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After years of planning officials are finally making moves on the 32-mile cycling and pedestrian path heading to Manhattan’s waterfront. The path, whose plans were first put into place during former Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration, will close one of the biggest gaps on the East River greenway.

The East River Greenway is part of the larger Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, which includes the Hudson River Greenway and the Harlem River Greenway. In total the trails make up a 32-mile path that runs along Manhattan’s waterfront.

As reported by Gothamist, on August 22nd the city Economic Development Corporation began the search for contractors to oversee the $120 million project. The path will stretch just under one mile and be built atop pillars on the waterway between East 41st and East 53rd Streets near the United Nations.

Officials first broke ground on the project back in November 2019, and a section of the pathway was opened between East 53rd and East 61st Streets last year. However, the path ends right before reaching the UN, which means pedestrians and cyclists must walk and bike along traffic-heavy First and Second Avenues–this project will change that.

Officials will also extend the path along a portion of the Harlem River and fix up a decaying portion of it between East 94th and East 124th Streets.

Beyond the path itself, a protected bicycle lane will be installed along the First Avenue tunnel between East 40th and 49th Streets by September 10th ahead of the U.N. General Assembly.

According to amNY James Patchett, president CEO of the city’s Economic Development Corporation who is overseeing the project, said back in 2019:

Creating a continuous loop of public open space around the perimeter of Manhattan is key to enhancing quality of life for all New Yorkers by allowing use of the waterfront for enjoyment and safe travel.

The cycling and pedestrian path is expected to open by the end of 2028.

The post A 32-Mile-Long Cycling & Pedestrian Path Heads To NYC appeared first on Secret NYC.

* This article was originally published here

CAMP, the popular toy store at 110 5th Avenue by 16th Street, will once again transform into an exciting immersive experience for the little ones, this time paying homage to Bluey, the Australian preschool TV series about cute puppy Bluey Heeler and her family. 

The activation, produced in collaboration with BBC Studios, will open on December 6 through May 4 and timed entry tickets are available for purchase right here starting today.

As usual, folks will be able to access the fun when walking through the “magic door” inside the traditional looking store. Once inside, ticket-holders find themselves exploring a 5,000-square-foot house inspired by the show, complete with “dancing, games and a meet-and-greet finale.” 

You’ll get to play some of Bluey’s favorite games, like Keepy Uppy and Magic Asparagus, but also check out the puppy’s room, climb through a two-story pillow fort and a cardboard box castle with slides, look for hidden Easter eggs and even snap a selfie with Bluey and her brother Bingo.

Beware, parents: the venue will also be filled with exclusive co-branded merch, including toys, so you might want to mentally prepare for the little ones begging you to purchase whatever they see that has Bluey’s face on it.

CAMP has pretty successfully been able to bridge the gap between all things kids and immersive experiences: this is the third event of its kind that the toy store has hosted.

Back in 2022, the Disney movie Encanto got the CAMP treatment (complete with la familia Madrigal’s casita!) and, last year, children swarmed to the Trolls x CAMP event, where it might as well had been raining rainbows. 

We expect this year’s experience to be just as enthralling as the ones from years past.

* This article was originally published here

New Yorkers are proud of many things: their bagels, their transportation system (sort of) and their place in literary history. The city is, after all, the setting to so many wonderful books. 

It should come as no surprise, then, that, at least according to TikTok, NYC is home to three of the best libraries in the United States.

Travel website Islands took a deep look at #BookTok (284.9 billion views) and #LibraryTok (337.9 million views), specifically monitoring a surge in interest in all things literary across Google search data as well, to come up with a list of the 12 most popular libraries in the U.S. 

The first New York entry on the ranking is—surprise, surprise—the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building of the New York Public Library by Bryant Park. The institution’s flagship branch was declared a National Historic Landmark in the 1960s and is still one of the most instantly recognizable structures across the city as a whole. Who can forget those iconic steps leading into the building? 

The Brooklyn Public Library also made the list at number seven. Although the survey doesn’t specify which branch is most popular (did you know there are 62 in total?), we suspect it to be Central Library at 10 Grand Army Plaza, which welcomes a reported one million annual visitors.

Also on the list is the Morgan Library and Museum, which ranks number ten. Found in Manhattan’s Murray Hill neighborhood at 225 Madison Avenue by 37th Street, the venue was built in 1906 as the private library of the banker J.P. Morgan. To this day, the main internal room will take any book lover’s breath away.

A bit about the methodology: the website gathered data from relevant hashtags and then ranked each library based on the total number of views it received on TikTok as of August 2024. The analysis also took into account user engagement, Tripadvisor reviews and more. 

Suddenly, we’re itching to read some classics.

The 12 most popular libraries in the U.S. according to TikTok

1. Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

2. Boston Public Library in Boston, Massachusetts

3. Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California

4. Stephen A. Schwarzman Building at the New York Public Library in New York

5. George Peabody Library in Baltimore, Maryland

6. Geisel Library in San Diego, California

7. Brooklyn Public Library in Brooklyn, NY

8. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library in New Haven, Connecticut

9. Los Angeles Central Library in Los Angeles, California

10.  Morgan Library and Museum in New York

11. Cleveland Public Library in Cleveland, Ohio

12. Seattle Public Library in Seattle, Washington

* This article was originally published here