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Traces the history of the establishment of Central Park in New York City. Number of households inhabiting the Central Park site during the mid nineteenth century; Reasons for the decision to build the park; Cost of the park project; Concerns surrounding the project; Implications of the park project for both land owners and squatters in the area.

The article focuses on the book "The City That Never Was: Two Hundred Years of Fantastic and Fascinating Plans That Might Have Changed the Face of New York City," by Rebecca Read Shanor. Shanor helps to visualize a very different New York City, New York State landscape by assembling an array of proposals that went awry. Shanor has selected "fantastic and fascinating" schemes for street plans, public buildings, transportation systems, bridges, parks and monuments, researching the occasions for these designs being put forth and the reasons for their failures.