The Concert in Central Park show named the musicians individually and did not bill them as "Simon & Garfunkel"; that the two singers would perform together on stage in a reunion was not officially announced until only a week before the concert when it was published in New York newspapers. The two stated in interviews that further collaboration was not planned. The concert took place on Saturday, September 19, 1981, on the Great Lawn, the central open space of Central Park. The first spectators, many carrying chairs or picnic blankets, arrived at daybreak to secure a good spot. The Parks Department originally expected about 300,000
The Concert for New York City was nominated for an EMMY for best music/comedy special (Greg Sills, Fred Graver and Paul Flattery) and for best production design (by SNL vet Keith Raywood). A one-hour highlight show was broadcast on CBS the following month. An album and DVD of the event was released in January 2002. An encore of the entire concert ran on September 11, 2011 to commemorate the 10th anniversary, commercial free and unedited, from 4 to 10pm. A double CD of the event was released by Sony on November 27, 2001, containing 32 tracks. The concert was released by Sony both on DVD and