Sakura Park
Sakura Park | |
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M60 SBS, M104 |
Sakura Park is a
History
The park was originally called Claremont Park after
As part of the construction of adjacent Riverside Church, Sakura Park underwent landscaping with $350,000 in funds from John D. Rockefeller Jr. in 1932.[8] The renovation was completed two years later.[9]
In 1960, another gift was given to the park, this time by the
Features
General Daniel Adams Butterfield, author of the bugle call, Taps, which is a standard component for concluding for US military funerals, stands on a rock pedestal as a larger-than-life-sized bronze statue by Gutzon Borglum—who is said to have been so annoyed by commissioning committees numerous demands for changes to the sculpture, that he marked his signature on the top of the general's head, claiming that this was the single aspect the committee had not required him to change.[citation needed] The statue is oriented such that it faces Grant's Tomb across Riverside Drive and thus it appears Butterfield is looking at the tomb of his fellow Civil War general and the president in whose cabinet he served as the Assistant Treasurer of the United States.
The landscaping is dominated by two walks lined with mature linden trees, the branches meet overhead forming a leafy arcade. Between the two walks is a lawn, headed by a gazebo and planted with cherry trees. When the cherry trees bloom, people of Japanese ancestry come to celebrate Hanami and spread picnic blankets under the trees. The cherry bloom is preceded in spring by bulbs, beginning with snowdrops and continuing through tulips.
Directly to the east is Claremont Avenue, which is dramatically lower in elevation. A buttressed retaining wall extends the length of the park along Claremont Avenue. The wall is an ivy-festooned copy of Kenilworth Abbey's wall in England. It was built in the 1930s by the Olmsted Brothers firm as part of a park redesign.[11]
References
- ^ "Sakura Park - Historical Sign". New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
- ^ "The Riverside Church" (PDF). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. May 16, 2000. p. 11, note 23. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
- ^ OCLC 37843816.
- ^ "Cherry Walk - Historical Sign". New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
- ^ Simons, Justine (April 12, 2012). "Gifts From Japan, Less Celebrated in Manhattan". City Room. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
- ^ "150th Anniversary of US-Japan Relations". www.ny.us.emb-japan.go.jp. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
- ^ French, Howard W. (October 10, 1987). "Japanese Prince Visits Harlem". The New York Times. Retrieved February 26, 2010.
- ^ "Sakura Park". The Cultural Landscape Foundation. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
External links
- Media related to Sakura Park at Wikimedia Commons