On Sunday, March 26th, three Macy’s downtown flagship stores in New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco launched “,” the 2017 version of the Macy’s Flower Show.
Macy's San Francisco was the first one to hold a flower presentation in 1946. The purpose of it was to promote a fragrance, and the exhibit consisted of orchids and potted plants. The New York show began in 1953. Each year the theme of the show is different. The year before last the theme was "Art in Bloom," last year the theme was "America the Beautiful." The theme of 2017 is "Carnival" .
The Macy's Parade & Entertainment Group, which also produces the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and the 4th of the July Fireworks, is responsible for the Flower Show.
The show continues from Sunday, March 26 through Sunday, April 9.
On February 2 for 131st time Punxsutawney Phil has shared his meteorological ideas with a large crowd of people. Phil saw his shadow on Thursday, officials said, prompting a declaration of six more weeks of winter. Six weeks passed and so what? The spring is coming late this year... If you are hungry for the green leaves and flowers I advise you to stop by the New York Botanic Gardens "Orchid Show", which is on through April 9th, 2017.
Each year, The Orchid Show transforms The New York Botanical Garden, with thousands of orchids on display. This year the theme of the 15th annual Orchid Show is Thailand.
The Orchid Show: Thailand pays homage to the rich cultural traditions and 1,200 varieties of native orchid species in this Southeast Asian nation. There are thousands of species of beautiful blossoming orchids on the view in the Seasonal Exhibition Gallery at NYBG’s Enid A Haupt Conservatory.
New York Botanical Garden created a Thailand-themed show this year, with good reason. “The orchid is symbolic of Thailand”.
Thailand is justly famous for its many beautiful orchids, or Gluay Mhai in Thai. There are more than 1,000 species of orchids in Thailand, and these come in a bewildering and dazzling range of colors - all the hues of the rainbow.
Many of the orchid varieties are easy to grow, and abundant at any time of the year, thanks to the skills of the numerous Thai horticulturists, who have developed their art into a major export industry. Thailand has an international reputation as a center for orchid horticulture.
The walkways of the conservatory in New York Botanical Garden are lined not only with the beautiful flowers but with objects traditionally found in Thai gardens, such as replica “spirit houses” that can often be found by homes, businesses, and public buildings.
During the exhibit, NYBG’s full-service restaurant the Hudson Garden Grill will be offering a selection of dining options and a variety of Thai-inspired offerings.
The oldest surviving raw house in New York City, Edward Mooney House, is located at the corner of Bowery and Pell in Chinatown. It was built sometime between 1785 ( two years after the British evacuation of the City) and 1789, the year George Washington was inaugurated as first President of the United States and New York City became the first Capital of the nation.
The land where the house was built belonged to James Delancey, colonial politician and loyalist. James Delancey was born in a house built by his grandfather, Stephen De Lancey. This house later became famous and known as Fraunces Tavern. James De Lancey assembled the largest and most select stud and stable of running horses in the colony if not the whole country. He was said to have been the “Father of the New York Turf" . James De Lancey built himself a mansion north of Broadway and Thames Street. East and West De Lancey Farms ran from the Bowery, facing the Bayard Estates, to the East River (...)
When the British lost the war, Delancey’s assets were seized. And Mr. Mooney bought the land from the forfeiture of James Delancey.
Edward Mooney was a prominent wholesale meat purveyor. He was an important figure in the wholesale meat business in New York and representative at the City's butchers in the Society of Mechanics and Tradesmen.
Mooney lived in the house until his death in 1800. In the early 1900s this was Barney Flynn's saloon. It was headquarters of Chuck Connors, a local character and self-described “Mayor of Chinatown,” who led staged-to-shock slumming tours through Bowery dives and opium dens. Connors also helped future songwriter Irving Berlin get a singing waiter job on Pell Street.
A couple, Chin Po and Diana Liu bought the building in 1991 and sold the property in January 2013 for almost $5.4 million, according to city records.
The King Wladyslaw Jagiello’s Monument in Central Park , larger-than-life bronze equestrian statue attracts the attention of many passers-by. A monument of the Polish King has been featured in the heart of New York City since 1945.
This imposing statue was originally featured at the entrance to the Polish pavilion at the 1939 World’s Fair of Flushing Meadows, Queens.
Covering 1,216 acres New York World's Fair was erected on what was an ash-dump. The theme, "Building the World of Tomorrow" echoed in virtually every corner of the Fair. The 1939 New York World's Fair opened on May 30, 1939 which was the 150th anniversary of the inauguration of George Washington in New York City, the nation's first capitol.
Many countries around the world participated in it, and over 44 million people attended its exhibits in two seasons.
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| Polish exhibit |
Second Polish Republic prepared some 200 tons of various works of art for the fair. In mid-February 1939, all items left port of Gdynia on February 28. Among most important items were: a royal carpet of King Kazimierz Jagiellonczyk, seven paintings presenting important events of Polish history, ancient Polish weaponry , folk costumes, house furniture from different regions of Poland and examples of Polish inventions.
At the entrance to the Polish exhibit stood a replica of a monument of the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, Wladislaw II Jagiello .
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| Battle of Grunwald |
The original was prepared by the Polish sculptor Stanisław K. Ostrowski and stood in Poland’s capital, Warsaw. The monument appears to represent an event that took place before the Battle of Grunwald in 1410. The Battle of Grunwald was one of the largest battles fought in Medieval Europe. Between 26,000 and 56,000 soldiers took part in the battle.
The 26th Grand Master of Teutonic Knights, whose army was about to clash with a coalition of Polish, Lithuanian, and Ruthenian forces, sent two messengers to King Jagiełło. They delivered two swords. King Jagiełło accepted the gift and the challenge.
The swords were later placed in Poland’s Royal Treasury at Wawel Castle in Cracow and were subsequently carried in front of Polish kings during their coronations as symbols of their power. Unfortunately, in 1853, the swords were confiscated by Russian troops and never found again.
On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland. The Polish army was defeated within weeks of the invasion. After heavy shelling and bombing, Warsaw surrendered to the Germans on September 27, 1939.
When the New York World's Fair closed most of the items from the Polish Pavilion were sold by the Polish Government in exile in London to the Polish Museum of America and shipped to Chicago. The only one was made for a monument of the Polish-Lithuanian King Jagiełło to which Mayor Fiorello La Guardia took such a liking that he helped spearhead a campaign to have it installed in Central Park. The statue was installed in 1945. The author of the monument Stanisław K. Ostrowski emigrated to New York and died in 1947.
On Sunday, March 26th, three Macy’s downtown flagship stores in New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco launched “,” the 2017 version of the Macy’s Flower Show. 
