Throughout 2025 The New Yorker magazine ran a year of special programming to celebrate its centennial anniversary.

The celebration included four centenary issues, new anthologies of fiction and poetry, the digitization of The New Yorker’s complete archive, an exhibition at the New York Public Library, a Netflix documentary about the magazine’s history and present, and more.

*Photo credit: Stephen Olsen, Landscape Architecture Aotearoa*

The event-aligned exhibition curated at the New York Public Library was called A Century of The New Yorker. It drew from the library’s collections to trace the magazine’s history from its founding and through to the digital age; proving the assertion that “over the past 100 years, The New Yorker has created a world of its own”.

The magazine’s visual tradition is world famous for its iconic covers, as well as its cartoons. These elements saw exhibitions mounted in 2025 by the Society of Illustrators (curated by the New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly), L’Alliance New York (co-curated by the magazine’s art editor, Françoise Mouly, and Rodolphe Lachat), the New York Transit Museum, Italian Consulate, and even the American Kennel Club Museum of the Dog.

Of chief interest to landscape architecture followers was an extensive sampling of park-themed covers presented by the New York City Parks Department at the Arsenal Gallery in Central Park earlier this year, under the title of ‘The New Yorker’s Parks Covers: A Centennial Stroll’.

Appearances of parks on the cover of The New Yorker make up more than eight percent of the more than 5000 covers published to date, as featured in all but five years of the magazine’s 100-year history.

This exhibition highlighted the impact of urban parks on the city’s identity and their vital role in urban life. One reviewer commented on the variety of park locations it captured and that served to affirm the significance of parks as markers of time, place and culture - from the macrocosm of a birds-eye view of The Battery to the microcosm of a cast iron fence at Stuyvesant Square Park.

The artists also have a knack for poking fun and subverting expectations. A fitness enthusiast hauls her NordicTrack into the stream of roller bladers on the Central Park drive. A grunge rocker slumps in an ornate horse carriage. The planting of a single street tree grows into grandiose political gestures. And who is more territorial —the businessman reading on a park bench or the pigeons that surround him? Ultimately, as one cover illustrates with a flowering traffic island, a park may sprout and flourish anywhere if given its due.

*See also this New Yorker / NYC Parks* *Instagram post* *- used as a jumping off point for this montage.*

Artists like Kadir Nelson continue to bring classic images to life for The New Yorker. While there was no catalogue at the NYC Parks exhibition it was possible to compile this factoid-filled listing of the majority of cover-art captions prepared specifically for this event.

A CENTENNIAL ‘SCROLL’

Victoria Tentler-Krylov’s “Pawns in the Park” of June 2024: For decades, the southwest corner of Washington Square Park has attracted chess aficionados and street gaming hustlers. World chess champion Bobby Fischer is said to have honed his craft here, and, more recently, basketball star Victor Wembanyama paid a visit and competed with locals.
Ryo Takemasa’s “New Tracks” of January 2023: Of the many new parks that have been built on post-industrial properties in recent years, the most notable example is perhaps the High Line. Opened in 2009, the park adapts a long-abandoned elevated freight rail on Manhattan’s West Side. Threading through a mix of tenements, warehouses, galleries and new luxury housing, it features artfully placed native plants and public art.
Jorge Colombo’s “Off-Season” of December 2022: The landmarked Parachute Jump was built as an amusement ride for the New York World's Fair of 1939-40 and relocated to Coney Island's Steeplechase Park at 18th Street in 1841. Amid safety concerns, the ride was closed in 1968. In 1991, the City stabilized the no-longer-functional structure, which had become a cultural symbol, and later repainted it and installed dramatic lighting. In any season, the boardwalk, with its 1.3 million boards and 15.8 million screws, provides a refreshing place to rest, amble, or cycle.
Erick Drooker’s “Summer Catch” of October 2022: The serenity of the fishing scene with a backdrop of Hell Gate rail bridge belies the turbulent waters of the East River narrows offshore from Astoria Park. Once the site of country estates, the Queens waterfront underwent industrialization after the Civil War. This in turn caused local residents to seek public access, and in 1913, the City acquired 56 acres for the park. The Hell Gate waters were responsible for many drownings until the construction in 1936 of the massive Astoria Park Pool, the city’s largest.
Kadir Nelson’s “Homecoming” of May 2021: Brooklyn Bridge Park, one of the newest and most innovative city parks, was designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh. The 1.3-mile-long riverfront park combines several properties and converts post-industrial lands into a lavishly landscaped urban oasis. It provides storm water protection, cultivates diverse ecologies, and creates varying vistas and experiences.
Ryo Takemasa’s “Cherry-Blossom Gift” of April 2021: Park designers Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux capitalized on the rolling topography to create dynamic places of delight, such as Pilgrim Hill, named for the sculpture by John Quincy Adams Ward placed at the top in 1885. in the winter,the steep hill is a popular sledding spot, and ın spring the Yoshino cherry trees - a gift in 1912 from the Japanese government to honor the Hudson Fulton Celebration - carpet the ground with pale pink petals.
Kadir Nelson’s “Savoring Summer” of September 2018: Sheep Meadow in Central Park, 15 acres in size, is one of the park system's largest expanses of grassy turf designated for passive recreation. Sheep once grazed on its pastoral terrain, whose design in 1858 by Olmsted and Vaux was inspired by British country estates of the 18th century. In 1934, sheep were retired from the meadow, which continued to serve as the front yard for countless human park patrons. Overuse turned it into a dustbowl. A 1979 James Taylor concert here raised funds to resod the meadow, and the Central Park Conservancy has since managed the meadow's use to preserve the turf. In this image, the familiar towers of the Majestic and St. Remo apartment houses on Central Park West are in the distance.
Mark Ulriksen’s “Coney Island” of July 2014: Coney Island’s days as a pleasure ground go back as far as the 1820s, when private interests established hotels along the shore. From the 1890s until World War 1, amusement parks sprouted along the beach, and when the BMT subway connection was completed in 1920, brought even bigger crowds. The famous 2.7-mile-long boardwalk opened with great fanfare on May 15, 1923, and was realigned and rebuilt as part of overall improvements by the Parks Department between 1938 and 1941. Today, landmarked amusement rides like the Wonder Wheel and Cyclone share the shorefront with a mix of private and public high-rise housing.
Bruce McCall’s “Opening Day” of March 2009: This cover was published at the outset of the Major League Baseball season and features the new Mets and Yankees stadia that opened in 2009 in Flushing Meadows Corona Park and Macombs Dam Park respectively. Citi Field replaced the much-maligned yet beloved Shea Stadium, home to the long-hapless Mets, later twice world champions. Yankee Stadium, home to the "Bronx Bombers”, the most legendary team in the sport, was replaced by a new version in 2009. The stadia are by far the greatest revenue-generating NYC Parks concession.
Eric Drooker’s “Last Stop” of August 2002: A buttoned-down businessman emerges from the subway into a lush landscape, conveying the yearning NYC citizens have for nature and open space.
“September 19, 1994” - Barry Blitt: The 6.2-mile circumferential drive is a coveted loop for recreation and a contested public space. With the advent of the automobile early in the early 20th century, Upper West Side businessmen pressured the City to connect Sixth and Seventh Avenues to the drive, admitting commercial traffic to the park. In the late 1960s, efforts to reverse this trend began, with car-less weekends permitting bicycling and running on the drive. In 2023, motor vehicles except for authorized service vehicles were banned from the park, as recreational and e-bike use skyrocketed. A recent traffic study by the Central Park Conservancy and the Department of Transportation has spurred a realignment and repaving of the drive to accommodate the many types of users more safely.
“October 5, 1992” - Edward Sorel: Horse carriage rides have been popular in Central Park since it opened, and anyone can take a ride - for a price. In 1969, an in-park concession known as the Central Park Carriage Service formed, charging 25 cents per ride. Today, .there are 68 licensed horse carriages operating in the park. The romance of a carriage ride, made famous in popular culture, remains a favorite tourist activity. In recent decades, animal rights groups have urged greater regulation, and the well being of the beasts of burden te now managed by the NYC Department of Mental Health and Hygiene. In 2018, horse drawn carriages were moved off the streets into the four main southern park entrances to reduce congestion and increase safety for the horses. A robust pedicab business now also competes for customers.
“March 26, 1984” - Susan Davis: A cellist scurries east along Central Park's 72nd Street Transverse, not pausing to stop and admire Jacob Wrey Mould's complex ornamentation at Bethesda Terrace and its Moorish influences. The carved balustrade of variegated stones demonstrates artistry and attention to detail that elevates this world-famous civic space. In 2008, to mark the 150 anniversary of the park's Greensward Plan, the road was renamed "Olmsted and Vaux Way” after the park's designers.
“April 1, 1974” - Charles E. Martin: Designed by Calvert Vaux with ornamentation by architect Jacob Wrey Mould, Bethesda Terrace has served since 1861 as the heart of the park immediately north of the 72nd Transverse Road. Described by Olmsted and Vaux as "an open-air reception hall," it provides a transitional space connecting the formal tree-lined Mall to the Lake and forested Ramble beyond, welcoming visitors from all over the world to its sculptural fountain.
“April 14, 1973” - Charles E. Martin: The common hex block paver and standard "World's Fair" bench instantly brand the Carl Schurz Park waterfront promenade as an NYC Parks property. Built on the site of a former country estate, the park was acquired in 1896 and named for German-American statesman Carl Schurz in 1910. Gracie Mansion, built in 1799 and preserved in the park, has been the official mayoral residence since 1942. In 1939, the park was redesigned by Maud Sargent and cantilevered over the new waterfront highway now known as the FDR Drive. The promenade affords visitors views of Roosevelt, Wards, and Randalls Islands, and of Astoria. In 1940, the new promenade was named John Finley Walk, for a legendary educator and newspaper editor who walked the circumference of Manhattan each year on his birthday.
“May 8, 1971” - Charles Saxon: To small children and some adults interaction with pigeons can be stimulating, though to many, pigeons and their droppings are a nuisance. In recent years NYC parks modified its regulations to explicitly prohibit feeding of all wildife. About 20 years ago the Bryant Park Corporation enlisted a falcon and falconer to help thin the ranks of pigeons in this well-frequented park. The experiment came to an abrupt end when the falcon seized a chihuahua.
“October 19, 1968” - Arthur Getz: The cast-iron fence helps define and give identity to historic Stuyvesant Square, one of the city’s oldest parks. In the 17th century this site was part of the “Great Bouwerie”, the rural estate of Peter Stuyvesant, the Dutch director-general of New Amsterdam. In 1836 his heirs sold it for five dollars to the city for use as a public park. The fence was added in 1847, followed by landscaping and two fountains. The park opened in 1850, and a neighbourhood of elegant townhouses soon grew around it. The fence was restored in 2016.
“August 19, 1967” - Charles E. Martin: The artist has framed a courtyard garden, verdant Fort Tryon Park and the George Washington Bridge, through a Gothic window at the Cloisters. The historic park, one of the City’s twelve “scenic landmarks”, was a battleground during the Revolution, and later home to lavish country estates. John D. Rockefeller Jr. retained Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. to design the park and then donated it to the City in 1931. They also financed the creation of the Cloisters (opened in 1938)k, the uptown Medieval wing of the Metropolitan Museum and brainchild of sculptor and art dealer George Grey Barnard.
“July 27, 1963” - Charles E. Martin: In 1956, Joe Papp, the founder of the Public Theater, first offered free Shakespeare performances in East River Park, later moving to a provisional stage next to Central Park's Turtle Pond. Shakespeare in the Park's permanent home at the Delacorte Theater. designed by Giorgio Cavaglieri, opened in 1962. Located in the shadow of the Victorian folly known as Belvedere Castle, the theater is famous for its daring outdoor productions with top-notch actors, who occasionally share the stage with an errant raccoon. The theater is currently being improved and restored and will reopen in August 2025.
“June 23, 1956” - Garrett Price: Boating on the Lake in Central Park was first concessioned in the early 1860s and had 125,000 patrons annually by 1869. Initially, rowboats were moored at six small landings. Calvert Vaux then designed a Gothic-style timber boathouse on the south shore that opened in 1873. The present brick and limestone Loeb Boathouse, by Chief Park Designer Stuart Constable, opened in 1954, and contains a restaurant with terraces. As this cover art illustrates, the venue is so popular that it may at times be a victim of its own success.
“March 18, 1950” - Leonard Dove: Of the many annual rituals of New York civic Ife, the St. Patrick's Day Parade is one of the most venerable. Since the 1930s the reviewing stand for dignitaries attending the parade has been located at East 64th Street and Fifth Avenue in front of the Arsenal, the Parks Department's central headquarters.
“July 13, 1946” - Ludwig Bemelmans: For the "huddled masses," a city beach can often be as congested as the city itself. This cover evokes Weegee's famous photo of an overcrowded Coney Island. In 1946, the Parks Department conducted a study of visitor density when the popularity of the beaches threatened to undermine maintenance and civic order. Commissioner Moses observed that “a small percentage of troublemakers can hardly be detected in the masses jammed together under inhuman pressure for space." The lowest density at Orchard Beach was calculated at 1,100 bathers per acre of sand, and the high end, at Rockaway Beach, was estimated to be 4,800.
“May 26, 1945” - Constantin Aladjalov: The Central Park Zoo. the nation's oldest municipal zoo, is the smallest of the five city zoos. It began by chance when a bear cub was left with a Parks messenger boy in 1859, but the Menagerie (as it was then called) grew rapidly to become a leading tourist attraction. In 1934, the dilapidated Victorian zoo was replaced by a brick and limestone quadrangle. The daily feedings of the sea lions in the center provide theater-in-the-round. In 1982, the New York Zoological Society (now Wildlife Conservation Society) assumed management and rebuilt the 200, preserving several of the 1930s buildings while blending new structures and environments into tropical, temperate, and polar zones Despite these changes, the daily feedings remain a star attraction.
“June 10, 1944 - Christina Malman: This cover art shows a bird's-eye view of Riverside Park, one of only twelve "scenic landmarks" in the city. In 1875, Frederick Law Olmsted submitted a rustic plan for the park and drive, taking advantage of the rolling waterfront terrain. Apartment houses sprouted along with the park, though riverfront industry at times marred the experience. With WIPA funding, the Parks Department decked over the New York Central Railroad with a promenade, extended the park into the river, built the Henry Hudson Parkway, and banished most commercial uses. The West Side Improvement opened in 1937. This image focuses on the 79th Street Boat Basin and rotunda, both under restoration in 2025.
“April 13, 1940” - Constantin Aladjalov: The survival of a single urban tree is a cause for celebration and, it seems, solemnity, pomp, and circumstance. NYC Parks has oversight of the management and care of five million of the seven million trees in the city, including 666,000 street trees counted in a 2015 census. In 2022, NYC Parks launched an online tree map documenting nearly 900,000 city trees under its jurisdiction. It is an ever-evolving snapshot of the city’s environmental health, documenting how trees intercept storm water, reduce energy consumption, and remove pollutants from our air.
"April 28, 1934," by Ilonka Karasz: Union Square in Lower Manhattan dates to 1832 and has long been a busy crossroads. Though today the park is perhaps better known for its expansive Greenmarket, it has a long history of hosting trade-union and political rallies. In 1929-30, the park was completely redesigned and elevated above street level to accommodate subway construction. At the time of this cover image, May Day socialist labor rallies remained robust in the park.
“August 6, 1927” - Ilonka Karasz: Concerts in Central Park were first staged in 1859 at a grove designed by Olmsted and Vaux north of the lake. A graceful wrought-iron bandstand by park architect Jacob Wrey Mould was then installed at the north end of the mall, in 1862. In 1923, the Naumberg Bandshell replaced the bandstand, proving wildly popular, with 959 concerts held there in its first year. Conductor Edwin Franko Goldman led the Goldman band there from 1923 to 1969. "Soundblast 1966” launched a more contemporary vibe at the bandshell, which hosted the likes of Stevie Wonder, Herb Alpert, and Jefferson Airplane. In 2022, the bandshell was restored and it continues to serve a wide variety of programming.
“July 9, 1927” - Julian de Miskey: NY Parks maintains and operates 79 outdoor swimming pools (including 17 mini-pools) and 12 indoor swimming pools, dispersed across 64 facilities throughout the five boroughs. The earliest pools were at indoor bath houses established for public hygiene, and riverfront “floating pools”. The first in-ground outdoor public pool was built in 1915 at Betsy Head Park in Brownsville, Brooklyn. In 1936, Robert Moses initiated the construction of 11 vast outdoor pools to meet the needs of underserved communities with high population density.
“August 14, 1926 - Ilonka Karasz | “September 27, 1929” - Sue Williams | “September 1, 1934” - William Steig: The Battery in lower Manhattan is one of the first parks established in New York and marks where the city began. In1734, the Common Council decreed that the promenade be free of buildings and protected the scenic harbor vista. Since then, centuries of landfill extended the shoreline and enlarged the park. Castle Clinton, a historic fort within the park, also served as an opera house, aquarium and immigration center welcoming millions. The park plan depicted in these covers was leveled and redesigned during the construction of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel between 1940 and 1951. Today, as coastal resiliency measures are enacted to protect the park and financial district from rising seas, the Battery continues to attract millions of visitors annually.
“May 30, 1925” - Ilonka Karasz: Congestion pricing had yet to be conceived when this cover was created. The monument at Columbus circle was erected for the 400th anniversary, in 1892, of Columbus’s trans-Atlantic voyage, before the advent of the automobile. This busy intersection had long vexed motorists, and for much of its history the central column was surrounded by a patch of grass and a narrow sidewalk, making visits a life-threatening experience. An ornamental fountain was added in 1965, and in 2004, the pedestrian space around the monument was significantly expanded, with new perimeter foundations, a landscaped berm, and seating to provide a more welcoming refuge.
[Compiled by Stephen Olsen]

Looking back on 2025 | ‘The New Yorker’s Parks Covers: A Centennial Stroll’.