One of the nation's largest urban green areas, Central Park is envisioned as an "oasis" for the "sanitary advantage of breathing" and known as the "lungs of the city."

The construction of the park includes the destruction of Seneca Village, the first and largest free Black community in New York City. Over 1,600 Black people are displaced.

Initial rules in the park establish a class code where sports and recreation are limited to "passive recreation," or walking, with the purpose of enjoying the scenery. The rules are designed to keep out poor and working-class Black, Indigenous, and immigrant New Yorkers and to favor the white upper class.