Happy Halloween!

Did you know that many New York City parks, including Bryant Park, were once used as potter’s fields where the remains of unidentified or poor people were buried?

Click here to read about a recent spooky find in a popular New York City park…if you dare.

Fifth Avenue Foliage

Garden at Fifth Ave & 42nd St from Gothamist.com

BPC Horticulturalist Maureen Hackett’s beautiful display of Hardy Mums appeared on Gothamist yesterday. Featured in a series of photographs of New York City fall foliage, the mums provide a seasonal touch of color in front of the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue between 42nd and 40th Streets.

Although it’s the peak of autumn, the BPC Horticulture team spent this week planting 30,000 tulip bulbs throughout the park  in anticipation of spring. Visitors can look forward to white and purple tulips blooming in the gardens that border the lawn in April 2010.


2009 spring tulip display in Bryant Park

Halloween on 42nd Street

There’s a chill in the air here in Manhattan. The leaves of the London Plane trees are falling and The Pond and The Holiday Shops at Bryant Park are being built (opening November 6^th). If you find yourself looking at the park’s webcam and dreaming of ice skating, don’t forget, there’s Halloween to look forward to first!

Luckily, if you work in the Bryant Park area, Ricky’s has popped up on 5^th Avenue between 42^nd and 43^rd Streets to fulfill your Halloween costume needs.

Ricky’s has a great assortment of full costume packages with the outfit and accessories included. However, if you need the ability to enter and exit your masquerade at a moment’s notice, accessory sets are the way to go.

BPC employee Catherine found bee wings and antennae for $12.99 at Ricky’s, the perfect festive accessories to wear at the office on Friday and easy to take off at a moment’s notice for a business meeting.

If you’re coming to the park on Saturday, don’t forget to wear your costume to the Halloween party at Le Carrousel.

Fountain Facts

Recent visitors to Bryant Park may have noticed workmen in and around one of the park’s most beautiful monuments, the Josephine Shaw Lowell Memorial Fountain.



The fountain, located on the 6th Avenue side of the park, near the 41st Street entrance, is currently being cleaned and  weather-proofed under the supervision of Bryant Park Corporation’s Capital Projects team. The work should be completed by November 6.

Designed by Charles A. Platt, the fountain is said to be New York City’s first public memorial dedicated to a woman. It was named for Josephine Shaw Lowell (1843 - 1905), a 19th century American social reform leader and philanthropist.


Photograph of the fountain’s dedication ceremony from nycgovparks.org

Another lesser-known fact about the Lowell Fountain is that it was once located on the East side of Bryant Park behind the New York Public Library, as per the original design by architect Thomas Hastings.


Bryant Park, 1920s

The park was redesigned in 1934, based on a plan by architect Lusby Simpson, and implemented by the parks commissioner at the time, Robert Moses. Simpson relocated the fountain from east to west, creating a grander entrance off 6th Avenue to what we now refer to as the “Fountain Terrace”.


Bryant Park, 1934

You can learn more about the history and monuments of the park at bryantpark.org.

This Week in the Park

Le Carrousel in Bryant Park is the place to be on Halloween. Get spooked at a special party for kids and parents, featuring scary stories, games, cool crafts, and eerie illusions performed by our favorite magician, Arnie Kolodner.

Tricks and Treats at Le Carrousel in Bryant Park
Saturday, October 31
2:00pm – 3:00pm
Le Carrousel, 40th St. side of the park
Halloween party will be cancelled in case of rain.

Daily Hours at Le Carrousel
October, 11:00am – 8:00pm
November 1 – January 24, 2010, 11:00am – 9:00pm

Special Holiday Hours at Le Carrousel
Thanksgiving, 8:00am – 10:00pm
Christmas Eve & Christmas Day, 10:00pm – 6:00pm
December 26 – December 30, 10:00am – 10:00pm
New Year’s Eve & New Year’s Day, 10:00am – 6:00pm


Visit bryantpark.org for a full calendar of events in Bryant Park. 

Sign up here to have weekly events listings sent straight to your inbox.

We're Here to Help

Questions, comments, complaints, or compliments, call our office at 212-719-4242 and let us know what’s on your mind. The phones are attended during our business hours from 9am to 5:30pm.

We also act as a lost and found. If you think you left something in Bryant Park, one of our 24 hour security officers may have picked it up. Give us a call and we’ll see if we can find it for you. Having trouble connecting to our WiFi while you’re in the park? Dial the number and we’ll do our best to help you get connected.

If the phone’s not your thing you can contact us in other ways including email, Facebook, Twitter, and right here on the blog.

Did You Know?

Bryant Park now has a channel on YouTube! Visit our page at youtube.com/user/bryantparknyc.

If you’ve made any great videos of Bryant Park, let us know and we’ll add them to our list of favorites.

Out with the Grass, In with the Ice

The Bryant Park lawn was open to the public for a record-breaking 130 days this year, since opening day on April 24. The total number of open days for the lawn in 2008 was 114, preceded by 113 in 2007, and 103 in 2006.

Highlights on the grass this season included:


Cartwheels on the lawn from BP Blog on Vimeo.

Cartwheels to celebrate opening day in April.


Ducks enjoying damp weather in May.


Hundreds of yogis practicing together in June.


Tennis champions showing off their skills in August.

Construction on The Pond and The Holiday Shops at Bryant Park begins tomorrow, ending the 2009 season for the lawn. However, on November 6, you can look forward to this:

This Week in the Park

It’s chilly outside, but there are free activities in Bryant Park to help warm you up on those cold, fall days.

Learn to play Pétanque, the French game of boules requiring precision, patience, and camaraderie, from members of La Boule New Yorkaise, NYC’s championship winning pétanque club. Meet up with a friend, or make new friends, over a game of ping pong at one of two state-of-the-art tables in the park.

All ping pong and pétanque equipment is provided free of charge by activity attendants during operating hours (listed below). Outside of operating hours, you are welcome use the activity spaces with your own boules, or paddles and balls.

Bryant Park Ping Pong
Weekdays
10:00am – 6:00pm
Ping Pong Area at 42nd St. & 6th Ave.

Bryant Park Pétanque
Weekdays
11:30am – 6:00pm
Petanque Court at 42nd St. & 6th Ave.

All hours are weather permitting.

Calling All Couples

Bryant Park is known for being one of New York City’s romantic landmarks. At Bryant Park Corporation, we constantly hear from, and about, park users who met their future spouse, proposed, or even tied the knot beneath the London Plane Trees.

In honor of all the couples who found their significant other or consummated their vows in Bryant Park, we are planning a special celebration within the coming months. But first, we’d like to add to our guest list.

If you know anyone who met their significant other, became engaged, or married in Bryant Park, we want to hear from you! Please contact Susie Sigel at ssigel@urbanmgt.com or (917) 438-5151 to share your stories.

Save the Date: The Pond & The Holiday Shops at Bryant Park

If the chill in the air gives you that itch to go ice skating, you’re in luck. The Pond at Bryant Park will return to the heart of Midtown Manhattan on Friday, November 6, for another season of free admission ice skating, made possible by Citi.

The Holiday Shops at Bryant Park, our European-style market featuring over 100 new and returning artisans, specialty boutiques, and food vendors, will also open on November 6. Work on both wintertime amenities will begin on Tuesday, October 20 in the park.

Ping Pong Area Improvements

Due to the overwhelming popularity of Bryant Park Ping Pong, one of our newest amenities, the ping pong area at the Northwest corner of the park is currently being resurfaced.

So many people took advantage of playing at the state-of-the-art ping pong tables over the summer, that the gravel under their feet began to wear away. To improve the quality of the players experience, Craig and the Capital Projects team are replacing the gravel with a harder surface. Granite slabs (left over from the New York Public Library Terrace restoration project) will be set in the ground at either end of each table, to give players a more stable surface to move on.

The ping pong area should re-open on Monday for public use.

Dance, Strings, and Jazz Wrap Up Fall Festival

Before hitting the road for their US tour, the talented members of Ailey II performed on the Bryant Park Fall Festival stage on Tuesday night for an audience of over 2,000 people.

The dancers filled the park with energy and enthusiasm, earning themselves a standing ovation at the end of the program. Helping to run the show from backstage were Ailey II’s lighting designers, costume designers, and stage managers, who also deserve praise for the phenomenal performance.

Bargemusic returned to the park last night for an encore performance after the organization’s September 29 concert during the first week of Fall Festival. The Bargemusic Chamber Ensemble, featuring the delightful and talented artistic director and violinist, Mark Peskanov, performed crowd-pleasing music by Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, Del Tredici, and Schoenfield.

There are only two chances left to experience Bryant Park Fall Festival presented by Bank of America. Tonight at 6pm, catch the Brooklyn Philharmonic, lead by Music Director, Michael Christie. On Friday, the Chris Byars Quartet and the Dan Nimmer Trio from Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) will round out our 2009 season.

Want to win tickets to JALC’s Soul Jazz of the 60’s concert on Thursday, October 22, at Rose Theater? We’ve got three pairs to give away and we’re doing it in three different places. Visit the Bryant Park Fall Festival Facebook Page, @BryantParkNYC on Twitter, or the info kiosk on the park’s Upper Terrace from 6pm to 7:30pm during Friday’s JALC Fall Festival concert, to find out how you can win.  

Dance Hits the Fall Festival Stage

  

Last night The Joyce Theater presented six companies from its upcoming season, in the first dance performance of Bryant Park Fall Festival presented by Bank of America. Ballet Hispanico, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, Complexions, Keigwin + Company, Parsons Dance, and Rioult were the troupes that lit up the stage before one of the largest crowds we’ve had at Fall Festival yet!

There’s more dance to look forward to tonight at 6pm in the park. Talented young dancers from Ailey II, the second company of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, will perform Ailey Highlights (choreographed by Alvin Ailey), Splendid Isolation solo (choreographed by Jessica Lang), Hope (The Final Rise) (choreographed by Troy Powell), and When Dawn Come (choreographed by Christopher L. Huggins). Public seating opens on the Upper Terrace at 5pm and there’s room for thousands more on the lawn.


Visit bryantparkfallfestival.org for more information about the performances happening every night this week in the park. Check out special Fall Festival offers and prize giveaways from some of our participating performing arts organizations here.

Fall Festival Week 2: Chances to Win

Check out these special offers and prize giveaways from Bargemusic and the Brooklyn Philharmonic, two of the performing arts groups participating in the final week of Bryant Park Fall Festival presented by Bank of America. Catch the performances from 6pm to 7:30pm in the park.

Bargemusic: Wednesday, October 7

• 
  Raffle in the park. Win one unlimited one-year pass to all Bargemusic concerts for $2 entry, or win two one-year unlimited passes to all Bargemusic concerts for $4 entry. Raffle will take place at the Fall Festival info kiosk in the park, during the performance.
• 
  Facebook Fan Page giveaway. Post “I’m coming to see Bargemusic at Bryant Park Fall Festival” on the Bryant Park Fall Festival Fan Page wall, and enter to win a Bargemusic tote full of swag. Contest ends at noon on Wednesday (10/7), and the winner will be announced on Facebook.
• 
  Special ticket offer in the park. Bargemusic will take $5 off all boarding passes purchased at the info kiosk in the park during the Fall Festival performance (not valid for Christmas Day or New Year’s Eve concerts).
  

Did you know? The barge is available for weddings, special events, and private party rentals. Visit bargemusic.org for more information.


Brooklyn Philharmonic: Thursday, October 8

• 
  VIP contest giveaway. Fall Festival media sponsor, WNET Thirteen, is giving one winner a VIP package for four to the Brooklyn Philharmonic’s Bryant Park Fall Festival performance on Thursday (10/8), plus Brooklyn Philharmonic concert tickets and gifts. Click here for all the details and to enter. Contest ends at 3pm on Wednesday (10/7).
• 
  Ticket offer in the park. Purchase tickets to the Brooklyn Philharmonic’s Music Off The Walls festival at the Brooklyn Museum, available at the info kiosk in the park during the Fall Festival performance. Tickets are $15, or $40 for all four concerts in the festival.

Did you know? The Brooklyn Philharmonic’s appearance at Fall Festival is its first performance of the season. Visit brooklynphilharmonic.org for a calendar of upcoming Brooklyn Phil concerts.

This Week in the Park

Week two of Bryant Park Fall Festival presented by Bank of America gives you five more chances to preview the upcoming seasons of some of New York’s most celebrated performing arts institutions, right here in the park.

Dance, classical music, and jazz are all performed on a stage located on the park’s Upper Terrace. Hundreds of chairs are available to the public on the Upper Terrace, beginning at 5pm. Tables, chairs, and blankets are also welcome on the lawn.

Bryant Park Fall Festival
Monday – Friday
October 5 – October 9
6:00pm – 7:30pm

Monday, October 5: The Joyce Theater
Tuesday, October 6: Ailey II
Wednesday, October 7: Bargemusic
Thursday, October 8: Brooklyn Philharmonic
Friday, October 9: Jazz at Lincoln Center


Visit bryantpark.org for a full calendar of events in Bryant Park.

Subscribe here and get weekly events listings delivered straight to your inbox.

Bird's Eye View

Hop over to the Bryant Park webcam and watch the crowds form for Fall Festival at 6pm tonight and every day next week.

Will Re-Tweet for Swag

Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble ACJW hits Fall Festival tomorrow evening, so we’re giving away a tote full of Carnegie Hall swag on Twitter.

Re-tweet any @BryantParkNYC message on Twitter before 5pm tomorrow (Friday, October 2) and you’ll be entered to win.

The lucky winner will be announced on Twitter around 5pm and he or she can pick up the prize at the Fall Festival info kiosk on Bryant Park’s Upper Terrace, during the Carnegie Hall concert from 6pm to 7:30pm tomorrow.

The folks from Carnegie Hall will also be at the info kiosk to sell tickets for their upcoming season. Subscription packages will be offered at a special rate for Fall Festival attendees, and the first 10 people to purchase subscriptions will get a free copy of The Soloist on DVD.

Learn more about Bryant Park Fall Festival presented by Bank of America at BryantParkFallFestival.org.

Wednesday at BP Fall Festival: New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players

For I am a Pirate King!
And it is, it is a glorious thing
To be a Pirate King!

There are still 7 chances left to get a free taste of the new NYC cultural season. Tonight, Young Artists from the Metropolitan Opera are featured at the Fall Festival. And tomorrow, members from the Academy at Carnegie Hall will perform works from David Lang, Francis Poulenc, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.