And he’d better — as Central Park’s supervising ranger, Rozman is one of only two urban park rangers in New York City’s largest and greenest public space.

“These trees are American elms,” he said, gesturing to a group of trees near the terrace in the middle of the park. “Collectively, this is the largest remaining stand of these trees in the country. Most succumbed to Dutch elm disease in the 1960s.”

But for all his encyclopedic knowledge of the park, Rozman, 29, doesn’t know why there are so few rangers. There are lots of park enforcement and patrol rangers, who are responsible for things like litter and dog-walking rules. Rozman’s role, however, is more akin to that of a tour guide and a teacher.

most of all is working outside in what he believes is the most magnificent park in the world.

“Central Park has a very unique history,” he said while sitting in his Belvedere Castle office. “Where other parks might be these meadows, and someone put a wall around them and said ‘park.’ Central Park was literally built from the ground up.”

Rozman emigrated from the Ukraine at the age of one and grew up in Queens. As a New Yorker, he sees the park’s construction more than 150 years ago as the city’s saving grace.

“We’d go crazy without it,” he said. “As much as we try to remove ourselves – New Yorkers in particular – we are just as much a part of nature as any plant or animal. Central Park provides the sanity.”

He’s like a proud father of seven wonderful children, and cannot say what he likes best about Central Park. He gushes over nearly everything he sees.

“Isn’t it darling?” He said of Wagner Cove, a lush, little hideaway overlooking the water. “It’s picture perfect, like a postcard.”

Rozman’s job gives him a chance to hobnob with the rich and famous New Yorkers who pass through the park. He has appeared at fund-raisers with celebrities such as Candice Bergman and Mary Tyler Moore, and he once told David Hasselhoff to put his dog on a leash.

As a ranger, Rozman has learned to expect the unexpected. He judged the weight of a cake vying for the top spot in the Guinness Book of World Records and after Sept. 11 he conducted pet rescues in the area around Ground Zero.