FRIENDS' testimony:
FRIENDS supports the proposed seating area as a welcome opportunity for visitors to pause, reflect, and appreciate the newly restored Pinebank Arch Bridge, a nationally significant feature of Central Park’s historic cast-iron infrastructure.

As we support this enhancement, we strongly urge the Central Park Conservancy to elevate the design by reaffirming a key principle of the park's original design: the separation of pedestrian, equestrian, and vehicular circulations, as laid out in the Greensward Plan conceived by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. This intentional system allowed each mode of movement to flourish independently, ensuring safety, tranquility, and immersive landscape views.

As currently designed, the transition where the soft-surface bridle path merges directly into the asphalt pedestrian walkway relies on only a few courses of flush granite blocks. We urge the Conservancy to refine this junction by defining a distinct visual and physical transition that reinforces the individual identity and purpose of both the bridle path and the pedestrian walkway.

LPC Hearing: October 20, 2026