The New York Public Library
FRIDAY, JUNE 19TH 2009
AREA MAP

The New York Public Library sits majestically at the corner of 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue. Honestly, I did not know that this was going to be on my Fifth Avenue walk, which only reinforces the importance of my "walk every street" mission. I forgot to take exterior photographs (duh). The interior shots were difficult to manage in low light, but I did my best and had to forgo any detail shots.

The NYPL had its official dedication ceremony in 1911 - sixteen years after the first document was signed in agreement to build the library by its founders. It was not the first library in NYC, but the two branches before it were struggling with funding and did not offer a circulating collection of books. The library as it stands today was devised as the first public library for both research and circulation.

The total cost to build was approximately $9 million at the time. Between 30,000 and 50,000 visitors streamed through the building the first day it was open. Today, The NYPL is visited and used annually by more than 15 million people. There are 1.86 million cardholders. The branch system has grown to include 87 libraries, with collections totaling 6.6 million items!

This particular location and collection is still publicly accessible, but for research purposes only and offers no circulating books. It has reading rooms, exhibition spaces, a library shop and guided tours [floorplan]. I walked through two exhibits: Between Collaboration and Resistance: French Literary Life Under Nazi Occupation and 1969: The Year of Gay Liberation. I was allowed to take photographs in the latter. An excerpt from the exhibit:

"The year 1969 was a flashpoint in the history of LGBT civil rights struggles, marking a paradigmatic shift in the ways that gays and lesbians saw themselves and fought for their full inclusion within American society. In the wake of the Stonewall Riots on June 28 of that year, gays and lesbians in New York City radicalized in an unprecedented way, founding activist groups—Gay Liberation Front, the Radicalesbians, Gay Activists Alliance, and Street Transvestites Action Revolutionaries—that created a new vision: Gay Liberation."

Terrarium Class With Tovah Martin
SATURDAY, JUNE 13TH 2009
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About a week before we moved to NYC I became infatuated with terrariums. The book release of The New Terrarium really set this mini obsession in motion, and I was delighted when I learned that the author, Tovah Martin, would be hosting a terrarium class at The Horticultural Society of New York only one week after our arrival.

The tuition for the class - $80 - was not steep by NYC standards, but was significant investment on our part. Justin was kind enough to pay it for me as a "welcome to NYC" gift. AW. It was a three hour long class and worth every dollar. There were nine students total, which allowed personal attention for every person and her questions.

I arrived late. Google Maps quite inconveniently located the HSNY about six city blocks away from the actual building, and I frantically called Justin when I realized that the sketchy area I was in most certainly did not look like the HSNY. He navigated me to the correct intersection and I ran through a light rain looking somewhat foolish. Luckily, all the plants they selected for the class were beautiful and healthy, so my lack of choice as the last student did not discourage me.

We sat through an hour and a half long lecture, a thirty minute demonstration and then set to work on our own terrariums. Aside from the supplied plants, soil, charcoal and rocks, we were also given a selection of random items to add to our terrariums as decoration - twigs, pine cones, feathers, acorns and in my case an animal bone. Students in the class were cheerful and it was nice to chat with strangers about a common interest. I took photographs of the other terrariums, but unfortunately it was difficult to capture the little environments behind reflective glass.

UPDATE

Alas, my terrarium has since died. I think the cute random items, along with too much moisture, did it in. After a week, white fuzzy mold appeared first among the "dead" items - pine cones and twigs - and then began attacking the plants. I removed the aggressive mold, threw away the extra objects, trimmed the dead sections of the plants and even washed their leaves, but it was too little, too late. Sadly, a lesson learned.