Central Park re-opens secret sanctuary after 80 years

Eighty years after it was shut off to the world, New York has reopened a secret woodland sanctuary a stone's throw from Fifth Avenue, just in time for summer.

The 1.6-hectare Hallett Nature Sanctuary is one of three areas of woodland in Central Park, the huge expanse of nature in the Big Apple visited each year by an astonishing 43 million people.

The little sanctuary is hidden away at the southeastern end of the park, just meters from bustling designer boutiques and luxury high-rise apartment blocks. For decades it was fenced off and allowed to overrun.