The character of Central Park has changed dramatically over past 50 years. In the 60s and 70s, the city itself was experiencing economic and social changes, and the park decayed along with it. Years of poor management and inadequate maintenance turned this masterpiece of landscape architecture into a deteriorated dustbowl and a danger zone by night. Vandalism was rife. The park turned around in the 1980s, under the leadership of The Central Park Conservancy, a private, non-profit organization that manages the park for the city. The park has been reborn, and is now considered safe. There is a 1:00 am curfew in effect. Yet there are still a few homeless people who sleep below its trees. The park police do their best to discourage them from hanging around, largely for aesthetic reasons, rather than as a matter of safety or crime. When I walked through the interior of the park at 8:00 am in the morning, I saw several homeless men, including this pair, carting their bags of belongings out of the park. Their vividly colored backpacks and carts incongruously contrast to the lush canopy overhead.