We, the undersigned, believe in the democratic spirit of Central Park and oppose plans by the Department of Parks and Recreation to install 35-foot-tall bubbles over tennis courts between 94th and 96th Streets in Central Park. We echo the words belowjust a sampling of those who have so aptly captured the character of Central Park, a National Historic Landmark and New York Citys first Scenic Landmark (designated in 1974 by the Landmarks Preservation Commission):


The basic purpose of Central Park is to escape the city: its buildings, events and schedule. It is to experience nature in the form of a living landscape, a landscape artfully manipulated to encourage wonder and surprise, such as the sudden view on the northwest drive over a meadow and crest of trees where no building interrupts the skyline We need fewer distractions not more.
Barry Benepe, architect, founder of the Union Square Greenmarket, and urban planner
In a letter (dated Dec. 4, 1996) to Nicholas Quennell, then-President of the Art Commission (now Public Design Commission) in regards to a proposal by the Central Park Conservancy to install 136 seven-foot-tall signs in Central Park.


[I]t is too bad that the promoters and planners of so many heterogeneous encroachments should ignore so completely the original park designers intelligently conceived view lines, circulation systems, planting plans, and water body configurations, or that they should have been allowed to exploit these in limited ways that compromise the integrity of the parks over all designs.
Elizabeth Barlow Rogers
Founder, first president and life trustee of the Central Park Conservancy
From the book, Central Park: An American Masterpiece, by Sarah Cedar Miller (published 2003; page 239)