The first time that I visited New York, I flew in from Melbourne for a sales conference, stayed at the Gramercy Park Hotel (sadly before its multi-million dollar facelift) and spent the weekend clubbing with my friend Neil. Today, my day in the Big Apple was spent trying to get Alex to notice the dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum (he was more interested in his own feet), feeding the young man in Central Park and checking out a large number of family restrooms. Having a youngster in tow certainly makes one view New York differently and I must admit that by mid-afternoon I was wondering why people insist that New York is such a good city for children. Yes, there are some wonderful places to visit with kids - the Children's Museum, the zoo, the aquarium, Central Park - but I was not sure that these sights were really spectacular enough to merit the effort needed to drag the stroller up several flights of stairs every time one wished to use the subway. Only one of the stations we used today was stroller/wheelchair accessible - and that involved me having to use three different elevators (all of which stank of stale urine) to exit to street level.
And then we visited the New York Public Library. The NYPL comprises 4 research centers and 85 branch libraries and owns more materials than any other American public library - an estimated 52 million items. The NYPL main building on 5th Avenue was constructed in 1911 and is an iconic NY landmark, having featured as a backdrop for dozens of films - from The Wizard of Oz to Sex in the City. The Rose Main Reading Room, with its gilded and frescoed ceiling, huge vaulted windows, dazzling chandeliers and enormous wooden tables, has hosted hundreds of famous authors and scholars, as well as millions of ordinary Americans in search of respite from the hustle and bustle of the Manhattan streets. The library houses a large collection of historical and literary treasures: a Gutenberg Bible; Thomas Jefferson's manuscript copy of the Declaration of Independence; a letter from Benjamin Franklin to George Washington; the Bay Psalm Book (dating from 1640 and the first book ever to have been printed in the USA) and the most valuable baseball card in the world.
Still rather over-excited from my recent visit to the Library of Congress, I was keen to see as many of these gems as possible. In actual fact, we made it only as far as the children's library (partly because it was the section of the library most accessible with a stroller). And it was wonderful. After all, Gutenberg Bibles are two a penny but the Children's Library is home to Christopher Robin's ORIGINAL stuffed animal toys. Alex and I met Pooh, Piglet, Tigger, Kanga and Eeyore, who were sitting in a little glass case in the middle of the library, just waiting for us to visit. Here was the very teddy bear that Christopher Robin received for his first birthday in 1921 and which proved the inspiration for his father to create the world-famous Pooh. Alex didn't pay much attention to the treasured toys, preferring to crawl round and round the case at high speed, but I thought the little menagerie was just wonderful. And cutest of all was the tiny Piglet.
As if this wasn't excitement enough, we were then told that a free pre-school Story Time was just beginning. Story Time sessions in public libraries in DC are packed with hundreds of hyperactive children, which means it is generally impossible to either hear the story or see the book. After a particularly chaotic session last week at the newly-opened Georgetown Library (which is wonderful in every other way and indeed is where I am sitting writing right now), I vowed never to attempt to attend one again. I assumed that Story Time in central Manhattan would be considerably worse. But instead, we entered the beautifully decorated room to see a small group of a dozen or so children sitting quietly on little mats, singing along obediently to 'Where is Thumbkin?'. Alex sat mesmerised by the librarian as she led the children in several more songs and a couple of stories. Twenty minutes of wriggle-free silence; now that alone makes it worth considering a permanent move to New York.
Comments