Park Here - the indoor pop-up park

Today, while we were waiting to pick-up F from a play date, P and I went to this indoor "pop-up" park in  Openhouse Gallery, located in the heart of Nolita. 

Isn't the idea fantastic for a long and cold winter like we usually get in New York?

There were kids playing around, people reading, others using their computers, others just chatting - just like a real park, except that we were in an indoor space. Unfortunately, the park will close on Wednesday and tomorrow (02/14) is the last day opened for the public. 

Given that we were in a gallery, space and infrastructure were not great for an indoor park. Nonetheless, wouldn't this be a great idea for any big city to have an real indoor park?

While I was hanging there, sitting on one of the benches watching P playing, I did a small list of things that I thought worked here and others that I would have liked to see or to be different.

Let's start with the pros:

• Great great great idea for the winter;
• The park was quite big (for Manhattan of course);
• Free for everybody;
• Free Wi-fi;
• There were some picnic blankets, bean bags, benches, tables, hammocks;
• Many events during the two months it was opened (movie nights, activities for mothers with their kids, games, afternoon tea, and more);
• It became a place to hang out with friends or just to enjoy a cup of coffee while reading a book, just like a real park

Now the not-so-good things I found about it:

• No windows, no natural light - felt a little bit too indoors;
• The illumination wasn't good, so it was a little bit dark;
• Since it's an indoor space and people come to eat, there was a strong smell of food when we entered the space;
• All the flowers and plants were fake. They looked very nice, but it would have been better if they were real;
• The ventilation system was making too much noise;
• I said that the park was quite big, considering that we are in Manhattan, however, the bigger the better.

Anyway, those are just ideas in case someone decides to build a real indoor park. In the meantime this was a really nice initiative from Openhouse Gallery.