Tag: poets house

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Night at the Museums

Photo courtesy of Liana Sonenclar

The annual “Night at the Museums” event was a smashing success. A total of 14 museums plus the Wall Street Walks team, opened their venues to residents and visitors last week. Downtown museums were free to the public as part of the River to River Festival.

The most popular destination was the 9/11 Memorial Museum; hundreds of people lined up early for a chance to have free admission to the 9/11 Memorial Museum and reflect on the significance and tragedies of the day. The 9/11 Tribute Center also had special programming, hosting a one-hour walking tour of the 9/11 Memorial led by FDNY, NYPD, survivors and 9/11 Family Members.

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Other area museums had special programming for the night, such as the Fraunces Tavern® (located at the site George Washington was sworn in as president) which featured a special colonial dancing and music demonstration. The Poet’s House had a poetry scavenger hunt. The NYC Municipal Archives Visitors Center featured a special one-night exhibit where visitors were able to view blueprints and abandoned plans for a scrapped Downtown Civic Center in Lower Manhattan project.

All museum attractions captivated guest such as the solid gold Monopoly set at the Museum of American Finance and a piece of George Washington’s hair at Fraunces Tavern®. Guests young and old enjoyed the experience.

 

-by Alyssa Bajek

 

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Culture Entertainment Events News

Bill Murray Leads 20th Anniversary Poets House Bridge Walk

Photo courtesy of Bill Murray.

 

Photo courtesy of Bill Murray.
Photo courtesy of Laura Seaman.

Actor Bill Murray led a group of poets and poetry enthusiasts across the Brooklyn Bridge for the 20th Annual Poets House Bridge Walk.

The Poets House Bridge Walk is a tradition which consists of reading New York-inspired poetry across scenic locations on the Brooklyn Bridge, and stopping for wining and dining on the other side. It is a yearly fundraiser for the free Poets House cultural activities which take place throughout the year. The tradition dates back to the Poets House founder poets, Stanley Kunitz and Elizabeth Kray. Kray had a knack for putting on poetry walks and put one particular walk together to celebrate the Brooklyn Bridge. The modern walk is now done in her honor.

Each poem read was both New York centric and celebrated the city.

Bridge Walk
The beginnings of the walk. Photo courtesy of Laura Seaman

“This is one of those great events that attracts people who are not even necessarily into poetry. Because we read poems about the city in the places they are about,” said Poets House executive director, Lee Briccetti.

The Poet’s House champions the importance of the arts and art programs in everyday life.

“The arts are not a luxury,” said Briccetti. “The arts give us a way to find each other. To develop empathy for each other. To feel our own sense of connection to the whole universe. And to me that’s part of social justice”.

The walk began on the Manhattan side of the bridge near where Bill Murray first filmed Ghost Busters, which he admitted he still watches “two times a week.” Following a speech by downtown Councilwoman, Margaret Chin, the walk began with poems by children from PS 1. The kids’ poems ranged from topics including PS 1 being haunted because they only use five of six floors, a reflection on various locations in New York, and a dialogue between the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges.

“Manhattan Bridge. Your blue is ugly,” said one young poet in-character as the Brooklyn bridge.

Other notable poets in attendance included Inaugural Poet Richard Blanco, Brooklyn Poet Laureate, Tina Chang, Strousse Award winner, Cornelius Eady, and other noted poets.

“Well I don’t want to sound too much like a poet, but I find that this particular event is really…it touches people,” said Murray. “Just marching across the bridge, and hearing these poems, if you just went so far as hearing them on the other side it would change you. Change your day, change your week. No, it would change all of you. It has an effect. They’re powerful words. They’re written by professionals, they’re designed to touch you.”

by Alyssa Bajek

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Lifestyle Living

The Top Five Reasons It’s Great To Be A Downtown Parent

little apple

Downtown’s new Lifestyle and Family editor, Denise Courter, outlines the advantages of bringing up little ones in lower Manhattan.

By Denise Courter

Raising kids in New York is exciting and fun, but it also comes with unique challenges, square footage being the most obvious. As a FiDi parent with two toddlers, I am constantly on the hunt for new and exciting activities in FiDi and all of Lower Manhattan. The number one question I get from friends and family is “Why do we raise kids in NYC?” My response has always been “Why not?” I created the FiDi Families website to encourage parents to explore the great neighborhoods that encompass Lower Manhattan. My goal is to keep the families of these great neighborhoods up to date on fun events, new classes, great restaurants, new schools and day- care options, kid stores, etc. Downtown neighborhoods are fabulous, filled with facilities for the whole family, and are easily accessible by foot, stroller, scooter and the subway.

HERE ARE MY FIVE REASONS TO BE A DOWNTOWN PARENT :

1 Convenience!
Groceries, diapers, baby clothes, paper goods, prescriptions, wine, meals can all be delivered, 24/7. If parents are juggling kids, work, schedules and socializing, these conveniences are amazing. Pharmacy delivery can be found in Lower Manhattan, which is great when parents have sick kids and it’s impossible to set foot outside because you have a sick kid and they need TLC. Check out the Downtown Pharmacy or Kings Pharmacy. Some of our favorite online sites include Diapers.com, Soap.com and FreshDirect.com. And don’t forget to order your wine online. There are several retail stores that will deliver for free (just ask). But, if you are juggling kids, schedules and work, ordering online may be the best way to go. Check out one of our favorites, Vintry Wines, which also has a retail location at 230 Murray Street. Shhhhh… wine tastings, too.

2 Parks, Playgrounds and More!

NYC has more than 1,700 parks, playgrounds and recreation facilities across the five boroughs. This type of access means that Downtown kids can grow up with green grass, and parents don’t have to mow the lawn; it’s a win-win! Some of our Downtown favorites include the Imagination Playground, Thames Street Park, Nelson E. Rockefeller Park and Pier 25. Some of our Downtown favorite museums include the Children’s Museum of Art, National Museum of the American Indian and Poets House.

If you would like to know the five reasons it’s great to be a downtown parent, you can read them in DOWNTOWN’s Spring 2014 issue on newsstands now!