You guys, did you know that you can sleep in the City's parks and not get arrested or mugged or mangled or anything!? Really! Every year, as part of the Parks & Recreation Department's Urban Park Rangers program, families are offered the chance to camp out under stars in eight parks, including Fort Greene, Marine, Pelham Bay, and the big daddy of them all, Central. But, in true New York fashion, it won't be easy.
For starters, you can't just pitch a tent any old night you please—there are rules, people (this isn't the age of Hoovervilles), and the overnight camping is only permitted on select nights. What's more, you have to first win a lottery spot to be allowed, and competition for that thing is fierce, with only about 30 entries from a pool of 400 being selected. Oh, and if you don't have kids, you're SOL, unless you can borrow one from an unsuspecting neighbor—this is a family program.
Should you meet all of the above qualifications and still be interested in sleeping under the smoggy skies, online registration for most of the parks starts up next week, beginning at midnight. Check the Urban Rangers website for details on exactly when to start crossing those fingers. Or, you could always join the mysterious group who listed Central Park as their home on last year's census.
