4. Bryant Park
Designated a public space since the seventeenth century, Bryant Park became a potter’s field in 1823. It remained a burial ground until 1840 when the space was transformed into the Croton Distributing Reservoir, whose remnants can still be seen inside the main branch of the New York Public Library. In 1884, the land was renamed in honor of William Cullen Bryant, the noted poet, abolitionist, the New York Evening Post editor, and naturalist.