WNYC's POPS Podcast

Last fall, the New York World asked New Yorkers about their favorite POPS (privately owned public spaces), otherwise known as pocket parks, plazas, etc. Brian Lehrer of WNYC radio has two great podcasts about this program. You can listen to them here:

http://www.wnyc.org/shows/bl/blogs/scrapbook/2011/oct/19/pops-report-tell-us-about-new-york-citys-privately-owned-public-spaces/

While you are listening, you may want to explore the interactive map provided by The New York World http://www.thenewyorkworld.com/.

A piece of the Berlin Wall on 53rd St.

Photo courtesy Ephemeral New York

One of the reasons I began this project was my sense of wonder, as I’ve said before. I am always interested when people create something for the use of other people ‘just because.’ This sense of wonder hit me when I came upon the pocket park on 53rd Street between 5th and Madison Avenue. This is exactly what a pocket park should be, in my humble opinion. It’s stuffed between two buildings where a building should be, contains moveable chairs and tables, a ledge on which to sit, and it is open to the public. The thing that makes it cool to me, other than the waterfall sliding down the side of one of its bordering buildings, is that it contains a piece of the Berlin Wall.

According to Ephemeral New York, Jerry Speyer of Tishman Speyer (owner of the plaza) purchased the piece from the East German government and had it installed in 1990. The point is it is there for the public to enjoy. You can grab a coffee, sit down and enjoy a bit of world history, and a bit of peace, courtesy of Tishman Speyer.


I absolutely love that.