This 1908 postcard, of “Lover’s Lane” in Riverside Park, doesn’t say exactly where it is along the river—and a search for it came up empty.
But the curvy path sure looks like a sweet place to stroll or sit, as the couple far off on a bench demonstrate.
Central Park also had a Lovers’ Lane, as seen in these circa-1896 photos.
According to a 1931 New York Times article, this narrow road ran “from east to west, just to the north of the 79th Street Transverse Road and south of the lake site.”
[Photo below from the NYPL digital collection]
Here’s the history of a colonial-era Lovers’ Lane in Brooklyn Heights.
Tags: boating in Central Park, Central Park lake, Central Park Lovers Lane, Lovers Lane New York City, Riverside Park Lover's Lane, romantic spots in NYC parks, the Dakota
Ephemeral New York 
July 19, 2010 at 2:32 pm |
Beyond a doubt, the lover’s lane pictured above is now buried beneath the asphalt and traversed by cars of Henry Hudson Parkway.
July 19, 2010 at 3:42 pm |
the central park lane would run between the statue of jagiello and the castle now. the last time i was there, a discreet place for a toke i thought, two fellas wearing moustaches and speedos and nothing else walked by. but it was the 70s.
July 19, 2010 at 6:20 pm |
[…] a lovers’ lane. Such corridors were once seemingly essential additions to the urban fabric, writes Ephemeral New […]
July 21, 2010 at 6:26 pm |
I like the article and the subject. Lover’s Lane must return to Central Park.
February 10, 2020 at 6:56 am |
[…] century Chelsea used to have a meandering road called Love Lane; some city parks also had Lovers’ Lanes. And Brooklyn Heights still has its own Love Lane, a sweet former mews off Henry […]