Potter's Field to Harry Potter

photo from The Atlantic Cable Company website

I couldn’t stop thinking about the amazing transformation of Bryant Park in Manhattan.  The most incredible part, especially in these days of slashed budgets, is the unique public/private arrangements that works for everyone.  The community is happy, the tourists are happy, the city is happy, the not-paying-for it taxpayers are happy, the Bryant Park Corporation is happy and I am sure the pigeons are very happy.  The park is providing jobs for hundred of people and respite for hundreds more.  I had to go back to find out more about the history and future of this impressive urban experiment.

Lucky for me, the Bryant Park Corporation and the Bryant Park Blog have extensive sections offering the fascinating, checkered history of this 8 acre oasis.  Sixty years before the park memorialized William Cullen Bryant, the long time editor of The New York Evening Post, there was no park, only a remarkably unglamorous potter’s field (humble beginnings for what is now such a fashionable spot).  The burial grounds were decommissioned in 1840 to make way for the Croton Reservoir.  The green space next to the 4 acre lake, was named Reservoir Park.  The reservoir was soon torn down to make way for the “New York Crystal Palace”, a steel and glass structure in the shape of a cross that sported a 100 foot dome.  President Franklin Pierce spoke at the opening of exhibition hall in 1853 which featured steam engines, U.S. minerals and the largest crocodile in captivity!  Neighboring the ‘Palace’ was Latting Hall, an observatory that offered visitors an unobstructed views of Staten Island and New Jersey from its 315 foot tower, at the time it was the tallest structure in the city.  Fire destroyed both structures by the end of the 1850s.

The brief tourism boom at the park came to an abrupt end when the Civil War began and in 1863 troops moved into the park, now a Union Army encampment.  The name Bryant Park was granted in 1885 and plans began for the grand institution that is now the park’s raison d’etre...The New York Public Library.
When the library was completed in 1911, it included a raised rear terrace that was used as an outdoor reading space in the 1930s and staffed by librarians from the WPA.  The Great Depression also prompted the creation of the ‘Open Air Library’’, now the Bryant Park Reading Room (see Pleasures in the Park entry).
The 20s were literally roaring at the north end of the park with the construction of a subway tunnel along 42nd street, which kept the space closed for a decade.  Finally,  the park held a contest (a contest always seems to stimulate enthusiasm when things seem bleak) to redesign the park and Lusby Simpson, an architect from Queens, submitted the winning plan.  The redesigned, replanted and refreshed Bryant Park was opened to the public in 1934.  The most striking difference between the park then and now is the trees.  Originally the space was wide open, featuring lawns, plazas and puny little trees.  Eighty years of growth makes a big difference.  Now the open spaces are complimented by shady, protected areas throughout the space - something for everyone.

The final chapter in the history of the park is the great decline of the space in the the 1970s and 80s.  Neglected and ignored, the park became a haven for druggies and criminals.  Glenwood Managment Company called it a “disaster: dirty, drug-addled, dangerous” - pretty much the exact opposite of the jewel that New Yorkers and tourists now enjoy and treasure as an important New York landmark.
Check out the photo gallery for pictures of the Park throughout its journey and many transformations.

Pleasures in the Park

I’ve learned a few things since moving to Buffalo.  The most important one is that if you can’t see the road, you shouldn’t be driving on it, wherever you’re going will still be there tomorrow, along with the road.  The other thing is to appreciate Spring, when and if it comes.  After months of bitter cold, black morning and ubiquitous snow, Spring seems like a miracle.  It is unlike your birthday or Christmas because you never know when it will arrive - technically this is the 3rd week of Spring but yesterday I drove home in hail and snow.  BUT when the birds start singing and the sun turns its face towards us,  it is an unparalleled pleasure.  The warm air and shining sun draw people out of their caves like a magnet to thaw their frozen souls.

As a Buffalo Bibliophile, I long for the days when it is warm enough to sit outside and read, a simple, delightful pleasure.  In between chapters, or while I’m mulling over some great thought, I watch the cats loll in the sun, the squirrels race up the trees and the birds flit through the trees.  But imagine spending the day in Manhattan at Bryant Park.  Forget squirrels and birds (although there are plenty of them to see), this park is packed with old fashioned fun and spectacular people watching.  I arrived at Bryant Park through the side door when I stepped off 40th Street into the “Reading Room”, which is exactly what it sounds like, a tree lined outdoor space decorated with tables and chairs, complete with library carts and stands that offer books, newspaper and magazine for everyone to enjoy.  HSBC announces their sponsorship on red umbrellas that protect the tables and volunteers supervise the book carts.  It is a peaceful, no smoking, yes thinking zone right in the middle of the city.

The reading room has a long, proud tradition at the park.  The New York Public Library opened the space, then called ‘The Open Air Library’,  in 1935 during the Depression.  The city desperately needed a place for unemployed people to go during the day that required no money and offered some hope.  The Open Air Library didn’t ask for a valid address, a library card or id - but it offered a safe haven for thousands who longed for a way to stay productive with no job prospects in sight.  In the 30s the library had books from Central Library, donated magazines and newspapers, a few book cases and a beach umbrella for the five librarian’s who kept things running smoothly.  When it rained all the materials were stowed away in a waterproof chest and everyone took cover.  The space was opened everyday, expect Sunday, from morning to mid-evening.  When the war started in 1944 the reading room was closed and the readers got back to work.

The reading room was re-opened in 2003 as a Bryant Park Restoration Corporation Project.  The executive director, Dan Beiderman, notes, “in a bad time, it's nice to have a good book, and a nice place to read it.”  The private, not-for-profit corporation took control of  Park, which is located behind NYPL, after signing a 15 year contract in 1988.   It took four years for BPC to restore the neglected space and create the present oasis.  According to the BPC website, it is the largest public/private partnership project in the nation and NO TAX money is used to support the space which is an urban playground with everything from soup to nuts... restaurants, educational events & speakers, chess, backgammon, yoga, ping pong, petanque, fountains, an ice rink, holiday shopping, monuments, a carousel and WI-FI...and, of course, you didn’t forget the Reading Room or the NYPL.   I think I’ve found a new definition of heaven on earth.   

How’d you like a private tour with Matthew Broderick (I highly recommend it), he’ll even stop in the Reading Room and read John Reed’s poem, “America in 1918”, to you, at least he did for me.  He offers a fascinating narrative, full of tidbits as he makes his way around the park.  Prefer to wander on your own?  Click on the interactive map to get a sense for what the park has to offer.
Check out their mission statement...how can they go wrong?  It’s a win-win-win situation.

“to create a rich and dynamic visual, cultural and intellectual outdoor experience for New Yorkers and visitors alike; to enhance the real estate values of its neighbors by continuously improving the park; to burnish the park's status as a prime NYC tourist destination by presenting a meticulously maintained venue for free entertainment events; and to help prevent crime and disorder in the park by attracting thousands of patrons, at all hours, thus fostering a safe environment.”

Has anyone told Buffalo about this?