A review of the past year, projections for the future and the election of directors will be among the highlights of the third annual meeting of the Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership BID, scheduled for Thursday, June 4, at the Baruch College Vertical Campus Conference Center.

The Center is at 55 Lexington Avenue, at 24th Street, and the meeting will be in Room 14-220 on the 14th floor, with registration and a complimentary continental breakfast beginning at 8 a.m. The meeting is expected to end by 10 a.m.

An RSVP is required and all BID members, including property owners, commercial tenants and residents, should register prior to the meeting so they can vote for directors.

In addition to its Outstanding Service Award, which will be presented for the third consecutive year, the BID will introduce a Chairman's Award, given to a board member who has shown outstanding qualities of leadership, commitment and dedication. A second new honor, the Partnership Award, will be given to an individual, business or organization that has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to the BID or the community at large.

To register, call (212) 741-2323 or click here.

In case you haven't noticed, there are a lot more children in the Flatiron district than there used to be, an obvious result of a dramatic increase in the number of new residential apartment units that have sprouted throughout the area. Perhaps nowhere is that surge reflected more keenly than in the number of businesses and services that cater to our youngest neighbors. In addition, Madison Square Park has a lively array of activities for children on tap throughout the summer.

Day Camps, Play Spaces and Classes

These are available in several venues within the Flatiron district, all of which offer a wide range of classes and schedules.

Founded early in 2007 by two couples -- Alison and Robert Berna and Allison and Craig Schlanger -- the award-winning apple seeds caters to children from infants to five-year-olds and has a boutique stocked with clothing, toys, books and artwork; a café with snacks and beverages; and even a salon where kids can get their hair cut.

The New York Kids Club, founded by Pam Wolf and directed by Gair Morris and now in its eighth season, welcomes kids from six months to 12 years and provides opportunities for children to build self-confidence through gym classes and well as artistically enriching programs. It is known for its classes, camps and creative birthday parties.

Kidville Annex is part of Kidville, an early-childhood development organization with several locations in New York. Although the Annex is smaller than the other locations, membership allows use of the company's Upper West Side main facility, which includes a gym, salon and café. The Annex has classes for newborns to five-year-olds, a large classroom and space for strollers.

Another kind of kid-friendly operation is RoboFun, where kids from six to 13 can make robots from LEGO blocks and learn the basics of video-game design and video animation. RoboFun is part of Vision Education & Media (VEMNY), now in its 11th year. VEMNY also runs birthday parties, on and off premises, at which kids can design and build their own robots.

Apparel, Accessories and Toys

If you're looking for kids' clothes that don't look as though they were stamped out by the same cookie-cutter, the Flatiron district is where you'll find outfits that are trendy, colorful and cool.

The cleverly named Hippototamus specializes in European-inspired designs interpreted by its own design team for boys and girls from infants to six-year-olds. All of its clothing is manufactured in Asia and fabrics are from Europe and Asia.

L.O.L. Kids has been in the neighborhood for 20 years, but mostly as a children's wholesaler on 21st Street. Recently, however, owner Joe Schoenfelder opened a 1,500-square-foot retail store at street level of the same building that offers high-end merchandise with lots of European designers such as Sonia Rykiel, Monnalisa and Miss Grant.

Space Kiddets, which has been in the district even longer, started on 21st Street, then moved its operation to 22nd Street, where it offers a broad selection of trendsetting brands, hip classics and up-and-coming designers for kids from tots to tweens. The original 21st Street store is now Space Kiddet Toys.

Entertainment

Mad. Sq. Kids is a free summer entertainment series for children on the Oval Lawn in Madison Square Park. Presented by the Madison Square Park Conservancy, the 2009 series will take place from June 9-Aug. 13, every Tuesday and Thursday at 10:30 a.m. on the Oval Lawn. There, in a beautiful outdoor setting, child-friendly performers ranging from musicians to story-tellers engage, enlighten and entertain their audiences.

The TADA! Youth Theater, founded by Janine Nina Trevens and Linda Reiff in 1984, provides thousands of children with their first taste of musical theater and has become perhaps New York's leading producer of professional-quality youth theater. In addition to its mainstage theater productions, its arts education and youth development programs include free, pre-professional theater training to more than 65 children from eight to 18. Membership is by audition only.

Furniture and Furnishings

A complete range of furniture and furnishings for toddlers to teens can be found in the district, from high-style custom designs to basics such as bibs and bookcases.

If you're looking for strollers, high chairs and car seats from most of the major brands, Little Folks -- a family-owned store that's been in the district for more than 35 years -- might have exactly what you need. In addition, Little Folks stocks an abundant array of infant-care products, including bottle sterilizers, pacifiers and soft bibs.

Schneider's, another family-run operation, is more than 50 years old. It moved to the Flatiron district from the East Village and offers a wide selection of everything from bassinets to bunk beds. It also carries most of the top brands.

Interior designer Kimberly Hall has applied her aesthetic to Kimberly Hall Kids Limited, where you'll find her retail shop with custom-designed furniture, sculptures, bassinets, storage units, cribs, cradles and accessories.

For additional information, including hours of operation, here is a directory for all companies and organizations mentioned above.

Directory of Businesses

Day Camps, Play Spaces and Classes
apple seeds: 10 West 25th Street, (212) 792-7590
NY Kids Club: 38 East 22nd Street, (212) 375-1100
Kidville Annex: 17 West 24th Street, (212) 362-7792
RoboFun: 38 East 23rd Street, Suite 3A, (212) 245-0444

Apparel, Accessories and Toys
Hippototamus: 942 Broadway, 1-877-447-7686
L.O.L. Kids: 22 West 21st Street, (212) 929-6521
Space Kiddets: 26 East 22nd Street, (212) 420-9878

Entertainment
Madison Sq Kids
TADA! Youth Theater: 15 West 28th Street, (212) 252-1619

Furniture and Furnishings
Kimberly Hall Kids Limited: 44 East 21st Street, (212) 254-4006
Little Folks: 123 East 23rd Street, (212) 982-9669
Schneider's Children's Furniture: 41 West 25th Street, (212) 228-3540

The Flowering of Flatiron

Spring has sprung in Flatiron.

A number of seasonal horticultural and arboreal projects initiated by the Flatiron Partnership to beautify the streetscape are now under way.

Trees and Tree Pits
The trees along 23rd Street are being treated to spruced-up surroundings. From Third Avenue to Sixth Avenue, 27 trees on one of the Flatiron district's prime thoroughfares have been getting fresh pits, complete with sturdy new guard railings. To add color and beauty, seasonal flowers are being planted around the base of each tree. Existing pits will be widened for 22 of the trees and each guard railing is being embellished with the distinctive "intersections" logo associated with the Flatiron Partnership.

Hanging Baskets
The same lane -- 23rd Street between Third and Sixth Avenues -- and including the public plazas is being embellished with 24 flower baskets attached to streetlight poles. The baskets are being planted with Balcon geraniums, which are also known as Swiss Balcony geraniums or Alpine ivies. They are ivy-leaved, with foliage that mimics ivy, thus creating a cascade of blossoms. Balcon geraniums can tolerate lots of sun and won't fall apart if whipped by stiff breezes.

Park Avenue South Malls
There's a big change coming in the appearance of the malls along Park Avenue South. The street dividers from 21st Street to 28th Street are being planted with a profusion of flowers, adding color and charm. The first miniature tulips have already begun to pop forth, with daffodils, "Victoria Blue" salvia and "Prelude White" begonia soon to join them.

Maintenance for these projects -- including watering, cleaning of weeds and debris, pruning, feeding, trimming of ivy and sweeping -- is being carried out by the Flatiron Partnership through a contract with Frank Bulfamante & Sons.

Another Banner Day for Flatiron

Some 60 new Flatiron Partnership banners, created especially for spring, have made their appearance on streetlamps throughout the neighborhood. The springtime design was conceived by Pentagram, the internationally renowned design firm that created previous Partnership banners.

Opportunities for local businesses to sponsor the banners -- as well as the BID's trash receptacles, ash urns, Flatiron maps and shopping guides and the new beautification projects along the Park Avenue South malls -- continue to be available. Funds raised through the BID's 2009 Sponsorship Program will help implement neighborhood improvement programs and marketing projects.

For more information, please see our 2009 Sponsorship Program Catalog or contact Eric Zaretsky, Director of Marketing, at (212) 741-2323 or via e-mail at ezaretsky@flatironbid.org.

Public Plazas à la Cart

As the public plazas at the intersection of Broadway, Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street begin their first full spring-summer season, passersby will see that something has been added: a brand new Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership Visitor Information Cart.

The cart, which is expected to make its public debut on the Plazas in the first half of May, will carry free Discover Flatiron Maps, complete with a guide to restaurants, retail shops and other attractions, plus informational material about the free Flatiron walking tours conducted by the BID every Sunday at 11 a.m. It will be unmanned and initially placed on the center public plaza, just north of the Flatiron Building.

After making their debut at the end of August 2008, the public plazas proved to be an immediate hit, equally popular with tourists, residents, students and people who work in the district. Outfitted with 40 tables, 120 chairs and 30 blue umbrellas to ward off the summer sun, the plazas were an initiative launched by the Bloomberg administration in conjunction with the NYC Department of Transportation, the Flatiron Partnership and the Madison Square Park Conservancy. They are ringed by 43 granite blocks that serve as handsome traffic-flow devices as well as seating areas and are dotted by some 170 planters. For spring, the planters will be filled with Balcon geraniums, "Victoria Blue" salvia, red carpet coleus and impomea. Ornamental cabbage in three colors is being planned for fall-winter. The planters, except for the ones around the Worth Monument, are maintained by the Flatiron BID.

The BID's Clean Team keeps the plazas free of litter and graffiti while the Public Safety Team regularly patrols the area.

The plazas will be open from approximately 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with the hours expected to lengthen along with the hours of daylight.

Free Street Trees and Bike Racks

The Flatiron Partnership continues to coordinate a district-wide tree planting initiative through the NYC Parks Department program, MillionTreesNYC. Any property owner can request a street tree, free-of-charge, to be placed on sidewalks in front of homes, apartment buildings, and businesses. Thirteen trees have been planted in the Flatiron district as a result of this program, with additional requests being processed.

The BID is also pulling together requests for free bike racks through CITYRACKS, a program run by the NYC Department of Transportation. Businesses can expand their client base and improve customer satisfaction by providing convenient parking nearby as a result of properly placed bike racks, according to DOT. Locations must meet certain criteria. To date, 10 new bike racks have been installed in the Flatiron district.

If you are a property or business owner interested in having bike racks and/or street trees installed, please contact the Flatiron Partnership by calling (212) 741-2323, or by email, info@flatironbid.org, with your request. The BID will submit your requests to the appropriate agencies.

Flatiron District Deals Page

If you have a deal for us, we have a deal for you. And it won't cost you a dime.

Last month, the Flatiron BID added a new page to its Web site. It is called "District Deals" and provides an opportunity -- at no cost -- for all neighborhood businesses, organizations and Friends of the Flatiron Partnership Marketing Affiliate Program participants to publicize any special sales or services currently being offered.

The page will be updated twice a month.

For more information and to submit a deal, click here.

Free Walking Tours Every Sunday

The Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership sponsors free walking tours every Sunday.

Join our experienced guides on a 90-minute journey through this vibrant neighborhood, viewing some of the City's most notable landmarks, including the New York Life Insurance building, the MetLife Tower, the Appellate Courthouse and the famous Flatiron Building.

Time:
Every Sunday at 11 a.m.

Meeting Place:
The southwest corner of Madison Square Park, at 23rd Street and Broadway, in front of the statue of William Seward.

A new Huffman Koos Furniture Gallery has opened in the Flatiron district, the company's first store in New York City and its seventh in the Tri-State area.

The store, at 43 West 23rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, showcases a wide selection of upholstery, leather, contemporary and traditional furniture. Home furnishings, including dinette sets, mattresses and entertainment centers, are available for living rooms, bedrooms and dining rooms. Manufacturers carried include Bernhardt, Giorgio, Natuzzi, Broyhill, Shnadiq and Serta.

Huffman Koos is open daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. To contact the store, call (212) 633-1800, or click here.

KIDS FEST on May 30

Join the Madison Square Park Conservancy for a day of fun and celebration at the Spring KIDS FEST in Madison Square Park. KIDS FEST will take place rain or shine on Saturday, May 30, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and features arts and craft activities, live music and theater, storytelling, kids yoga, face painting and more.

Enter the park at 25th Street and Madison Avenue. For more information, call (212) 538-4071 or click here.

KIDS FEST is presented by the Madison Square Park Conservancy and Time Out New York Kids.

Mad. Sq. Art Installation

The Madison Square Park Conservancy continues its 2009 season of Mad. Sq. Art with Flooded Chambers Maid, a site-specific multimedia installation on the northern end of the park's Oval Lawn by sculptor, painter and installation artist Jessica Stockholder.

Flooded Chambers Maid is anchored by a 1300 sq. ft. arrow-shaped platform -- a colorful and intricately-patterned combination of custom cut and colored industrial steel and molded fiberglass grating -- that emerges from a shock of colored rubber mulch.

Visitors are invited to walk up an equally colorful elevated viewing platform across the pathway to observe the installation and a small garden in the adjoining lawn. For more information, click here.

It was in the spring of 1884, when the area around Madison Square was the social epicenter of New York, that the Eden Musée made its debut at 55 West 23rd Street, just down the block from the elegant Fifth Avenue Hotel. That was 125 years ago, but it was an opening night not unlike today's premieres. Some 2,000 New Yorkers, including the city's social, cultural and political elite, flocked to the Eden "by special invitation," eager to see what its promoters called "a Temple of Art without a rival in this country."

Inspired by the spectacular success of Madame Tussaud's in London, the Eden offered an astonishing collection of wax works, described on opening night by The New York Times as "strikingly realistic in colors and attitudes." There was, for example, a tableau representing world rulers such as Queen Victoria, Pope Leo XIII and Prime Minister Léon Gambetta of France. In side alcoves, Napoleon III lay in state and Washington crossed the Delaware. Light refreshments were served in a music room, a reflection of the proprietors' desire to make the Eden comfortable for women and children.

For those interested in more lurid presentations, a crypt beneath the ground floor served as a Chamber of Horrors. On opening night, reported The Times, a group of tableaus depicted "different methods of executing offenders."

Although the Eden was primarily known as a house of wax, it also housed a myriad, and sometimes bizarre, collection of other attractions. To be sure, there were any number of conventional and uplifting events such as concerts and ballets. There were exhibits of orchids and butterflies and even rare postage stamps, and in 1887, an art gallery was added.

But there were other, odder lures. For the 50-cent entry fee, one could be entertained and educated by the likes of Professor J. Hartl and his nine Viennese lady fencers . . . Chief Sitting Bull and some of his braves, who showed visitors what life was like on the Great Plains . . . six-year-old Walter Leon, who discoursed on subjects such as "Is Marriage a Failure?" . . . and all manner of magicians, fantasists, illusionists and mentalists, including a 16-year-old Joseph Dunninger, who would go on to become known as "the mastermind of mental mystery" and perform before six U.S. presidents.

One of the longest-running attractions at the Eden was Ajeeb, a 10-foot figure with a wax head wrapped in a turban that would play checkers or chess and invariably defeat all comers, each of whom coughed up a few coins for the privilege of competing. Ajeeb was billed as a "robot," but beneath the robes and cape that swathed its papier-mâché body, a series of small men who were chess experts took turns manipulating Ajeeb's arm and moving the appropriate pieces. According to a 1943 article in The New Yorker, Ajeeb's challengers included the writer O. Henry, who lived nearby; the great actress Sarah Bernhardt; and Christy Mathewson, the Hall of Fame pitcher for the New York Giants. Ajeeb debuted in 1886 and remained in the Eden until it finally went bankrupt in 1915, a victim of a growing form of entertainment called movies. That was ironic because the Eden had been showing motion pictures as early as 1895, but its interest in film waned while its devotion to wax waxed. The building was razed in 1916.

Some contents of the Eden were sold at auction, but many of the wax works provided a touch of class at a new, more raffish location: Coney Island. There, amid the sideshows and carnival rides, a large sign over the entrance proudly proclaimed: "Eden Musée, formerly of 23rd St. New York."

• New York Times - Historic Flatiron Walking Tour
• The Transformation of NYC's Madison Square (video by Streetfilms)
• amNew York: Flatiron's Fanciful Flight
• Flatiron BID Promotes Neighborhood for Holidays
• Mayor Officially Opens the Plaza
• Mayor Bloomberg and DOT Commissioner Sadik-Khan Unveil New Public Space at Madison Square
• Pedestrian Plazas Already an Attraction
• Time Out New York: Flatiron Walking Tour
• Gotham Gazette: The Flatiron District
• 'Strengthening Communities' Panel Held
• BID Tells Businesses: Yes You 'Can'
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The Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership Business Improvement District, formed in 2006, is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to enhance the area's reputation as one of New York's most vital and exciting neighborhoods. This is undertaken by maintaining a clean and safe environment for those who live, work and visit the area; by spearheading area improvement projects; and by marketing the diverse business and retail options in this vibrant and historic neighborhood.

For more information go to our Web site at www.discoverflatiron.org or e-mail us at info@flatironbid.org.

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