To those of you who may be in the NYC area between February 12th through February 27th, please make your way over to Central Park to see The Gates installation. Christo and Jeanne-Claude have been trying to create an art exhibit in Central Park for years - and now they've gotten permission. Hooray!
Here's an article that appeared in the New York Times yesterday, February 9th.
February 9, 2005
'The Gates' Expected to Draw Tourists
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:19 p.m. ET
NEW YORK (AP) -- One hotel will put binoculars in all its rooms with Central Park views so guests can peer at ``The Gates'' from their windows.
Another will offer a ``saffron-seasoned'' lunch in honor of the project's ``saffron-colored'' fabric panels. And the Metropolitan Museum of Art is opening its summer roof garden to give visitors a better view.
City officials have predicted that Christo and Jeanne-Claude's 16-day public installation -- 7,500 fabric-draped gates spanning 23 miles of Central Park footpaths starting Saturday -- will draw tens of thousands of tourists to the city, and some in the hospitality industry have been angling for their business.
The city acknowledges there's no way to predict the exact size of the crowd, but its Economic Development Corp. has estimated that the project could result in 90,000 additional tourists, including one-day visitors and those expected to spend the night.
NYC & Company, the city's tourism marketing group, has forecast 200,000 additional ``cultural visitors'' in February -- drawn by ``The Gates'' as well as other arts attractions. The current exchange rate, which in recent months has already drawn an increased number of European shoppers, also helps drive the influx.
``We expect hundreds of thousands of international visitors -- international ones, who spend a lot of money -- coming here just for these dozen days,'' Mayor Michael Bloomberg said last week.
At least two tour operators from Germany, where the artists wrapped the Reichstag parliament building in silvery fabric for two weeks in 1995, are bringing groups of tourists. And a French tour operator sold 20 weekend packages to see ``The Gates'' and the expanded Museum of Modern Art.
Wolf-Dieter Voelkening, a German architect who lives in the northern city of Kiel, plans to leave Friday for a nine-day visit to New York. He said he saw the ``Wrapped Reichstag'' in Berlin a decade ago.
``I find Christo and Jean Claude very authentic,'' he said.
Claus Bacher, a chairman of the Friends of the National Gallery in Berlin, was set to depart Berlin on Friday with 65 members of his organization for a trip that will last at least four days.
``We have seen the wonderful Reichstag and we want to see more,'' Bacher said. ``We come because Christo has this exhibition in Central Park, and it's also a good opportunity to show MoMA to our friends.''
Bacher said his group, which has rooms booked at the Intercontinental The Barclay New York hotel, also plans to visit several other local museums during its New York stay.
A few New York hotels are offering special ``Gates'' packages. About 20 such packages have been booked at the Hotel Plaza Athenee, according to Karen Goldberg, the hotel's director of marketing.
``I think it's created a lot of interest in New York City in what has traditionally been a slower month,'' Goldberg said, adding that the new MoMA and other events scheduled for February enhanced the appeal of the trip.
The hotel's package includes a lunch with saffron-infused menu options: saffron and fennel soup with Maine crab meat, saffron-poached halibut with pearl onions and black olive-crusted rack of lamb with roasted potatoes and saffron jus, Goldberg said.
Mandarin Oriental hotel, which overlooks the park at Columbus Circle, will put binoculars in all of its park view rooms -- a perk usually offered only in suites. ``We know that we've gotten bookings from people who are coming for 'The Gates,''' said hotel spokeswoman Tammy Peters.
The city's estimate of 90,000 additional visitors is based on attendance at other recent cultural events, including the 2003 Leonardo da Vinci exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was seen by about 401,000 people during its 68-day run, and the 2003 St. Patrick's Day parade, which drew 200,000 people.
But those numbers include New Yorkers -- not just tourists -- and officials don't know what portion were from out of town, so the figures are difficult to compare.
More tourists, along with the money spent on the project itself, could generate $2.4 million in additional tax revenue for the city, according to the city's economic development agency. To get that figure, the agency estimated what 90,000 visitors would spend on food, lodging and shopping while in town. It also took into account the money that Christo and Jeanne-Claude, who are financing the more than $20 million project themselves, have spent in the city.
Bloomberg, whose support for ``The Gates'' enabled it to move forward more than two decades after the husband and wife team initially proposed it, has said the project will give the city free advertising in the form of international TV exposure.
``Wrapped Reichstag'' did just that for Berlin, according to Britta Grigull, a spokeswoman for Berlin Tourism Marketing.
``The wrapped Reichstag was ... a godsend for our city,'' Grigull said.
------
Associated Press Writers Melissa Eddy in Frankfurt, Ula Ilnytzky in New York and Matt Surman in Berlin contributed to this report.
