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Are you allow to have a picnic in the botanical garden? — Brooklynian

Are you allow to have a picnic in the botanical garden?

armchair_warrior
armchair_warrior
edited November -1 in Prospect Heights
yes or no? i see folks eating on the grass, but is that allow?

Comments

  • oneasternparkway
    oneasternparkway
    Only before noon on Saturdays. Panic after then and it's off to Bellvue.
  • armchair_warrior
    armchair_warrior
    OnEasternParkway wrote: Only before noon on Saturdays. Panic after then and it's off to Bellvue.
    lol thanks :). i didnt notice i spelled panic instead of picnic :).
  • sweet tea
    sweet tea
    there are members-only picnic evenings in the summer. only once a month, on one of the members-only late wednesdays. heavenly.
  • rose
    rose
    I was there last weekend and there was a sign at the entrance to the effect that you are not allowed to bring in food. I don't know if that was always the rule. I think they want to encourage you to buy your food there. I think you are allowed to sit on the grass under the cherry trees, but in other areas you will be reprimanded if you sit on the grass.
  • emily
    emily
    Yeah, I'm pretty sure that they don't allow picnicking normally because the park is right there, and they want you to eat in their cafe. I'm less sure of whether they would discourage you from eating your own food in the cafe--but it's always so crowded I'm not sure why anyone would choose to do that.
  • sterling2000
    sterling2000
    They keep the food to a limited area to control trash and vermin.

    Grass-sittin' on the cherry esplande is allowed, but the guards will jump you if you use a blanket of even sit on your jacket...apperently it kills the grass. Oh yeah, I've also seen guards ask men to put their shirts back on and for scantily-clad women to put on their jackets.

    And, there's no smoking anywhere in the Garden...

    Other than that, it's fun!
  • armchair_warrior
    armchair_warrior
    "for scantily-clad women to put on their jackets."

    thats just wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in so many ways. l

    today i saw some guards turning their heads on good looking women hehe. like one guy tells other and head snaps around looking at the females.
  • mikewalton718
    mikewalton718
    The cherry trees are in bloom! YAY! I love spring. I am going there this sunday as long as it doens't interfere with my poker plans. hummmm, poker under the cherry trees? I don't think so. :roll:
  • apollonia666
    apollonia666
    sterling2000 wrote: They keep the food to a limited area to control trash and vermin.

    Grass-sittin' on the cherry esplande is allowed, but the guards will jump you if you use a blanket of even sit on your jacket...apperently it kills the grass. Oh yeah, I've also seen guards ask men to put their shirts back on and for scantily-clad women to put on their jackets.

    And, there's no smoking anywhere in the Garden...

    Other than that, it's fun!
    Wow. I've smoked in the garden, and I've had food on the cherry lawn (nobody stopped us, but then again it was pretty empty that day and we just had a couple of oranges and some hummus and pita, so either they didn't notice or decided to let us slide.
  • armchair_warrior
    armchair_warrior
    so many conflicting acounts aahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. i guess i'll try my luck and see if i get my arse haul away!
  • poh
    poh
    funny, I just called them with the same question yesterday - was thinking of hosting my 1 year old's birthday party there. But I was told no. Food attracts vermin. Go do it in the park. Was quite disappointed - even offered piece of cake to the grumpy woman on the phone. To no avail.

    So, all of you who've got away with it thus far - congratulations! Hope you didn't leave any crumbs behind for the rats.

    Looking forward to the members-only barbeques - what's that scene like? Anyone else on this forum a member? Or, am I wrong in thinking that members night is quiet and peaceful, and in fact all of Brooklyn is a member?
  • armchair_warrior
    armchair_warrior
    i'm gonna become a member soon as my place is done. so i could go there alot :).
  • pompei
    pompei
    I'm trying to pick my brain and remember if I did see people picknicking during the cherry blossom festival weekend 2 or 3 years ago.
    I went there once afterward with prepared picnic food, and was not allowed to bring it in.
    Does anyone else recollect picknicking allowed during the cherry blossom festival??
  • sweet tea
    sweet tea
    I'm a member, pompei. i went to a couple of the picnic nights last year at the end of the summer. it was very peaceful. i imagine that the earlier ones might be more crowded, as people are still excited about the warm weather earlier on. the only place you can sit and eat is the cherry esplanade, which i guess could get full if everybody went. but it's definitely a picninc rather than a barbeque -- you can bring in food and a blanket, but no cooking.

    as for a picnic during the cherry festival, i can't find anything on the website, but a guard was telling me the other day that there is one, so i'm confused. let me know if you find anything out.

    armchair, good luck trying to get away with the food. at other times of year, you might have better luck, but the guards are very concentrated on the cherry esplanade right now because so many people are there to see the trees bloom. when i was there on thursday, i saw guards tell many people to put away food or fold up blankets (they will usually let you get away with it if the thing you're sitting on is only just large enough for your butt; they were letting people scrunch up their towels and sheets so that they didn't cover extra grass but their clothes were still protected) or stop throwing footballs. if you want to have a picnic, i think you might have more fun in one of the parks, where you won't have to be clandestine.
  • bricktop
    bricktop

    Subject: Botanic Garden

    years ago I used to sneak in with my husband (this is b.k., before kids) by climbing over the old front fence....for a few years we did this on Christmas and New Years eves, and would go feed the ducks at the Japanese pond. It worked for a few years, we'd be acting like we were in high school and feeling all fun-sneaky, and then just sneak back out the same way. We took my out-of-town sister and her husband one year, feeling like we were super=cool Brooklynites. But then they got the golf-carts and the guards would cover the whole place and spot us, and kick us out. Actually the new pretty fence looks even easier to climb over...getting busted was a drag....for my husband sneaking in was a trip down memory lane, when he and his stoner high school buddies from Crown Heights would sneak in after hours. Ah, the old days....
  • medusa
    medusa

    Subject: Re: Botanic Garden

    Bricktop wrote: years ago I used to sneak in with my husband (this is b.k., before kids) by climbing over the old front fence....for a few years we did this on Christmas and New Years eves, and would go feed the ducks at the Japanese pond. It worked for a few years, we'd be acting like we were in high school and feeling all fun-sneaky, and then just sneak back out the same way. We took my out-of-town sister and her husband one year, feeling like we were super=cool Brooklynites. But then they got the golf-carts and the guards would cover the whole place and spot us, and kick us out. Actually the new pretty fence looks even easier to climb over...getting busted was a drag....for my husband sneaking in was a trip down memory lane, when he and his stoner high school buddies from Crown Heights would sneak in after hours. Ah, the old days....
    I learned last year that feeding bread and other human food to ducks and geese not only might make them fat, but can damage their livers. I've been bummed about this new knowledge, since it basically prevents me from feeding the ducks and geese at the park (if I did it now, I'd feel like I was just breaking off little bits of poison with each toss). I was happy to see that there is duck-friendly food available with the zoo. I guess I'll satisfy my urges there.
  • joshb
    joshb
    I was just at the Botanic Gardens on Tuesday, trying to enjoy a piping hot chicken roti from Nostrand Ave. I was happily munching away when a guard told me that food wasn't allowed. At all.

    "Why?" I asked.

    "Not allowed."

    "OK. But is it just because the Botanic wants me to buy their food?"

    "Maybe."

    "That sucks."

    "Sorry."

    I neglected to point out the 5-year-olds munching processed snacks and hid my roti, taking tiny bites when the coast was clear. So to finish this story: No food unless you're sneaky. Or five years old.
  • joshb
    joshb
    Oh, and my inner copy editor wants to scream when it spies its biggest pet peeve: It's the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, not Botanical. Like nails on the chalkboard, I tell ya.
  • shoelessjoe
    shoelessjoe
    From the BBG website:

    Guidelines for Visitors

    Please remember that we are a living museum, not a park or a playground. The flowers, shrubs, and trees are a beautiful, but fragile, living collection. Please follow the Garden's rules to protect our plants and our visitors.

    - Brooklyn Botanic Garden is a nonsmoking facility. Please refrain from smoking on the grounds. Your cooperation is appreciated.
    - No food or beverage can be brought into the Garden—except bottled water and baby bottles.
    - Picnicking is not allowed anywhere in the Garden.
    - Food can be purchased at the Terrace Cafe and must be eaten in the designated Cafe area.
    - Sit only on garden benches or the Cherry Esplanade lawn. Blankets and folding chairs are not permitted.
    - Do not pick flowers, walk in flower beds, or climb trees.
    - Children must be supervised at all times.
    - Pets are not permitted in the Garden.
    - Use radio, tape and CD players with earphones only.
    - Shirts and shoes are required.
    - No ball playing, frisbee tossing, biking, skating, rollerblading, jogging, or kite flying is allowed in the Garden.
    - Tripods and easels are not permitted in the Conservatory, the Japanese Garden, flower beds, or on any outdoor paths where the equipment would block staff and visitors. Commercial photography is allowed only by prior arrangement.

    Also, here are the aforementioned member picnic dates:

    Members' Summer Sunset Picnics
    Wednesday, June 28, July 26, and August 30, 2006, 6–8 p.m.
    Bring your own blanket and picnic, or purchase a picnic from the Terrace Café, and relax on the softest, greenest grass in Brooklyn.
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