Diana Ross Playground

The Diana Ross Playground is located in New York City's Central Park, inside the park at West 81st Street and Central Park West. Its namesake, the recording artist Diana Ross, who lives across the street in The Beresford, gave a fabled 1983 free concert in Central Park and pledged to fund the project with proceeds from the television rights; however, when this did not prove profitable, she used personal resources. Groundbreaking took place in September 1986, with both Ross and then-Mayor Ed Koch present. Ross reportedly called the event "one of the most fulfilling aspects of life and career." Anderson, Susan Heller and Deirdre Carmody (September 12, 1986). , New York Times.

Today, the playground is equipped with sturdy wood equipment, tire swings, a tube slide, a corkscrew slide, sandboxes, rope bridges, and a mushroom-style water feature. Central Park Conservancy, . Retrieved June 23, 2006. Open daily from 7:30am to dusk, the space is maintained by the Central Park Conservancy program.

To the north of the playground, the ground rises in a steep slopeA bronze plaque on a boulder along the path commemorates Elizabeth Barlow Rogers' decades of effort on behalf of Central Park.The other is Montayne's spring, which feeds The...
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