What to Know
New York City, the city that never sleeps. This city that is full of tall buildings, bright lights, and chaotic traffic. Parks are not always the first thing to pop into someone’s mind when thinking of the big city when there are attractions like the Empire State Building, Times Square and the Statue of Liberty. Nevertheless, there are lovely parks all around NYC that deserve more attention and appreciation. Carl Schurz Park, located in the Upper East Side, stretches from 84th Street to 90th Street, next to the East River. One of the main attractions residing in this park is the Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the Mayor of NYC. This park can be thought of as almost like a mini Central Park. The park contains a playground, basketball court, and dog parks. However, the park is very popular among the locals for its patches of grass and footpaths, perfect for people who want to walk and lounge around surrounded by a slice of nature. Most of these details can be seen on a map in Figure 1. The signs found at this park can be quite unique in comparison to ones located in other parks due to their abundance in detail. The majority of the signs are from the Carl Schurz Park Conservancy. The Conservancy shares in their website that they are dedicated to restoring Carl Schurz Park and making it more beautiful. This correlates with the type of signs they create (multiple of the signs that will be shown here) as they seem to reflect selections of the environment that can be found at the park and how to keep it safe. In addition, there are also signs that look out for the park’s visitors. While all the park’s signs may have their differences, there is a consistent use of English within them.
Signs for the Environment
Many of the signs found in Carl Schurz Park are intertwined with the environment. Even though this is the case, these signs have different purposes.
Inform
A lot of the signs are informative. These signs give information on some of the elements of nature, such as plants and wildlife.
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Figure 2 shows a sign found in the park about the different plants that are growing there and how they coexist with some of the animals that inhabit the area as well. One piece of information the sign focuses on is how the Serviceberry plant produces flowers that attract bees. When the bees pollinate these flowers, they eventually develop into purple berries that birds can eat for nutrients.
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Figure 4 shows a sign on facts about the different birds that can be seen in the park. One unfortunate fact the sign informs people of is how 25% of the bird population has been lost in North America during the past 50 years. PBS has shared news to back this information up, explaining that the number of birds in North America has declined by 3 billion due to the loss of their habitats and climate change.
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These signs are meant to get people to learn and understand what is going on in the environment by including the fascinating facts about it, even the ones that can be considered more upsetting. They also take the time to explain what people can do to help the future of the environment.
Rules
Some of the other signs in Carl Schurz Park present rules. These signs are made to help keep the environment clean and healthy.
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Figure 8 includes three signs which all involve rules for people to follow so that the park’s conditions can be preserved. One of the signs specifically instructs people to dispose of their recyclables at home. Many should know this is a reasonable demand because it is something that should be done to keep wildlife safe and communities thriving.
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Figure 9 shows a sign that tells people to not leave their food from home since it can attract rats. This is necessary as rats can be a great menace to everything and everyone. The United States Environmental Protection Agency mentions on their website that rats can destroy critical habitats, native plants and animals, and threaten public health.
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These signs have established rules for people to follow in order to maintain the current state of the park’s environment. This way it can continue to flourish and be a satisfactory place for animals to live and for people to enjoy.
Participation
There are also signs in Carl Schurz Park meant to encourage people to participate in learning about and taking care of the environment.
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Figure 11 has a sign informing people of an event which seems to encourage them to come by making it free with several activities. The signs biggest focus is how every day is Earth day which strongly implies that this event will be about motivating people to look after the planet more.
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Figure 12 includes a sign in honor of the people who volunteer to assist with the care of the park’s plants. A sign like this can encourage other people to also get involved in working to improve not only the environment of the park, but also in other places that may not get as much help. These signs are intended to attract more people to take action when it comes to the well-being of the environment.
Signs that Help
The other kinds of signs found in Carl Schurz Park are meant to help the people there, whether it is to direct them or to give them a safer experience.
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A few of the signs help people by giving them simple directions and information needed for them to take a certain course of action. Figure 13 presents a sign made for people who are trying to get to the ferry. The sign makes it easy to understand where to go as it uses a simple arrow to give people the right direction to go in.
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Some of the signs also include rules for people to follow in order to promote safety for everyone while they visit the park. Figure 15 has a sign ordering people to be slow, this is most likely directed towards people riding bikes, using roller skates, or on other non-motorized vehicles. It can be acknowledged that the purpose of this sign is to help prevent people from getting hurt due to situations that can be avoided simply by slowing down. A NYC bicycle crash data report from 2022 concluded that citywide there had been bicyclist crashes involving 313 pedestrian injuries with 3 deaths, and 294 bicyclist injuries with 3 deaths. These signs exist to try to serve and protect the people who go to Carl Schurz Park so they can have an easy time while visiting.
Language in Signs
When comparing all of the signs together that have been shown here, it can be taken into account how all of them include English. However, there is just one sign that includes other languages too. Figure 17 shows the main sign of Carl Schurz Park that is located at the entrance and which contains the general rules of the park. The sign includes writing of the rules in English, Spanish, and Chinese. According to NYU Furman Center, this is likely the case because the three largest Racial/Ethnic groups in the Upper East Side are White, Asian, and Hispanic.
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Out of all the signs in the park, it makes the most sense for this sign to be written in more than one language. The basic rules of the park are what should be understood by as many people as possible when going there. By using multiple languages on this sign, a larger number of people can know what is expected of them and others when visiting the park.
Before You Go!
Although there are many other signs that can be found all over Carl Schurz Park other than the ones mentioned here, it can be expected for those signs to also incorporate similar features. I believe that for the nature enthusiasts out there and also for those who want to know more about it, Carl Schurz Park is a perfect place to go. Even if that is not the case, the park is still a charming and secure place to go discover, have fun, and/or unwind peacefully.