7. Central Park’s Marble Arch
The Marble Arch was one of the finest pieces of architecture in Central Park, located at the end of the mall, on the opposite end of Bethesda Terrace was Marble Arch. It was unique for many reasons.
First, most of the other architecture in the park is built of stone or brick. Built entirely from marble, the arch distinguished itself from its other noble neighbors and was the only bridge built of the material in the entire park. According to Edward J. Levine in the book Central Park Then & Now, the Marble Arch featured a drinking fountain, a semicircular pergola, and marble benches.
A description from 1869 deemed it “one of the pleasantest and most elegantly built of all these cool places for rest and refreshment.” Indeed, two marble staircases led down into a refuge beneath the archway. It also kept pedestrians safe from carriage traffic.
Like many things lost in New York City, we have Robert Moses and his quest for automobile domination to blame. In 1938, the Central Park drives were realigned to accommodate car traffic. The arch was demolished, smashed into pieces, and buried.
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