Interesting articles
NÄE NEW YORKISSA JOTAIN UUTTA!
TENEMET MUSEUM
The Polish immigrant tailor lived with his wife and three young children
in three tiny rooms at 97 Orchard Street in New York City in the late
1890s -- then one of the most densely populated places on earth.
While Levine and three other helpers put dresses together (earning just
75 cents per dress), Mrs. Levine managed the household in the same
325-square-foot space -- boiling diapers, hauling laundry down several
flights to hang outside, amusing the children and cooking. "It was
amazing how they could all fit in such a small space," said 14-year-old
Lee Gilbert, visiting with his family from Miami, Florida.
The chance to travel back to those days, visiting the Levine's apartment
and several others, is yours for the asking at the Tenement Museum
<http://www.tenement.org/> , which recreates the life of New York City
immigrants between 1863 and 1935 when 97 Orchard Street was home to
some 7,000 people from more than 20 nations.
"I'm so glad we visited," said Carolyn Gilbert Epstein, visiting New
York from Miami with her mom and three children. "It is so authentic and
personal and it is about families and we can all relate to it."
Today, the Tenement Museum is the only museum in the country to
commemorate the history of urban immigrants -- a tradition that, of
course, continues to this day. The museum is a National Historic
Landmark and a National Trust Historic Site.
We visit the Rogarshevsky's home where four brothers slept on a narrow
couch in the front room, their feet on chairs, while their two sisters
shared a folding cot. After her husband died of tuberculosis, Fannie
Rogarshevsky traded janitorial services for free rent and was the last
tenant to leave in 1935. (Little girls visiting might like the new books
about Rebecca Rubin, which detail a young Jewish girl's 1914 immigrant
experience. There is an American Girl Rebecca doll, as well.
ELLIS ISLAND
On July 4 2009, the Statue of Liberty's <http://www.nps.gov/stli> Crown
re-opened to the public for the first time since 9/11. At the same time,
there is a new audio tour at Ellis Island, designed especially for kids
using animated character voices. You can also celebrate your heritage by
uploading your photograph to theAmerican Flag of Faces
<http://www.FlagofFaces.org/> .
Take the free Staten Island Ferry <http://www.visitstatenisland.com/>
for a first-rate view of the New York City skyline and check out The
Hedge Maze in the Secret Garden at Snug Harbor Cultural Center and the
Carousel for All Children at Willowbrook.
MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
Certainly visitors to New York have their pick of world-class and iconic
sites -- the Museum of Natural History with its new extreme mammals
exhibit, The Metropolitan Museum of Art with its new American wing, two
new Major League baseball stadiums, the Empire State Building and
Central Park. (For great value for major attractions, visit
http://www.citypass.com/.)
BIG APPLE GREETER
Consider that of the 8 million or so people who live in New York, only
1.5 million live in Manhattan. Get out and explore the other boroughs --
the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, as well as lesser visited
Manhattan neighborhoods and sites. (Sign on for a free neighborhood tour
led by local volunteers, www.BigAppleGreeter.org
NOSHWALKS
"People say they never knew NYC had neighborhoods like this," said my
childhood friend Myra Alperson, who leads food-oriented tours in
outlying city neighborhoods, which families love (www.noshwalks.com).
NY HALL OF SCIENCE
Head to Queens and the New York Hall of Science
<http://www.nyscience.org/> , which boasts the largest collection of
hands-on science exhibits in the city (400!), and just opened Rocket
Park Mini Golf to encourage kids and parents to explore science concepts
-- gravity, velocity -- as they make their way through nine holes.
WAVE HILL
There's a lot more to the Bronx than the Bronx Zoo, as terrific as it is
-- like Wave Hill <http://www.wavehill.org/> , the public garden and
cultural center that offers family art projects and birding walks.
BROOKLYN CHILDRENS MUSEUM
The Brooklyn Children's Museum <http://www.brooklynkids.com/> ,
opened in 1899, was the first museum created expressly for children and,
after its recent expansion, remains a showcase for what a children's museum can be.
Check out exhibits like Wild About Plants, which lets families touch, smell, magnify,
build, rebuild, watch and listen to plants -- uncovering what they do for people and what people can do for them.
FDNY FIRE ZONE
Stop in at the FDNY Fire Zone <http://www.fdnyfirezone.org/> where kids
can try on firemen's gear, climb on the trucks and pose for pictures --
at no charge. You'll meet a lot of local families at the brand-new High
Line <http://www.thehighline.org/> , the one of a kind park built on the
elevated, steel structure that originally carried freight trains. The
first section runs from Gansevoort Street, in the Meatpacking District,
to West 20th Street, between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues.
Links referenced within this article
Tenement Museum
http://www.tenement.org <http://www.tenement.org/>
Statue of Liberty's
http://www.nps.gov/stli
American Flag of Faces
http://www.FlagofFaces.org <http://www.FlagofFaces.org/>
http://www.citypass.com/
http://www.citypass.com/
www.BigAppleGreeter.org
http://www.BigAppleGreeter.org <http://www.BigAppleGreeter.org/>
www.noshwalks.com
http://www.noshwalks.com <http://www.noshwalks.com/>
Staten Island Ferry
http://www.visitstatenisland.com <http://www.visitstatenisland.com/>
New York Hall of Science
http://www.nyscience.org <http://www.nyscience.org/>
Wave Hill
http://www.wavehill.org <http://www.wavehill.org/>
Brooklyn Children's Museum
http://www.brooklynkids.com <http://www.brooklynkids.com/>
Staten Island Yankees
http://www.siyanks.com <http://www.siyanks.com/>
Brooklyn Cyclones
http://www.brooklyncyclones.com <http://www.brooklyncyclones.com/>
FDNY Fire Zone
http://www.fdnyfirezone.org <http://www.fdnyfirezone.org/>
High Line
http://www.thehighline.org <http://www.thehighline.org/>
Family Travel
http://topics.edition.cnn.com/topics/Family_Travel
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