As they did a year ago, New York’s parks, museums and gardens are opening their doors to families, offering them peaceful retreats in difficult times.
From potting bulbs to making collages, there are many ways this week to soothe the soul.
Tuesday through Saturday, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden is waiving its admission fee to make the gardens accessible to all.
“There’s something reassuring in knowing that bigger things will persist, even if acts destroy what goes on elsewhere,” says Judith Zuk, the garden’s president.
On Sept. 11, the garden closed its gates early. And though Mayor Giuliani had urged all non-essential personnel to stay home the next day, the garden staff, much of it volunteer, showed up anyway, begging to be put to work.
They were.
“We had people waiting outside our gates Sept. 12,” Zuk says, “and we had enough security to let everyone in – everyone who sought the refreshment of the garden.”
Under bright-blue skies and the faintest tinge of smoke, children and their parents came to wander among the stately trees and smell the roses.
Since then, Zuk says, the garden staff has replanted a row of fading trees – known as the Armistice Maples, since they were planted at the end of World War I -with new oaks. Called the Liberty Oaks, they’re a living memorial to the heroes and victims of 9/11. This week, they’ll also be the site of a reflection station, where visitors can record their thoughts. For more information, call (718) 623-7200.
The South Street Seaport Museum has been collecting children’s artwork practically since fireboats and other vessels went to the rescue on 9/11. Those drawings and paintings have since been made into quilts, nine of which will be on display today on Pier 16 from 4 to 6 p.m. There’ll be free refreshments, craftmaking and the chance to step aboard the tall ship Peking, too. For information, call (212) 748-8758.
At the Brooklyn Children’s Museum today and tomorrow from noon to 1:30 p.m., families can visit the herbal garden and make themselves a cup of tea or a fragrant sachet.
There’ll also be an art workshop both days from 1 to 4 p.m., where you can tell a story in poetry or prose, or paint a wish on the museum’s Compassion Mural.
There’ll also be a concert today at 2:30, celebrating “the continuation of life and empowerment of youth.” Throughout the month, there’ll also be a mural on display from the children’s museum in Puerto Rico titled “Because We All Want Peace,” featuring more than 400 self-portraits of children.
More greenhouse visits and workshops are planned Wednesday through Sept. 15, and the museum is also waiving its admission fee all week long. The museum, at 145 Brooklyn Ave., at St. Marks Avenue, will be closed Monday and Tuesday. For information, hours and directions call (781) 735-4400 or visit http://www.brooklynkids.org.
They’ll be painting waterlilies and other aquatic delights today from 1 to 4 p.m. at Wave Hill in The Bronx. While you’re there, check out the Grafter’s Shack, which pays homage to the history of beekeeping – it’s sweet. Wave Hill is at West 249th Street and Independence Avenue; for more information, call (718) 549-3200, or visit http://www.wavehill.org.
Tomorrow at 6 p.m., join the Downtown Family Arts Day Program in Battery Park for the New York Goofs, a group of slapsticky New Age clowns. The free show also features Chinese folk dancers; the acrobatic, all-woman troupe Lava; and a bunch of dancers who combine hip-hop with modern dance.
They’ll all gather at the park’s Great Lawn, State Street at Pearl Street, next to the Staten Island Ferry. For more information, call (212) 219-9401, Ext. 300.
The Children’s Museum of Manhattan is planning no special 9/11 program per se, but Wednesday is the opening day of “Chagall for Children,” a colorful exhibit that explores the work of Mark Chagall, the French-Russian Jewish artist. Kids will be encouraged to make cards, collages and paintings. Admission that day is free.
“Our approach to helping families through the trauma of 9/11 is through the arts,” says Andrew Ackerman, the museum’s executive director. The whimsical nature and fantasy of Chagall’s paintings, he says, is a great starting point for creativity and discussion. The museum is at 212 W. 83rd St. For more information, call (212) 721-1223.
Also on Sept. 11, the New York Botanical Garden in The Bronx is offering a “Celebration of Life.” From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., you can plant bulbs in pots to bring home and make bracelets from flower petals.
Leave your fancy clothes at home so you can help out planting a river of daffodils, from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Check out the Adventure Garden next spring for the colorful results.
There’ll be storytelling at 1 and 2 p.m., from Jonathan Kruk. And kids can drag their parents into the dirt at the Ruth Rea Howell Family Garden for hands-on gardening and take-home nature crafts. For more information, call (718) 817-8663, or visit http://www.nybg.org.
Wednesday night from 7:15 to 9 p.m., a park in each of the five boroughs will hold candlelight vigils followed by live music.Listen for the Orchestra of St. Lukes and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra on the Great Lawn of Central Park; the Brooklyn Philharmonic and Brooklyn Youth Chorus at the Prospect Park Bandshell; the Bronx Arts Ensemble and Highbridge Voices at the Van Cortlandt Park Parade Grounds, and the Queens Symphony Orchestra and Louis Armstrong Legacy Band at the Unisphere Promenade in Flushing Meadows. The Staten Island Symphony, the Curtis HS Jazz Ensemble and the Curtis Guitar Ensemble will perform at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center, South Meadow.
But vigils aren’t for everyone. Some families may well choose to observe this time in their own way, if at all.
“I think what parents want is to balance the solemnity with a feeling of security,” says Susan Ungaro, editor in chief of Family Circle magazine and mother of three.
She herself is planning to take her kids to church that morning, though that’s not for everyone either.
“Maybe make Wednesday a time to do something special,” she suggests, “something you’ve never done before – like having a picnic in the park, even though it’s a school night.
“I think it’s also a time to reflect on what we’re thankful for, instead of what we’re fearful of.”
