The 1975 New York City fiscal crisis left Central Park a virtually abandoned dustbowl that residents came to view as a dangerous, crime-ridden space.

This included the Central Park Task Force, formed in 1975 and led by Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, an urban planner, writer and civic activist.

It also recommended the establishment of a private, citizen-based board that would advise the overseeing individuals, as well as the creation of the Central Park Community Fund.

[19][2][14] Beinecke also named a 44-person "Founders Committee" composed of individuals who had supported Central Park, such as Brooke Astor, George T. Delacorte Jr., Lucy Moses, Paul Newman, and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

[12][21][22][23] According to Conservancy president Douglas Blonsky: Graffiti doesn't last 24 hours in Central Park; visible litter gets carted off by 9 each morning and throughout the day.

[23] At the end of 1981, Davis and Barlow announced a 10-year, $100 million "Central Park Management and Restoration Plan", under which all future renovations would proceed.

[33][34] The renovation of Central Park also entailed the examination of thousands of plants, as well as the mapping and construction of new paths along heavily trafficked grass routes.

[18] In conjunction with this renovation, the Strawberry Fields memorial to the murdered musician John Lennon was built in the western end of the park,[35] and the Dene Rustic Shelter was restored.

[36] The Conservancy started two fundraising initiatives in fiscal year 1983: the Olmsted Awards Luncheon[23][37] and "You Gotta Have Park Weekend".

[12] The Conservancy developed a 15-year restoration plan that sought to remain true to the original design while supporting current goals of use.

[39] Over the next several years, the campaign restored landmarks in the southern part of the park, such as Grand Army Plaza[40] and the police station at the 86th Street transverse.

[41] In the northern end of the park, the Conservancy restored the Conservatory Garden as designed by the landscape architect Lynden Miller.

[45] However, the Conservancy still faced obstacles, including opposition to projects such as the reconstruction of the Mall's bandshell and the erection of the North Meadow Recreation Center.

[55] Afterward, the Conservancy embarked on its most ambitious landscape restoration: the overhaul of the 55 acres (22 hectares) near the Great Lawn and Turtle Pond.

[56] The project was the centerpiece of the Conservancy's three-year Wonder of New York Campaign, which raised $71.5 million and also helped restore southern and western landscapes, as well as the North Meadow.

[58] Though they operated under a memorandum of understanding as a public-private partnership for 18 years, the Conservancy and the City of New York did not formalize a management agreement until 1998, during the administration of Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

[3] Under the agreement, the city retained control over major policy decisions about the Park as well as the enforcement of rules and laws within it, while the Conservancy assumed responsibility for day-to-day maintenance and operations.

Management of the restored landscapes by the Conservancy's "zone gardeners" proved so successful that core maintenance and operations staff were reorganized in 1996.

[63] Another ambitious restoration effort began in 2004, when Conservancy staff and contractors worked together to refurbish the ceiling of the Bethesda Arcade.

Originally designed by Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould, the ceiling of the Arcade is lined by 15,876 elaborately patterned encaustic tiles.

Salt and water infiltration from the roadway above had badly damaged the tiles, leaving their backing plates so corroded they had to be removed in the 1980s.

The Conservancy's staff installs hundreds of thousands of plantings annually, including bulbs, shrubs, flowers, and trees.

[82] The Conservancy maintains a zone-management system, which divides Central Park into territories managed by individual supervisors who are held accountable for their zone's condition.

[89] Central Park Conservancy hosts a number of events and activities, such as festivals, games, volunteering opportunities, and tours.

[102] The Conservancy's founding board members ex officio included William Sperry Beinecke and Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, as well as mayor Koch, park commissioner Davis, and Manhattan borough president Andrew Stein.

[109][110][74] Prior to Paulson's gift, the majority of donations to the Conservancy came from a relatively small group of 55,000 people who lived within a "10-minute walk" of Central Park.

[112][113] In 2008, the American Planning Association recognized Central Park for being one of that year's Great Public Spaces in America.