The palatial Beaux-Arts library on Fifth Avenue guarded by a pair of stone lions was not where Farrah Denson wanted to be when she was a teenager growing up on the Upper West Side.
She felt like she had to be on her best behavior and not touch anything.
And she dreaded climbing all the steps to the main entrance.
“I felt like I was going to a courthouse,” said Ms. Denson, now 34, who lives in Jersey City.
“It wasn’t a place you’d want to hang out in.”Today, the New York Public Library’s celebrated research library — officially known as the Stephen A. Schwarzman building — is still as imposing as ever, set in its elegant lot in the middle of the skyscrapers of Midtown Manhattan, but it has become a far more welcoming place.
Persons:
Farrah Denson, “, ”, Denson, Stephen A
Organizations:
New York Public
Locations:
Jersey City, ”, Midtown Manhattan