The Pond and Hallett Nature Sanctuary

File:Pond cascade CP jeh.jpg

The Hallett Nature Sanctuary is the smallest of Central Park's wooded areas at {{Convert|4|acre|ha|abbr=}}.{{cite web|url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/hallett-nature-sanctuary.html|title=Hallett Nature Sanctuary|date=February 12, 2015|website=The Official Website of Central Park NYC|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 23, 2019}} Originally known as the Promontory,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/11/nyregion/a-secret-section-of-central-park-reopens.html|title=A Secret Section of Central Park Reopens|last=Barron|first=James|date=May 10, 2016|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 23, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} it is the only permanently fenced-off section of Central Park aside from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir, occupies {{convert|3.5|acre|m2}} of the wooded promontory to the west of the Pond, jutting into the water body. The area was closed in 1934 when NYC Parks commissioner Robert Moses set the site apart as a bird sanctuary. In the 1980s, after decades of neglect, invasive alien plants like ailanthus and Far Eastern wisterias were extirpated, and the equally invasive though native black cherry was thinned, the woodland was enriched with native shrubs.[http://www.nyc24.org/2005/centralpark/multimedia/hallet1.html Central Park: Multimedia: Hallet Nature Sanctuary] The reserve was renamed in 1986, in honor of George Hervey Hallett Jr. (1895–1985), an ardent birdwatcher and naturalist and executive secretary of the Citizens Union.[http://www.nysun.com/opinion/seven-year-itch/29702/ Henry Stern, "The Seven-Year Itch" The New York Sun, 23 March 2006 (on coyote tourists)]; a Profile of Hallett by William Schieffelin was printed in The New Yorker, August 22, 1953.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/07/01/nyregion/new-york-day-by-day-in-honor-of-a-civic-leader.html|title=NEW YORK DAY BY DAY; In Honor of a Civic Leader|last=Anderson|first=Susan Heller|date=July 1, 1986|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 23, 2019|last2=Dunlap|first2=David W.|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} The Hallett Sanctuary was reopened to the public in 2016, when the Central Park Conservancy started allowing visitors to enter the sanctuary during middays.

The Central Park Conservancy routinely offers half-hour tours; they avoid nesting season and the height of migratory season, because Central Park is a stopover on the Atlantic Flyway. The perimeter affords one of the prime bird watching areas of the Park.[http://www.philjeffrey.net/cpb_byLocation.html Central Park Birding: by Location] Formerly, deadfalls remained where they lay, to provide for insects that feed birds. However, the experiment ended after an Asian longhorn beetle was discovered in 2002.[http://animaltourism.com/news/2010/07/23/central-park Animal Tourism: Central Park Opens Secret Sanctuary for 30 Minutes] Another unexpected visitor was Hal the Central Park Coyote, who received his nickname from the Hallett Sanctuary and passed through briefly in March 2006.{{cite news |title=A Coyote Leads a Crowd on a Central Park Marathon |first=James |last=Barron |author-link=James Barron (journalist) |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D00E5D81630F930A15750C0A9609C8B63 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=March 23, 2006 |access-date=July 2, 2011}}

As originally laid out by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, the Pond was considerably larger. A large piece of its upper reaches, which once spanned a narrow neck of water, was paved over to form Wollman Rink, which opened in 1950.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1950/12/18/archives/new-skating-rink-in-central-park-to-be-opened-to-public-thursday.html|title=New Skating Rink in Central Park To Be Opened to Public Thursday; Ceremony Planned at Wollman Memorial Center on East Side Near 63d Street-- Playground Added to Outdoor Facility|date=December 18, 1950|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 23, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} Nearby, on stone plinths, bronze busts commemorate the poet Thomas Moore and the composer Victor Herbert (by Edmond Thomas Quinn).{{Cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/central-park/monuments|title=Central Park Monuments : NYC Parks|website=www.nycgovparks.org|access-date=April 15, 2019}}

The Central Park Conservancy started a reconstruction of the Pond in 2000,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/03/nyregion/neighborhood-report-central-park-fish-must-find-new-homes-pond-gets-makeover.html|title=NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: CENTRAL PARK; Fish Must Find New Homes As Pond Gets a Makeover|last=Lee|first=Denny|date=September 3, 2000|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 19, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} and completed it the next year. The reconstruction included new shoreline and perimeter plantings, an island habitat for birds and turtles, and beyond Gapstow Bridge, a series of small pools and cascades.{{citation needed|reason=No citation for the preceding sentence, and not cited by the following reference|date=December 2019}} A male mandarin duck resident of the Pond, nicknamed Mandarin Patinkin, received international media attention in late 2018 and early 2019;{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/03/nyregion/hot-duck-mandarin-central-park.html|title=The Hot Duck That Won't Go Away|last=Jacobs|first=Julia|date=2018-12-03|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-12-06|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} the duck's colorful appearance and the species' appearance outside its native range in East Asia contributed to its popularity.{{Cite web|url=https://gothamist.com/arts-entertainment/gorgeous-mandarin-duck-rarely-seen-in-us-mysteriously-appears-in-central-park|title=Gorgeous Mandarin Duck, Rarely Seen In U.S., Mysteriously Appears In Central Park|last=Carlson|first=Jen|date=2018-10-11|website=Gothamist|language=en|access-date=2019-12-06}}

The Pond is spanned by Gapstow Bridge, a schist structure built in 1896 by Howard & Caudwell.{{cite book | last=Spiegler | first=J.C. | last2=Gaykowski | first2=P.M. | title=The Bridges of Central Park | publisher=Arcadia | series=Then & Now | year=2006 | isbn=978-0-7385-3861-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J3ZWCdWfKykC }}{{rp|13}}{{cite web|url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/gapstow-bridge.html|title=Gapstow Bridge|date=February 12, 2015|website=The Official Website of Central Park NYC|publisher=Central Park Conservancy|access-date=April 7, 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.echonyc.com/~parks/books/bridges13.html|title=13. Gapstow Bridge|website=Greensward Foundation|access-date=April 7, 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.centralpark.com/things-to-do/attractions/gapstow-bridge/|title=Gapstow Bridge|date=September 22, 2017|website=Your Complete Guide to New York City's Central Park|access-date=April 7, 2019}} It replaced an 1871 bridge by Jacob Wrey Mould. The first bridge was a wooden bridge supported by segmental arches on either side of the deck, the tops of which rose above the deck, similar to the design of a through arch bridge.{{rp|12}}

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