by Laura Matiz 

As a contributor to the Central Park Conservancy, I receive their literature quite often. The Conservancy  often communicates the state of Central Park using numbers, something they do quite well.  For example, Central Park now welcomes over 42 million visitors a year, although on some weekends, it feels like all 42 million are in the park at the same time. That's a mighty task to keep the park looking as good as it does day in day out. 

The Central Park Conservancy's latest restoration project is the Grand Army Plaza entrance on the southeast corner of the park (Fifth Avenue & 59th Street). The iconic monument of Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman is the focal point. From his high perch in new and protected gold-leaf covering, he looks down on a beautifully reconstructed plaza with new benches shaded by a double row of London plane trees, replacing the ones lost in the snowstorm of October 2011. While the southeast corner of the park is often quite crowded and bustling, it will be worth sitting on one of the new benches and contemplating this latest restoration. 

Learn all about the Grand Army Plaza in this audio clip from the Central Park Conservancy. 

Categories: NYC History, Parks

by Laura Matiz 

My End of Summer 2015 newsletter was released over the Labor Day Weekend. If you didn't receive it, I hope you will subscribe after you check it out: http://eepurl.com/bylPqX. I send my newsletter about four times a year; a low email volume given how busy everyone is. 

I usually share one great note I receive from my readers. This one took the cake for this issue. Thanks, EM. 

The End of Summer 2015 newsletter reprised my top articles from May to August 2015. It also featured key reports from Douglas Elliman that I will repeat here:

• July - 2015 Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens Rentals
• 2015-2QT Manhattan Sales Report
• 2015-2QT Brooklyn Sales Report

To subscribe, please see the footer of this page or follow this link: Laura's Newsletter

by Laura Matiz 

NYC parents have the difficult task of navigating the complex search for schools. There is the research, the forms, the testing, and the dreaded interviews. Anyone outside of NYC is astounded by the hassles that NYC parents go through to get their kids into their preferred school, but there are a lot of sources for help. I frequently share the sites below because they were helpful to me as I navigated the public school and independent school systems with my own children. I hope you find them useful as well.  

• NYC Department of Education - runs 1,800 schools serving 1.1 million students. Pre-K is the latest addition. The site offers many guides and tips for parents. 
  
• InsideSchools - offers great statistics for every school from the Center for New York City Affairs at The New School.
• Independent Schools Admissions Association of Greater New York (ISAAGNY) - excellent guide for NYC independent schools
  
• The Parents League of New York - since 1913, this non-profit organization has been providing advice, publications, and lectures for families interested in independent schools.
• Build Bold Futures - a guide to Catholic schools in NYC
• SchoolDigger -  a nationwide site that offers information for all schools along with rankings