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Botanical Gardens NYC
Quote from Xythia on October 26, 2017, 9:50 amI've got questions about the Botanical Gardens, Bronx, New York City. I'm researching the locations for my fic. There's lots of information on the net. They look huge and there seem to be many different sections (desert, tropical and so on) and lot's of possibilities to do something. I loved some of the exibitions they hosted and the different plant habitats look like a botanist's wet dream.
Has anyone here visited the Gardens and might want to share their impressions with me? Things that stood out? I wonder how many employees you see when you wander around, if they are seen pruning and tending to the plants and if there are small souvenir/gift shops or stations beyond the main ones at the entrance. Is there a plant shop nearby or are they offering cuts? I guess there are separate greenhouses and labs for the researchers and lots of buildings that aren't open to the public? The Palmenhaus in Vienna offeres some extra goodies in exchange for donations and it has a club for people who are long term patrons but it is much smaller than the BG in NYC . How's the immediate neighborhood?
Thank you in advance for any help you can give me!
I've got questions about the Botanical Gardens, Bronx, New York City. I'm researching the locations for my fic. There's lots of information on the net. They look huge and there seem to be many different sections (desert, tropical and so on) and lot's of possibilities to do something. I loved some of the exibitions they hosted and the different plant habitats look like a botanist's wet dream.
Has anyone here visited the Gardens and might want to share their impressions with me? Things that stood out? I wonder how many employees you see when you wander around, if they are seen pruning and tending to the plants and if there are small souvenir/gift shops or stations beyond the main ones at the entrance. Is there a plant shop nearby or are they offering cuts? I guess there are separate greenhouses and labs for the researchers and lots of buildings that aren't open to the public? The Palmenhaus in Vienna offeres some extra goodies in exchange for donations and it has a club for people who are long term patrons but it is much smaller than the BG in NYC . How's the immediate neighborhood?
Thank you in advance for any help you can give me!
Quote from amakave on October 31, 2017, 8:23 amOkay, so I can share my impressions, but I've been there only once, and it was for the holiday train exhibit in the Conservatory. We did wander the gift shop after, so I can also give my impression of that, but keep in mind it was "dressed" for the holiday season.
First impression? The place is HUGE. Sure, it may be less than a third of the size of Central Park, but it is very very big. There are great wide open spaces with trees and walking paths, and there are more wooded areas as well. We entered through the main entrance and it was a bit of a walk to get to the Conservatory.
Its also not a cheap ticket. It cost $$ just to get through the gate. If your characters are native New Yorkers and you want the New York Botanical Gardens to be a PLACE for them, maybe have them be members? That is also $$ but an individual membership is something like $85 for the whole year, and that gets free tickets to the special exhibitions (so to put it in perspective, if someone wanted to go more than three times in a single year a membership is the way to go. And if you're part of a couple, the couple membership pays for itself even sooner).
We took the subway and then walked - it was pretty mild for late December - and its a really lovely area of the city, but I don't really remember there being much in the way of amenities *around* the entrance to the Gardens (like restaurants and such) but we were there for the Purpose of the Exhibit and didn't linger - after we had Other Places To Go.
The holiday train exhibit was housed in the Conservatory - a gorgeous Victorian-style glassed in building green house. It is HUGE (look at pictures of the NYBG and there is a photo of part of the conservatory - it is the most well-known building on the site, and I think it is part of the logo), and we walked through the whole thing twice (the path for the Holiday Train exhibit takes you one way and then back the same way on the other side of the aisle - done, no doubt, for crowd control and people movement through). And it moves from tropical areas to desert areas. Its pretty amazing, even without the model trains chugging along their tracks through the tiny towns and cityscapes.
There are a few buildings that are staff only, but most of the buildings (what few there are) are open to the public, at least seasonally. We were there at holiday time, so we didn't see so many employees - just the ones helping people find where they were going, and the occasional litter-picker-upper.
There is ONE shop, and it is near the main entrance. It will sell you starter kits and seeds and all manner of tschochkes for the home and the garden, but they don't really sell *plants* or *cuttings* at least when we were there. But we were there in December. So I don't know if they do seasonal spring plant sales or not. They did sell things for the holiday season like ornaments and candy and such.
There are a couple of food outlets in the Gardens - cafes and such. They're also near-ish the main entrance.
The NYBG site is a great resource (https://www.nybg.org/visit/interactive-map/) - I poked a bit there to remind myself if it was really as big as I remember, and since we didn't really SEE most of it, yeah, I think my first impression is right. I bet there is a whole lot of seasonal areas that wouldn't look like much in late December, when I was there (between Christmas and New Years).
I've also been to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens a couple of times (Cherry Blossom season, its pretty spectacular in the spring with all the lilacs and cherry trees blooming), and since that is adjacent to a neighborhood, there are plenty of amenities around that one (Park Slope is right there). And the Subway is RIGHT THERE, while for the NYBG it was a bit of a hike (about a 20 minute walk from subway station to the entrance).
I'm sorry I can't tell you more about the environs for the NYBG - we just didn't linger and this was a few years ago. Good luck with the story!
Okay, so I can share my impressions, but I've been there only once, and it was for the holiday train exhibit in the Conservatory. We did wander the gift shop after, so I can also give my impression of that, but keep in mind it was "dressed" for the holiday season.
First impression? The place is HUGE. Sure, it may be less than a third of the size of Central Park, but it is very very big. There are great wide open spaces with trees and walking paths, and there are more wooded areas as well. We entered through the main entrance and it was a bit of a walk to get to the Conservatory.
Its also not a cheap ticket. It cost $$ just to get through the gate. If your characters are native New Yorkers and you want the New York Botanical Gardens to be a PLACE for them, maybe have them be members? That is also $$ but an individual membership is something like $85 for the whole year, and that gets free tickets to the special exhibitions (so to put it in perspective, if someone wanted to go more than three times in a single year a membership is the way to go. And if you're part of a couple, the couple membership pays for itself even sooner).
We took the subway and then walked - it was pretty mild for late December - and its a really lovely area of the city, but I don't really remember there being much in the way of amenities *around* the entrance to the Gardens (like restaurants and such) but we were there for the Purpose of the Exhibit and didn't linger - after we had Other Places To Go.
The holiday train exhibit was housed in the Conservatory - a gorgeous Victorian-style glassed in building green house. It is HUGE (look at pictures of the NYBG and there is a photo of part of the conservatory - it is the most well-known building on the site, and I think it is part of the logo), and we walked through the whole thing twice (the path for the Holiday Train exhibit takes you one way and then back the same way on the other side of the aisle - done, no doubt, for crowd control and people movement through). And it moves from tropical areas to desert areas. Its pretty amazing, even without the model trains chugging along their tracks through the tiny towns and cityscapes.
There are a few buildings that are staff only, but most of the buildings (what few there are) are open to the public, at least seasonally. We were there at holiday time, so we didn't see so many employees - just the ones helping people find where they were going, and the occasional litter-picker-upper.
There is ONE shop, and it is near the main entrance. It will sell you starter kits and seeds and all manner of tschochkes for the home and the garden, but they don't really sell *plants* or *cuttings* at least when we were there. But we were there in December. So I don't know if they do seasonal spring plant sales or not. They did sell things for the holiday season like ornaments and candy and such.
There are a couple of food outlets in the Gardens - cafes and such. They're also near-ish the main entrance.
The NYBG site is a great resource (https://www.nybg.org/visit/interactive-map/) - I poked a bit there to remind myself if it was really as big as I remember, and since we didn't really SEE most of it, yeah, I think my first impression is right. I bet there is a whole lot of seasonal areas that wouldn't look like much in late December, when I was there (between Christmas and New Years).
I've also been to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens a couple of times (Cherry Blossom season, its pretty spectacular in the spring with all the lilacs and cherry trees blooming), and since that is adjacent to a neighborhood, there are plenty of amenities around that one (Park Slope is right there). And the Subway is RIGHT THERE, while for the NYBG it was a bit of a hike (about a 20 minute walk from subway station to the entrance).
I'm sorry I can't tell you more about the environs for the NYBG - we just didn't linger and this was a few years ago. Good luck with the story!
Quote from Xythia on October 31, 2017, 1:21 pmYou don't have anything to be sorry for Amakave, you told me pretty much exactly what I wanted to know, big, big kudos for the effort and the wonderful detailed descriptions! It's the visitor's perspective I was interested in and you helped a lot. I looked at all the pictures and it appeared to be a huge area but pictures don't always tell the connected impression. In my national conservatory you can plot world domination and no staff will wander through. One of my chars is plants nuts and I will definitely look up Brooklyn Botanical Gardens as well. The detail about the shop at the entrance is also very helpful.
Thank you!
You don't have anything to be sorry for Amakave, you told me pretty much exactly what I wanted to know, big, big kudos for the effort and the wonderful detailed descriptions! It's the visitor's perspective I was interested in and you helped a lot. I looked at all the pictures and it appeared to be a huge area but pictures don't always tell the connected impression. In my national conservatory you can plot world domination and no staff will wander through. One of my chars is plants nuts and I will definitely look up Brooklyn Botanical Gardens as well. The detail about the shop at the entrance is also very helpful.
Thank you!