Cool Gardens: What better way to celebrate John Lennon’s birthday?
I was flicking through some of last year’s holiday photos to the States when I stumbled across a few of Strawberry Fields, the John Lennon memorial in New York.
Doing a little background research, I noticed it would have been his birthday today (October 9). I love a happy coincidence, so here’s today’s post. Check out my piece on the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston.
Strawberry Fields is a 2.5-acre area of Central Park. It pays tribute to the late Beatle, singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist. It’s located between 71st and 74th Streets, right near the Dakota Building, where Lennon was murdered on December 8, 1980. His widow, Yoko Ono, still lives there, and they used to regularly stroll in that area of the park and chat, resting on the benches.
The designated quiet zone around Strawberry Fields
Strawberry Fields is lined with elm trees, shrubs, flowers and rocks. As the Big Apple was a complete shock to my system, the idea of a ‘designated quiet zone’ was manna from heaven. Every October 9, as well as on the anniversary of his death, visitors and fans from all over the world visit to pay homage to John’s legacy.
The iconic black and white Imagine mosaic was designed by a team of artists from Naples and was a gift from the city, evoking a vision of a world without war and conflict. Yoko’s windows look down on the mosaic.
There is a bronze plaque that lists more than 120 countries that planted flowers and donated money for the maintenance of the area.
Huge donation from Yoko
A $1 million donation from Yoko helped to make Strawberry Fields a reality. It may be a designated quiet zone, but I’d recommend you avoid peak times. We thought we had, and it was still overrun with tourists.
However, when the crowds clear, it is a moving place to visit, sit and imagine you’re sitting where John and Yoko used to. I do wonder, though, who puts the flowers around the mosaic every day?
There’s a really nice audio clip from Yoko speaking about the living memorial. Hear it on http://www.centralparknyc.org/things-to-see-and-do/attractions/strawberry-fields.html
