Well, it's simple. It was designed way back in the 1800s, for the public. The land, over 750 acres, was granted by the New York State Legislature, in 1853, to create the first large landscape park, in downtown Manhattan. The state held a competition on what the park's design would be. Frederick Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won the competition in 1858. The park held up well at first. People respected the land. At the beginning of the 1900s the park suffered a great decline. Instead of being known for its beauty, it was known for the illegal activity that took place. Eventually the state came together and realized that they were failing in their duties. Robert Moses, park commissioner from 1934 to 1960, won federal funding approval to restore most of the structures. Once again, after leaving office, depression also setting in, the park went down a dark path again. People have lost care in the park. In 1974, the park's financiers brought together management to raise more funds to restore the park again. Later Doug Blonsley started working with a woman, named Betsey, from 1993-2008. The park has not seen better days than today. All it took was a little attention and the park looks better than it ever has in the past 150