Bryant Park

The Daily Plant : Wednesday, October 25, 2000

FOREST PARK CAROUSEL INSPIRES AN EXHIBIT AT THE ARSENAL GALLERY

Amanda (Greenpoint) Tedeschi

As cold weather descends, New Yorkers can be grateful for public spaces that look out on nature and delight the eye, even as they keep us warm. The Arsenal Gallery is such a space, where viewers can transfer the appreciation of color and living things to the enjoyment of a work of art.

A Canadian critic said, "Nature is inside art as its content, not outside as its model.¨ Last night, in the spirit of his words, Parks celebrated an opening in the Arsenal Gallery, a space that extends Parks¡¦ mission to provide abundant access to nature. The featured work is a series of oil paintings by Jonathon Lev, inspired by the renderings he was commissioned to do for the renovation of the carousel in Forest Park. In researching that project, Lev turned to archival photographs of the original carousel and the surrounding neighborhood. The 18 works that project catalyzed will be on display until December 7th.

The carousel where Mr. Lev¡¦s work is showcased was designed in 1918 by premiere carousel architect, Daniel C. Muller. Until it was moved to Queens in 1972, the carousel lived in Lowell, Massachusetts at an amusement park. Today, it amuses New Yorkers as one of the five carousels on Park land. In his artwork, Mr. Lev emulates the style of the paintings on the original carousel which burned down in 1966. His work recalls the vanished carousel while decorating the new one; it blends historical imagery with present day surroundings.

QUEENS RECREATION CENTER DRESSES UP FOR HALLOWEEN

This weekend, Queens recreation staff at the Passerelle Building at Flushing Meadows Corona Park will unleash their Medieval Madness upon the general public. The Passerelle building, which normally houses REACH, a program for the handicapped, and several educational programs remakes itself in the image of the Middle Ages. Queens staff have decorated the center as a haunted medieval castle, where knights clatter ominously in their shining armor. Outside the castle are rides, games, and arts and crafts stations. The staff take advantage of the breadth of parkland to offer trolley rides and hay rides, a pumpkin patch, a costume contest and more.

During the week, the Medieval Madness hosts first through fifth grade schoolchildren. This Friday, programs will be adapted for teens, including participants in Teens At Parks, and on Saturday and Sunday any members of the public who wish to attend may. Thus far, the event has serviced 2000 children. That number is expected to double by Halloween.

Organizers of the event saw opportunity in the crowds at Shea stadium last weekend. They dressed up in costume and distributed promotional flyers among happy fans.

PARKIE TAKES HOME THE HOMERUN BALL

Before the Subway Series began, before New Yorkers loyalties were split down the seam, the Yankees battled the Mariners at Yankee Stadium. Seated behind right field at Game Two, were Hydrologist, Eric (Yossarian) Rothstein and his father, fellow fan. When Derek Jeter's homerun flew into the stands, the ball rolled along the floor, and landed directly in front of Eric, the proud owner of this small piece of history. Reportedly, Eric brought the baseball to work for show-and-tell.

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO IN THE PLANT

MAYOR KOCH BREAKS GROUND FOR $5 RESTORATION OF MANHATTAN'S BRYANT PARK
(Wednesday, October 28, 1987)

In its 300-year history as a public space, Bryant Park has been the site of a Revolutionary battlefield, a pauper¡¦s graveyard, a crystal palace, and this country¡¦s first World¡¦s Fair. But the 9.6-acre park in midtown Manhattan had never seen anything quite like the strange contraption that helped city officials break ground for the park¡¦s $5 million capital restoration on Wednesday.

The Rube Golderg-esque structure was set in motion by a crowd of office workers who pulled ribbons attached to a pole, which released a ball that tumbled a domino-row of books, which overturned a can that poured water on a man who pulled a rope that lifted a box. Out from the box (are you still with us?) came shovel-toting youngsters who tossed ceremonial mounds of dirt into the air, along with Mayor Koch, Commissioner Stern, Bryant Park Restoration Corporation (BPRC) chairman Andrew Heiskell, and New York Public Library president Vartan Gregorian.

QUOTATION FOR THE DAY

Baseball, it is said, is only a game. True. And the Grand Canyon is only a hole in Arizona. Not all holes, or games, are created equal.

George F. Will (b. 1941)