasure-ground laid out in New York, and dates from 1734. In 1711, a leaden statue of George III, of England was erected where the fountain now stands. It was pulled down at the outbreak of the Revolution, and the metal
was run into bullets for the use of Washington's army.

The Park or City Hall Park

As it is termed by old residents, is located about a mile above the Battery, and contains the City Hall and the County Buildings. It originally comprised eleven acres of ground, and was shaded with fine old trees. The city, about ten years ago, ceded to the General Government the extreme southern portion of the Park, as a site for a new Post Office, and this grand edifice has now considerably reduced the size of the Park. What is left is a large open space of several acres, laid out with walks, a fountain, trees, and shrubbery. It is the main thoroughfare between Broadway and the streets lying east of the Park.

Tompkins Square Park

Tompkins Square constitutes the only breathing space in the terribly overcrowded tenement house districts of the eastern side of the city. It comprises an area of ten acres, bounded by Avenues A and B and 7th and 10th streets. It was presented to the city about half a century ago, by John Jacob Astor, as "a place of healthful recreation" for the masses. Since then it has cost the city more money than any public square within its limits. At the time it became public property it was adorned with noble shade trees and shrubbery, was laid off with pleasant walks, and the surface was perfectly level. Some years ago the city authorities were seized with a desire to diversify its surface with artificial hills, and laborers were at once set to work to make the so-called improvements.

Half of the trees were cut down, and the work on the grounds, which was imply a political job, lagged. Then it was decided to convert it into a drill ground, or "Military Plaza," and the surface was again leveled, and the remainder of the trees swept away. By this time the Astor family had become disgusted with the manner in which their ancestor's wish to provide a place of pleasant resort had been set aside and they brought suit against the city to recover the property, basing their claim upon the plain fact that it had been diverted from the use for which it was given. The authorities then inaugurated another change. The drill ground was to be changed to a park again, and the work was immediately begun. It is still in progress.

Washington Square

It lies at the lower end of Fifth avenue, three blocks west of Broadway. It is bounded by Waverley Place, McDougal street, West Fourth street, and University Place. It comprises an area of eight acres, and contains some of the noblest trees in the city. A handsome fountain occupies the centre of the Square, and the grounds are tastefully laid off. On the east side of the Square are a Lutheran Church and the Gothic edifice of the University of New York.

Union Square

It lies between Broadway and Fourth avenue and extends from 14th to 17th streets. It is about three and a half acres in extent, and contains a number of fine shade trees. In the centre is a handsome ornamental fountain, and flowers and shrubbery give to the place an air of beauty in the spring and summer. Near the fountain is a pretty cottage, containing
toilet rooms for ladies and children on the main floor, and accommodations for gentlemen in the basement. A broad plaza borders the Square on the northern side, along 17th street, and here is arranged a long row of ornamental gas-lamps, which on special occasions illuminate the Square. Along the southern border, or 14th street side, are statues of Washington,
Lafayette, and Lincoln.

Union Square lies in the centre of one of the busiest and brightest portions of New York. Broadway sweeps around it, with its rows of magnificent buildings, and the 14th street and Fourth avenue sides rival the great thoroughfare in their grand edifices. The southeast corner of Broadway and 14th street is marked by the Union Place Hotel, next door to which is the Union Square Theatre, and immediately opposite, across Broadway, towers the superb iron building of the Domestic Sewing Machine Company. On the east side, facing on Fourth avenue, are the Union Square and Clarendon Hotels; the Everett House faces the Square on 17th street, and on Broadway are Tiffany's and several of the finest stores in the city.

Everything is bright and lively. Crowds line the sidewalks of the streets surrounding the Square, and pour along its broad walks, by day and night; and after nightfall the dazzling rays of the electric lights illuminate the pretty grounds, with a brilliancy almost equal to that of day. Several of the leading places of amusement are in close proximity to Union Square, and this causes it to be thronged until a late hour of the night. The neighborhood is also a favorite rendezvous with the members of the theatrical profession, to whom that portion of 14th street opposite the Washington statue is known as "The Slave Market," in consequence of the large number of actors always to be found hanging around there in summer, looking for engagements.

Stuyvesant Square

It lies to the east of Union Square, between 15th and 17th streets, and covers an area of a little more than four acres. It is bisected by Second avenue, and each of its two sections is enclosed with an iron fence, the gates of which are locked at night. The grounds are prettily laid out, and are filled with shrubbery and flowers. In the centre of each portion of the square is a tasteful fountain. The ground was presented to the city by the late Peter G. Stuyvesant. The streets surrounding it are occupied by elegant private residences, and on the west side is St. George's Episcopal Church, one of the handsomest religious edifices in New York.

Madison Square

It is the prettiest of all the smaller parks of New York, and is situated in the most attractive portion of the city. It lies between Broadway and Fifth avenue and Madison avenue, and 23d and 26th streets, and is six acres in extent. The iron fence which formerly enclosed it was removed some years ago, and this imparts to it an air of space, which is heightened by an open area in the midst of which it lies. It is well shaded by noble trees, and fairly smiles with gay flowers in the summer. A fine fountain in the centre is one of its chief attractions, and around on it gather, on fair mornings, crowds of children and nurses from the neighboring fashionable streets. A bronze statue of William H. Seward ornaments the south western corner, while at the northwest corner is the noble statue of Admiral Farragut, also of bronze.

At night the grounds are well lighted by the electric lamps on Broadway and Fifth avenue. The Fifth Avenue Hotel, and the Albemarle and Hoffman Houses face it on the west, while on the north is the Hotel Brunswick, opposite which, across Fifth avenue, is the towering Hotel Victoria. 23d street is lined with elegant stores, and superb private mansions and a Presbyterian Church rise along the Madison avenue side. So bright and beautiful are the park and all its surroundings, so full of life and gayety, so eloquent of wealth and splendor, is every object within view, that it is hard to realize that a little more than sixty years ago the pretty Square was used by the city as a Potter's Field, the last resting-place of the poor and wretched.

Grammercy Park

It lies between Third and Fourth avenues, and extends from 20th to 21st street. It separates Irving Place from Lexington avenue, and is a small enclosure belonging to a number of gentlemen of wealth living around it. It is a pretty spot, and being private property, is kept locked, and is used only for the recreation of its owners and their families. Peter Cooper, Cyrus W. Field, Moses Taylor, Ex-Governor Tilden, and a number of other well-known citizens reside here.

Reservoir Square

It is a small enclosure lying between Sixth avenue and the Distributing Reservoir on Fifth avenue and 40th and 42d streets. It occupies the site of the Crystal Palace, in which the World's Fair (the first international exhibition of America) was held, in 1853. The building was destroyed by fire in 1858.Mount Morris Square It covers an area of twenty acres, and lies on the line of Fifth avenue, which sweeps around it on the east and west sides, between 120th and 124th streets. It is a favorite resort for the residents of Harlem and the vicinity. In the centre a rocky hill, ornamented with an observatory, rises to a height of one hundred feet.

Morningside Park

It commences about five hundred feet from the northwestern corner of the Central Park at 110th street, and extends to 123d street. It has an average breadth of about six hundred feet, and comprises an area of about forty-seven acres. It is one of the unfinished parks of the city, and will not be completed for several years at least.

Riverside Park

It lies between Riverside avenue and the Hudson River, and extends from 72d to 130th street. It is irregular in shape, is nearly three miles long, has an average breadth of five hundred feet, and contains one hundred and seventy-eight acres. It is still unfinished, though the walks and drives have been laid out, and afford fine views of the river and the picturesque heights of Weehawken, on the New Jersey shore. Real estate men confidently predict that its vicinity will become the most fashionable residence quarter of New York.