Gapstow Bridge: Skyline Reflection over The Pond

Why is it significant?

Stand right here at the water's edge on the rocky bank of The Pond, looking across at the curved stone span of Gapstow Bridge.

Key Facts

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Stand right here at the water's edge on the rocky bank of The Pond, looking across at the curved stone span of Gapstow Bridge. Take in the breathtaking contrast: lush green weeping willows framing the bridge's coarse schist masonry, while behind it rises the glittering canyon of Central Park South and Fifth Avenue luxury hotels. The bridge you see today wasn't the first to span this tranquil cove. In eighteen seventy-four, designer Jacob Wrey Mould built an intricate, whimsical bridge out of wood and cast iron. However, Manhattan's humid summers and freezing winters rapidly rotted the timber beams, forcing park commissioners to replace it in eighteen ninety-six with this unmortared Manhattan schist arch designed by Howard and Cauldwell. Glance down into the calm water beneath your boots. Even this tranquil pond is completely artificial: landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux carved this basin out of a squalid, mosquito-infested swamp using thousands of pounds of dynamite and underground drainage pipes. Movie fans will recognize this bridge from countless cinema classics, from Home Alone Two to romantic comedies. Turn northwest along the winding stone path toward the monumental bedrock outcrop of Umpire Rock.