Page 238 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - New York City

236  NE W Y ORK CIT Y AREA B Y AREA

0 Park Slope
Historic District
Map 23 B4. Streets from Prospect Park
W below Flatbush Ave, to 8th/7th/5th
Aves. q Grand Army Plaza (2, 3), 7th
Ave (F).
This wonderful enclave of
beautiful Victorian town houses
was developed on the edge
of Prospect Park in the 1880s.
It served the upper-middle-class
professionals who were able
to commute into Manhattan
Totally Tots exhibition at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum after the Brooklyn Bridge was
opened in 1883. The shady
8 Brooklyn 9 Grand streets are lined with two-
Children’s Museum Army Plaza to five-story houses in every
architectural style popular in
145 Brooklyn Ave. Map 23 C4. Tel (718) Plaza St at Flatbush Ave. Map 23 C4. the late 19th century, some
735-4400. q Kingston Ave (3), q Grand Army Plaza (2, 3). Arch: with the towers, turrets, and
Kingston-Throop Ave (C). Open for occasional exhibitions. curlicues so representative of
Open 10am–5pm Tue–Sun (till 6pm the era. Particularly fine examples
Thu). Closed public hols. & 7 - Frederick Law Olmsted and are in the Romanesque Revival
= ∑ brooklynkids.org
Calvert Vaux laid out this grand style, with rounded entry arches.
oval in 1870 as a gate way to The Montauk Club at 25 Eighth
Founded in 1899, the Brooklyn Prospect Park. The Soldiers’ and Avenue combines the style
Children’s Museum was the first Sailors’ Arch and its sculptures of Venice’s Ca’ d’Oro palazzo
to be designed especially for were added in 1892 as a tribute with the friezes and gargoyles
children. Since then, it has to the Union Army. Designed of the Montauks, for whom this
been a model, inspiration, and by John H. Duncan, the arch popular 19th-century private
consultant for the development has a sense of Imperial social club was named.
of more than 250 museums for Roman monuments, with its
children across the country and intricate carving and detail.
all over the world. Housed in Stanford White modified the q Prospect Park
a hi-tech, specially designed arch between 1894–1901 to Map 23 C5. q Grand Army Plaza,
underground building dating accommodate the bronze Prospect Park (B, Q). 8 & information
from 1976, it is one of the most sculptures by Philip Martiny (718) 287-3400. - =
imaginative children’s museums and Frederick MacMonnies. ∑ prospectpark.org
anywhere. In 2008, a “green” The bust of John F. Kennedy
renovation was carried out by the here is the only official New Olmsted and Vaux considered
Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly – York monument to the 35th this park, which opened in
he added solar panels and other president of the United States. 1867, better than their earlier
energy-saving devices, and also
expanded the museum space.
Galleries contain hands-on
exhibitions that focus on the
environment, science, and local
neighborhood life – which high-
lights various ethnic districts
around Brooklyn. The “Totally
Tots” Area is dedi cated to children
under the age of five, with a
“Water Wonders” play quarter.
The live animals on display down-
stairs will especially thrill the
little ones. There are also play
stores and restaurants where
children can buy, sell, and even
make (fake) pizza. Special events
and classes, such as Zumba for
kids, touch tank workshops, and
art projects, take place daily. The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Arch at Grand Army Plaza

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