East 110th Street Playground

The most popular playground in Central Park’s north end, the East 110th Street Playground offers children a range of play experiences in a scenic location along the shore of the Harlem Meer.

The Central Park Conservancy rebuilt the playground in 2013. It’s divided into three areas, one with an interactive water feature, which in the colder seasons becomes an open space for free play; the center space with a large wooden climber; and a third space featuring strap and tire swings. The area offers many activities and landscapes for children and families, including picnicking on nearby lawns, catch-and-release fishing in the Meer, exploring the varied shoreline, and two additional playgrounds, the Bernard Family Playground and the West 110th Street Playground. The playground is adjacent to the Charles A. Dana Discovery Center, a Conservancy-run visitor center.

Central Park has 21 playgrounds that are unique in design and character. Most of them were built in the 1930s as part of a system of playgrounds located along the Park perimeter. The Conservancy regularly updates these spaces to include new equipment and infrastructure that reflect changing ideas about children’s play and safety and accessibility standards. Since 2011, the Conservancy has been working to rebuild or renovate all the Park’s playgrounds, with the goal of bringing each of them up to the same standard of excellence at the same time and focusing on making them feel more connected to the Park’s landscapes and experiences.