Real New Yorkers simply call it the Central Park Reservoir, but officially it’s called The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. The Reservoir stretches from 86th to 96th street, and from 5th avenue to Central Park West.
I wanted a specific shot of some particular Upper West Side buildings, so I entered Central Park at 90th street and 5th avenue and walked up a few steps to the gate surrounding the Reservoir.
Whenever I think of the Reservoir, I’m reminded of the movie Marathon Man with Dustin Hoffman. To this day, there is a constant stream of joggers around the Reservoir, and the path around it is a sort of loose, sandy gravel to facilitate running. I wonder how many of those joggers have seen that movie.
I didn’t know the Reservoir was decommissioned in 1993. That explains the lack of security around it and the low gate. I assume that if the Reservoir did supply New York City with water, no one would be allowed anywhere near it in this day & age.
The Central Park Reservoir is great to visit and watch the sunset on a nice day, or to jog around it if that’s your thing. There are many great views of the city and photographic opportunities to be had there.
The photos in this story were taken with an Olympus EM-10 and Lumix 14mm f2.5 & Lumix 25mm f1.7 lenses.