Living in New York City, always I am surprised by those pedestrians—and I see and experience this mini-drama happening all the time—who suddenly come to a complete halt in the middle of the sidewalk, as though a Eureka-type thought has sprung to mind requiring all forward motion to instantly cease. Sometimes this “thought” coincides with a 180-degree turn, whereupon, inevitably, they are surprised, even shocked, when they then almost bump into someone. What were they expecting? Empty space. This is Manhattan, after all, and the chances of someone being right behind you are very, very high. According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau statistics, some 1.5 million people call Manhattan home, while, according to the Metropolitan Transit Authority, some 8 million people commute into or out of New York City every day. It’s busy, which is why many of you chose to live there and large numbers of you prefer not to.

Rush, rush, rush, all day. There almost is no room to breathe.

But there is, and it is a beautiful spot called Central Park. Of all the city parks in the world I have visited, in my humble opinion, Central Park bests them all. Vancouver, Canada, has magnificent Stanley Park, but it is to one side of the city, not surrounded by blocks upon blocks of brownstones and skyscrapers; London has Hyde Park, but it not as wonderfully laid out or has as much variety; and Buenos Aires has the glorious Recoleta, but, understandably, not everyone is happy spending their leisure time in a cemetery, however ornate. (Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn was, before the creation of Central Park, and Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, the place for overcrowded New Yorkers to stretch their legs and feel the sun, but that was almost 150 years ago.)

Central Park acts as a lung, perhaps a pressure valve, allowing stressed urbanites to forget work and pressure and reconnect with what perhaps is more important: a young child sailing a toy yacht on the Conservatory Water (also known as the Boat Pond; parallel to East 74th St.); the ups and downs of a softball game (Great Lawn; parallel with 81th-88th sts.; in the middle of the park), or the shriek of novice ice skaters on Lasker Pool (parallel with 108th-109th sts; in the middle of the park) or Woolman Rink (parallel to E. 64th St.). And there are less-popular, even downright odd, activities happening here, too: One July morning two or three years ago, as I was off on a New York City Marathon-preparation run, I saw a group of 12 people practicing fly-fishing reel casting. This was being done on the park’s highest location, known as the Great Hill (parallel to West 105th St.), which has many attributes but not a single drop of water. Three hours later, on my return, the fisher folk had gone, and the very same spot was now the site of a group of Mexicans dressed as Aztecs and performing the dances and songs of their ancestors.

There is a place for everyone in Central Park. Here are some of my favorites:

· The Ramble—Acting as yin to my marathon-running yang is bird watching, called “birding” in the parlance of ornithologists. The Rambles, an area of the park that can be said to be its most wild and natural, perhaps is the best spot for seeing our feathered friends. Large gaggles of birders come here all year, but they are at their most chirpy during the spring migration, when scores of song birds, and other types, travel along prehistoric migration routes that are not going to be altered just because the world’s most famous city was built on it. Warblers are the big draw, with some 30 species likely to be seen every April and May. It’s the colors that attract: Chestnut-sided warbler; Bay-breasted warbler; Black-and-white warbler; Blue-winged warbler, Yellow-throated warbler, or where they are said to come from: Kentucky warbler, Nashville warbler, Cape May warbler, Tennessee warbler, Canada warbler. My record count of bird species for a single day was over 70. This area has some unique spots: The Azalea Pond; The Gill; Bow Bridge; The Point; Pinhook Swamp; and Tupelo Meadow, all of which are a short walk from the Loeb Boathouse, which started 2007 with a renovation to its coffee shop and café. (Parallel with 72nd to 79th sts., in the middle of the park.)

· The Reservoir—Three years ago, the Reservoir, which was once the main source of New York City drinking water (it now acts as a reserve, but has not been so far used for that reason), unveiled its new iron fence, which is similar but a little higher to the original. That said, most New Yorkers could only remember it being surrounded by chain link, the same type that encloses any building site. It now is more popular than ever, especially with joggers (during warmer months, there are too many people here to get in a real gallop) who run around its 1.55 miles of sandy floor. If you hear runners shout out, “Morning, mayor,” they have not just seen two-term Mayor Michael Bloomberg, but rather Alberto Arroyo, also known as the “Mayor of Central Park,” who started the trend of running around the reservoir in 1935. Today—he is 91—he can found on a bench at the southeast corner, his running days over, but not his zest for life. Say hello. He likes that. (Parallel with 85th to 96th sts., taking up most of the width of the park.)

· The Loch—The Loch (in an area called the Ravine) is a short stream that flows between The Pool (parallel with W. 100th to W. 104th sts.) and Harlem Meer (at the top end of the park, close to 110th St.). Waterfalls mark both ends, and a walk along the paths bordering it (the west path stands above the stream; the east path goes alongside it) soon has the walker forgetting they are even in Manhattan. It is even tranquil enough for herons to go about the patient job of fishing. A very short walk to the eastern side leads to the Wildflower Meadow, while a more strenuous walk to the west takes the adventurous up to the Blockhouse, which was used by the Americans as a lookout during the American Revolutionary War (this is perhaps the loneliest parcel of the park, so the usual advice received is to go up there with someone else, although I have been there countless times and not run into any trouble).

· Tanner’s Spring—This is the park’s only natural source of water (I have seen other “streams” suddenly go dry at the whim of a park attendant). It also acts as a magnet for birds. Parallel to W. 81st St., Tanner’s Spring is very small, barely with space for more than four people (there is a little bench), but it is always overlooked and provides an oasis for anyone not wishing to wander too far into the middle of the park.

· Shakespeare Garden—Don’t dwell too long at the always crowded viewing deck of the Belvedere Castle with its view of the Turtle Pond and drop down instead to this ornate garden tucked behind the Swedish Marionette Theatre, which puts on shows for children regularly during the spring and summer. Constructed in the 19th century, only flowers and trees mentioned in the Bard’s work are planted here, which sounds idyllic, and is, but the same cannot be said to be true of the do-gooders who thought it a great idea to introduce from England all the birds that Big Bill mentioned in his works. In Henry IV, Part I, he writes, “I’ll have a starling shall be taught to speak nothing but ‘Mortimer,’ and give it him, to keep his anger still in motion.” From this line came the decision—although some claim this to be an early New York City urban myth—to unleash 100 pairs of Eurasian starlings that have now become 220 million pairs all over the country. (Parallel with W. 80th to W. 82nd sts.)

· Strawberry Fields—This is famous for the monument to John Lennon, the Beatles’ front person who was murdered in 1980 just across the road from the park on W. 72nd St. The flat monument always is covered with flowers and tributes. My favorite part of this area, however, is the wild area to the north, from which a small path winds down a slope, from where a hop over the Loop (the 6-mile circular cycling and running road; at certain times of the day, but never at weekends, cars are allowed here, too) leads to Hern Point on the Lake, another idyllic spot.

The history of Central Park is fascinating. It was opened in 1859, at a time when the population of Manhattan was swiftly increasing. Although the park and its creators, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, were repeatedly set back and irked by city politicians, it is remarkable that the park today shows so much variety, richness and naturalness. It does not look planned. Not really. There are formal spots, most notably the Mall, which goes from the statue of William Shakespeare (him again!) to the Bethesda Fountain and was intended as the one spot where early park-goers could see and be seen, but the majority of the park is about as “natural” as it could be in such an urban setting. One early decision was to have the cross roads, which are at 72nd, 79th, 86th and 96th streets, sunk at a lower level. Some people wanted the roads—which at that time would have been used by horse and carriage—to be in the park, but Olmsted and Vaux petitioned heartily that this not be the case. Today, it is possible not even to notice the heavy traffic rumbling beneath. True, at certain spots, park-goers can walk north or south only by crossing one point on the west side of the park and one point on the east, but the traffic never intrudes.

That the park is in such good condition today is much the work of the Central Park Conservancy (www.centralparknyc.org), which bemoaned the park’s disheveled state in the 1970s and started in 1980 raising funds for conservation. The park today appears to be in the best shape of its life. (Brooklynites are quick to remind Manhattanites that Law Omstead really created Central Park as a practice run, before going on to his really important legacy, namely Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.) Manhattanites do not believe this for a second.

The park also acts as an open gym. One recent race organized by the 35,000-member New York Road Running Club, the organization that puts on the annual New York City Marathon, attracted more than 7,000 entries. That was for one of about 40 running races of varying distances in the park; other park recreational uses include rollerblading, cycling, horse riding, jogging with baby strollers and walking—and not forgetting those aforementioned fisher folk. Concerts by the New York Philharmonic, a whole summer-long schedule of music at the outdoor Summerstage concert arena and charity fundraising walks are some of the other highlights of the year.

10 Things You Might Not Know About Central Park

1. One part of the park to its south, the Hallett Nature Sanctuary, is out of bounds to all, except during the occasional Central Park Conservancy-organized walk.

2. Even though it’s called Central Park and looks pretty much as if it is in the center of Manhattan on maps, it’s not central at all. All of it is west of Fifth Avenue, the dividing line between west and east Manhattan, so technically it’s all on the West Side.

3. It covers 843 acres, which accounts for approximately 6 percent of Manhattan. (The principality of Monaco covers only 485.)

4. The Obelisk, also known as Cleopatra’s Needle, is the oldest monument in the United States, dating from approximately 1500 B.C.; there is a similar obelisk on the north bank of the River Thames in London, England.

5. The park’s most famous residents are two Red-winged hawks, Lola and Pale Male, which actually live on a building on Fifth Avenue. When workers dismantled their nest recently, there was a huge public uproar, resulting in the nest being repaired and the birds coming back.

6. It is estimated that the park contains almost 9,000 benches.

7. An area of the park’s west side used to be known as Seneca Village, the first African American-owned land in Manhattan.

8. Every lamppost bordering the six-mile Loop, which circles the park, has a four-digit number on it, which tells you where you are. For instance, 9602 is the second lamppost above 96th Street, while the 02 states that it also is the second lamppost in from Fifth Avenue.

9. If you want to get married in Central Park, a marriage permit costs $400, plus another $100 if you want to photograph the occasion.

10. The famous Tavern on the Green restaurant used to be a sheepfold. Sheep grazed in the adjacent Sheep’s Meadow, which retains that name still to this day, until 1934, when the flock was moved to Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.