Strawberry Fields (Forever)

Another highlight of the Central Park visit was the time spent in the area on the West side known as Strawberry Fields.  It, of course, takes its name from the Beatles song, because immediately adjacent is the Dakota Apartment Building, where John Lennon was shot dead by Mark Chapman in 1980.  It's still a very exclusive piece of real estate (apparently Yoko Ono still owns apartments there), so you can't go inside.  But you can get good photos of the gates on the south side, and almost see through to the steps where John Lennon breathed his last.

Across the road, the Park has been set up in tribute to John Lennon (I believe partly funded by Yoko Ono). This is a popular photo op (sadly also popular with tuneless, unwashed buskers hoping to earn a quick buck for their rendition of 'Let It Be').

And a bit further around is this little plaque, listing all the countries that should be living in peace.  Note that it was placed in 1985, before the USSR broke up, so there's a number of newer countries that aren't listed.  If East Timor ever starts a world war, it's obviously because they weren't listening to enough John Lennon to earn a mention here :p