Pedicab Tours

If there is one place in the world that can rightfully claim the title to being the most favorite movie location then it would be Central Park. After all, around 305 movies on various genres have been filmed in this location, making it a must-visit place for locals and tourists alike.

If you are raring to personally experience Central Park and relive the different movies shot there including Romeo and Juliet in 1908, Breakfast at Tiffany’s in 1961 and Kramer vs Kramer in 1971, then better hop in and avail of our one-hour pedicab tours.

Exploring Central Park through the pedicab tours is one of the most practical ways of touring the Park considering that it is more than a square mile area. Despite the wide space it is always possible to bump into one of the 25 million tourists who visit the park every year.

Architects Calvert Vaux and Frederick law Olmstead designed the Park with nature in mind which explains the various lakes, gardens and ponds strategically designed and situated at the heart of Central Park. You will also find a running track encircling a reservoir and a wildlife sanctuary right at the heart of New York. And if you’re lucky, you can catch Shakespeare in the Park during summertime at the Delacorte Theater.

But more than the environment-friendly design of Central Park, visitors always make it a point to explore the Park to experience the movies filmed in various locations inside the Park. Your pedicab driver will help you spot the scenic locations of some of your favorite movies. Be prepared for the adrenaline rush once you see all those locations you’ve just seen on screen but are bow right before your very eyes. You can even take some photos to show the folks back home or to serve as a reminder that for once in your life, you’ve been to these magical places and movie locations.

It is always easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle when you are in the middle of Manhattan but not when you are caught in the fresh air and exciting movie scenes offered by the Central Park pedicab tours. 

One of the three stops in our pedicab tours will take you to Bethesda Fountain, the location of Disney’s whimsical movie “Enchanted”. You will find yourself transported from reality to the animated world of Andalasia and to New York where fairytale princes Amy Adams met her prince charming Patrick Dempsey and where they eventually fall in love and realize that there is a happy-ever-after even in the streets of New York.

Various locations in Central Park have been captured by director Kevin Lima on camera but one of the most magical scenes in Enchanted is the song and dance number along Bethesda Fountain which transformed the Park into a magical place. Don’t forget to capture the image of one of New York’s largest fountains when you pass by the Bethesda Fountain during your pedicab tour. 

The 26-feet-high Fountain ay 72nd Street boasts of a sculpture at the center which was designed and commissioned by Emma Stebbins. This was a commemorative statue for the Croton Aqueduct which supplied fresh water to New York City. The angel sculpture, appropriately called the Angel of Waters, is an eight-foot bronze statue surrounded by four cherubim that represent peace, temperance, purity and health. 

The Bethesda Fountain was also seen in the movie Home Alone 2 where Kevin McCallister, played by Macaulay Culkin, was being pursued by thieves Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci. One of the most memorable scenes in the movie was filmed at the Inscope Arch near the southeast entrance just beneath the Park Drive. This was where the hungry pigeons overwhelmed the thieves, thwarting the attempts of the bad guys to get Kevin.

Inscope Arch, a pink and gray 12-foot granite arch constructed way back in 1875, is one of the secrets held by Central Park.  The underpass, as shown in Home Alone 2, looks dreary because it is not often used but it is a beautiful structure that will give you a temporary respite when you are headed to the Wien Walk and the Central park Zoo. It was also the location of a touching scene between Kevin and the pigeon lady played by Brenda Fricker. 

Another scenic location for Home Alone 2 is the Gapstow Bridge. This was used as background scenery when the pigeon lady and Kevin first met, when Kevin gave her the turtle dove and where they hugged and said goodbye to each other and Kevin told her “I won’t forget you, trust me”. 

The picturesque bridge, which was originally built by architect Jacob Wrey Mould in 1874, was also captured in the movie “The Devil Wears Prada” and used as background for the photo shoot of the movie’s Urban Jungle Runway Magazine.

If you are a follower of the Sex and the City television series then the Gapstow Bridge would be a familiar site as it appeared in Season 6. It was the scene where Carrie Bradshaw, played by Sarah Jessica Parker and her new love interest Aleksandr Petrovsky, sat on a bench and ate chocolates with the Bridge as a background.

Gapstow Bridge was originally made of wood with railings made of cast iron but it was replaced by the more sturdy schist rock. Anyone who sees Gapstow Bridge for the first time could not help but remark that it looks straight out of the movies, but it really is! The Bridge will give you a good vantage point of the Plaza Hotel which has become a familiar site after it has been featured in various movies including the romantic-comedy film Bride Wars starring Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson, the comedy movie Big Business starring Bette Midler and the romantic-comedy Barefoot in the Park starring Robert Redford among others.

Who could forget the romantic movie Love Story? If you’re one of those who cried buckets watching Ali McGraw and Ryan O’Neal’s heartbreaking story, then you would remember the scene where the couple skated at the Trump Wollman Skating Rink, right at Central Park. The Skating Rink was also featured in the romantic movie Serendipity starring John Cussack and Kate Beckinsale.

If you are a fan of John Lennon then you would be glad to know that Central Park’s Strawberry Fields is one of the three stops of the pedicab tours. The 2.5-acre area was constructed as a tribute to the iconic musician who once lived with his wife Yoko Ono in an apartment adjacent to the Park. It was along the Dakota Apartments near the Park where Lennon was shot dead in 1980. The spot which was named after “Strawberry Fields Forever”, a song popularized by the Beatles, was built with the help of Yoko Ono and other donors. Once you get to mosaic with the word Imagine inscribed at the center, then you know you are at the Strawberry Fields.

Before you complete your pedicab tour of Central Park, you will also make a stop at the Cherry Hill along 72nd Street. You will know when you are in the area because of the many cherry blossoms which are usually in full-bloom during springtime. As you take some photographs and rest along the 14-foot Cherry Hill Fountain, you will have time to think of all the amazing movie locations you’ve seen and delight in the pleasure of being one of the lucky few who have finally seen Central park up close and personal.