Sheep Meadow - NYC's Quick Escape

The entrance to Sheep Meadow,
where on a good summer day lines
would form with anxious people waiting
to escape from city life - if only for
a moment.

Sweet summer time means being pool side, soaking the sun, or surfing the easy waves.  Unfortunately in New York City, it's not quite as easy.  It's ironic that so many tourists flock to New York in the summer, and all New Yorkers want to do is leave.  Leaving isn't the city isn't the hard part, it's finding a place to escape to that poses a problem.  Unless you have a Hamptons house share or rooftop pool access summers in NYC's scorching heat can be torture.

I discovered however a quick escape from the city's noise and craze right in the middle of Central Park.  Located towards the west side, between 66th and 69th Streets, lies Sheep Meadow.  A vast open land for family and friends to gather for picnics, kite flying, or just relaxation.  A few minutes in this open terrain and you will forget you live in the largest, busiest, and most chaotic city in the United States.

Modern-day Sheep Meadow, full of sun
bathers, kite flyers, and family picnics.

Sheep grazing the original Sheep
Meadow. They were removed from the
Park and moved to Brooklyn in 1937.

Spending a relaxing Sunday afternoon at Central Park's
Sheep Meadow.