When the park was built, Center Drive was a carriage path that
run up the center of the park to the 72nd Street cross drive.
However, at some point the portion of the drive that runs parallel
to The Mall was closed off and is now used
exclusively for recreational purposes. All that is left of Center
Drive is the bottom part of the loop around the park connecting
West Drive and East Drive.
In the winter of 2007, on my way to work I came across artificial
snow machines on the Center Drive, perhaps for a film or some special event.