Near the Central Park carousel is a child-size wood post featuring carvings of merry-go-round horses. They look like miniature versions of the hand-carved, painted horses on the circa-1908 carousel itself.
It’s an enchanting little post, a marker letting adults know that they’re about to enter the park’s kid territory.
But near the bottom of the post is this somber plaque:
Michelle Bernstein
March 25, 1984 – June 19, 1987
The Carousel Landscape
was restored in 1991
in honour of Michelle
who loved
all the pretty little horses
Tags: Carousel Landscape, Central Park Carousel, Central Park Merry-Go-Round, Central Park New York, Michelle Bernstein, plaques in Central Park
September 23, 2009 at 10:27 am |
[…] The girl who loved Central Park's pretty horses « Ephemeral New York […]
September 25, 2009 at 12:41 am |
does anyone know what happened to Michelle?
September 25, 2009 at 2:39 pm |
I tried to find out via the usual channels, like newspaper archives, but didn’t find a thing.
October 11, 2009 at 9:24 pm |
This sad story would seem to fit.
October 11, 2009 at 11:02 pm
How tragic. Thank you for digging this up and sending it along.
September 29, 2009 at 1:52 pm |
Nice post. Thanks. Did you know that the Central Park carousel, made by Stein and Goldstein, is part of a larger phenomenon of Eastern European Jewish immigration and the bringing to America of traditional Jewish carving styles? Your readers can find out more in a post I did just yesterday at my “American Folk Art @ Cooperstown” blog.
Thanks again!
Paul