The Dissimilar-Similar Parks

Two parks, an eleven minute walking distance between them, but so much more separates them. 

Manhattan is filled with many of these small areas located in between tall buildings for the tired, walking pedestrian that roams its roaring roads. The two being focused on are Samuel Paley Plaza and Greenacre Park.

Samuel Paley Plaza, or more commonly known as ‘Paley Park’, is located on 3 East 53rd Street between 5th and Madison. Its entrance is a wide opening that immediately opens to the park and the eyes to its massive 20 foot high walls- that shade the entire area for most of the day- and then turn toward the placid waterfall that fills the back wall. It is flat ground, but stone benches line the sides of the park to allow visitors to use the ample space to place their belongings down comfortably. The walls are layered with leafy vines that add a natural texture to the rough walls. 

Within the center area, trees are placed near the tables to produce privacy while being able to enjoy a private meal with oneself or a friend while simultaneously being able to be mobile and rotate the chairs to enjoy the waterfall. The waterfall is highlighted toward the end of the day with flood lights so the park can maintain its serenity and availability at night. In front of the waterfall are two steps that lead up to the “splash area” where one can receive a light sprinkling from the water as it lands in the small pool that spans the width of the water fall.

Greenacre Park, is located on E 51^st St, between 2^nd and 3^rd Avenue. Already as one approaches it, there is a grander statement made by its entrance that is two steps, lined on both sides with wheelchair accessible ramps, and the overhead. The landscape, within the park, explodes with floral arrangements and tropical islands, if one were to let the imagination run wild. At a first glance the park is an exotic getaway from the city commotion, but the eye is brought back by the midtown backdrop above the waterfall. 
On the left, and a few steps up, is a shaded area that overlooks the lower level of the park that sits in front of the waterfall. On the right, the stone benches are just as movable as the chairs in the middle of the park, as one would turn around and see the flowing water that is below the ivy-dressed walls. The waterfall is in the back, roaring louder than the streets, allowing a peaceful, spiritual moment. Trees are used to divide the chairs that dance in the middle, and the flowers-of all magnificent colors -give the eye something to gaze at when not watching the cascading waterfall that is so splendiferous it demands the attention of everyone sitting in the park.

There are many similarities between Paley and Greenacre. The waterfalls, obviously. The use of trees, the sitting areas, the walls that create the authentic “pocket” effect of the parks (meaning the detachment from the city). These are the general similar qualities. Their differences are not as subtle once one is settled down in a chair. Greenacre Park is loud and colorful, much like the people who go there. Paley Park is much quieter and simpler, especially in its colors. Greenacre creates four different levels (the entrance, the sitting area, the shaded area, and the waterfall seats). Paley, has but one flat area, but it’s so quiet and large that one wouldn’t notice someone passing and would not need the extra level to move away.

Although the waterfalls are an obvious similarity, they are also the essence, or the physical character of each park symbolically. As was mentioned, Greenacre has four levels, so does its waterfall. The water falls from one level, down to the next and has an extraordinary volume. Paley has a long, flat and quiet waterfall that is simple like the park it is in. This is what makes two very similar parks so dissimilar in the most phenomenal manner.

~ArchiTalmud