I have mixed feelings on Bryant Park (take note of that sign posted a few weeks ago … everything is just so … precious).
It is one of the most commercialized and controlled of NYC’s parks (I suppose it’s also smack in the middle of midtown and not really in a neighborhood, per se). I have the feeling that the NYC Parks Department would like all the Parks to be like that one. Yes, it is governed by a private Conservancy. A true story: at one point the Conservancy hired a hawk to keep pigeons away. This went astray when the hawk attacked a small dog and they had to abandon the practice. Can’t we co-exist with the pigeons in a … park?
It’s not Washington Square Park – it has a whole other purpose as a park and public space. More about getting away from it all quietly then communing with or being entertained by your fellow New Yorkers — although City Search NYC says to come to the Dennis Cooper reading and talk (info below) to meet people!
Bryant Park does seem to have a wide array of activities going on perhaps because they need to create some as they don’t happen naturally (… am I being too hard on them?).
Nonetheless, here is the event info:
This Wednesday, May 27th from 12:30-1:45 p.m. the Bryant Park Summer Reading Series presents:
Dennis Cooper, Novelist, Poet, Critic, Editor, Blogger, and Performance artist (per Wikipedia), will be discussing his new book, Ugly Man, a book of short stories (published by Harper Perennial), and career. Hosted by Tony O’Neill.
Cooper’s site.
You can ‘follow’ Bryant Park on Twitter!
Bryant Park is at 42nd Street and 6th Avenue.