FLAT GABRIELLA

DOES NEW YORK

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 Flat Gabriella
Flat Stanley is a boy who’s squashed as flat as a pancake when a
bulletin board falls on him. But Flat Stanley is not discouraged,
because he discovers new possibilities, such as sliding under doors
or putting himself into envelopes and mailing himself places. Well,
last month (June 2008), one of my nieces, Bryna, a resident of
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, sent her special friend to visit me. Flat
Gabriella is Bryna’s version of Flat Stanley. It’s a great tool for
teaching children about cities/culture outside of their own. Here’s the
presentation that Flat Gabriella prepared for Bryna.

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 DAY ONE

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 Hi, Bryna. I finally arrived. Flat and happy! Aunt Amirh
wanted to know where my baggage was, but I told her I
only brought myself.

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First, Bryna, we ate breakfast
at Aunt Amirh’s apartment in
Brooklyn, and then we got
on the subway, the Q-train,
and rode into Manhattan. The
subway is a system of
underground trains that runs
on tracks like other trains. I
didn’t know that Manhattan
is an island. It’s surrounded
on all four sides by the
Hudson River, and the
Hudson River eventually
flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

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 Anyway, I didn’t bring
anything to wear, so Aunt
Amirh took me shopping:
First, we walked along Fifth
Avenue. Fifth Avenue is in
lots of movies. I left my
money and credit cards in
Pittsburgh, so Aunt Amirh
paid for a few things at Lord
& Taylor’s, Bloomingdale’s
and Bergdorf Goodman and
Macy*s.

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 Then we rode the D-train to the east and
west Village (Greenwich Village) and
picked up a pair of shoes and two hats to
match my new outfits. The salespeople
just loved me, especially when I told them
that I was visiting from Pittsburgh and had
traveled by way of the United States Postal
Service (New Yorkers like to have visitors
come to their city). Next, we caught a taxi
uptown to the East Side so that I could see
the United Nations. So many people from
different nations, some in the dress of their
native countries. We went to Central Park
and visited a spot called Strawberry
Fieldsand I saw special plaque, which was
donated to New York City by John
Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, and then I saw
the building where Yoko Ono still lives,
The Dakota, on Central Park West and 72nd
Street. We also saw the poor carriage
horses working so hard, taking tourists
through the park.

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 Then we went downtown to
the southernmost tip of
Manhattan and caught the
ferry to Staten Island. On the
way there and back, I
starting jumping up and
down and screaming,
“There’s the Statue of
Liberty! Look at her!” Aunt
Amirh said she was glad that
we were the only ones on the
ferry because I was acting

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 DAY TWO

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 When we arrived in Harlem, Aunt Amirh
took me to the famous Apollo
Theater on 125th Street. When she
told me that Little Bow Wow
performs there sometimes, I got
We returned to Manhattan and visited really excited and started to sing
the Empire State Building in Mid-
town. Next, we rode the bus uptown one of his songs. A crowd gathered
on the West Side and got off at around me , shouted “Go, Gabby,
th
Broadway and 66 at Lincoln go, Gabby,” and then clapped when
Center. There we visited the Julliard I finished.
School of Music and the
Metropolitan Opera. While we were
walking east to Central Park West to
catch the A-train to Harlem, I saw
some celebrities. I saw Robert
DeNiro and Al Pacino who were in
“The Godfather” movies. I saw
Vincent D’Onofrio from “Law and
Order: Criminal Intent “(detective
Goren is such a genius). I blew
kisses to him, and he walked over to
me and said, “’Say, I’ve seen you
somewhere. Have we worked
together?”

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 Next, we caught the subway downtown and stopped at
the Museum of Natural History on Central Park West
and 81st Street, where there is a special exhibition on
the evolution of the horses. This photos is a subway
tile at the stop for the museum. It’s a dragonfly. Before
returning to Brooklyn, we ended our tour for the day at
Times Square, 42nd Street. I saw some of the famous
Broadway theaters and the locations where David
Letterman and Tyra Banks tape their television shows.
However, I didn’t see David or Tyra. Boo-hoo!

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 DAY THREE

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This is the final day of my
visit, we went to the Bronx,
where I saw Yankee Stadium
and visited the Bronx Zoo.
Aunt Amirh bought me hot
dogs with mustard and huge
salted hot pretzels from the
carts of street vendors.
When I first arrived in New
York, she introduced me to
Pushkin, Precious and Zora,
her three funny cats. On the
last day of my visit, I
mentioned that I wanted one
of my own, so Aunt Amirh
took me to the ASPCA on the
Upper East Side where she
is a volunteer. I met so many
cats and dogs that didn’t a dog, too, but Aunt Amirh said my return
have homes yet, but fell in envelope would not be able to hold me, Flat
love with one that I finally Fluffy, my new clothes, my souvenirs and
adopted. I named my cat Flat photographs and a dog, too! Before returning
Fluffy. She’s white with to Brooklyn, we went back into Manhattan
green eyes. I wanted to have and had dinner at a restaurant that served
Mexican, African, Japanese, Chinese, Middle
Eastern and Italian dishes. Yummy! I ate a
dish from each country.

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 FLAT GABRIELLA’S
Photo Album

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 Flat Fluffy
This is a photograph of my new cat. I
adopted her at the ASPCA (American
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals) in New York City on the

These are Aunt Amirh’s cats. They slept with

me at night. They are Precious, Zora and
Pushkin. Precious is the mother.

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 Look at the horse! He’s pulling a
carriage and the carriage is carrying
visitors around the city. This was taken
on Central Park West, so you can see
Central Park in the background. Aunt
Amirh wouldn’t let me take a ride
because she says the carriage horses
don’t always work in the best weather
conditions and that we shouldn’t
contribute to their plight. Boo Hoo! He
didn’t look so exploited to me.

This is the entrance to Carnegie Music

Hall. It’s on 57th Street and Seventh
Avenue. Hey, guess what? The same
Andrew Carnegie who was responsible
for Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museum and
our Carnegie Library is also
responsible for New York’s Carnegie
Music Hall.

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 This globe of the world is in front of There are many artists of all kinds in
the Trump International Hotel and New York City, and some perform on
Tower at Columbus Circle at West the street or in the subways. These
59th Street and Central Park West. guys are members of a brass band
Donald Trump builds a lot of and they are playing on a corner of
buildings, but many New Yorkers 42nd Street in Times Square
don’t like them because they are
either too gaudy, so tall so that they
block views, or so expensive that
only wealthy people can afford to live
in them.

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 This is one of the outfits I got in New
York. This one is from
Bloomingdale’s, and the shoes are
from a small boutique in the Village.
Everyone wears black, so Aunt
Amirh said that I simply MUST have
a black outfit, too. Look at my
rhinestone initial! Don’t I look simply
fabulous!

Hi! It’s Flat Gabriella on the

steps of the house that Aunt
Amirh lives in.

We got this outfit at Lord &

Taylor’s on Fifth Avenue. We
had to go to the Village to find a
matching hat. I love it, don’t
you?

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 This is the special outfit I
wore when I attended the
exhibit at the Museum of
Natural History. Some people
were dressed up, and some
wore jeans and sandals.

These are drummers and a dancer at a

Cherokee Green Corn Festival. Everyone was
so colorful. Many African-Americans also
have Cherokee and other Native-American
backgrounds. “Osiyo” is Cherokee for
“hello,” and “Wado” means “Thank you.”
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 And here I am riding the
subway. At first, the
strangers stared at me a
little, but then they decided
that I was just one of the
many strange people to
ride the subway and they
pretend to be asleep. I’m
dressed like Aunt Amirh,
but she doesn’t have a
green hat like mine, and I
don’t have shades like
hers.

Yaaay!

This is what the entrance of a subway station

looks like. Forty-second Street is a place
where lots of subways meet. I’m going down
the steps, but you can’t see me because I’m
so small.

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 Yes, it’s Morgan Freeman in the flesh. Well,
not exactly flesh. He’s standing in front of
Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum on 42nd
Street, and he is wax. PS: The kid next to him
is not wax.

And finally, the skyscrapers of New

York. Wow!

The End

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 A Note From
Aunt Amirh

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 Bryna, I really enjoyed seeing New York with Flat Gabriella, and I hope she comes back
and brings Flat Fluffy with her. Next time she visits, we can explore Queens, Staten
Island and Brooklyn. Make sure she shows you all the souvenirs she got while visiting
New York! And make sure she brushes and combs Flat Fluffy once a week!

If FLAT GABRIELLA should come back to visit during the winter, she should wear
plenty of warm clothing and bring a scarf, gloves, a hat and boots, because the climate
here is similar to the climate in Pittsburgh. If she comes back during the summer
months, she should bring clothing that keeps her cool, and she should also bring a
bathing suit for the beach.

Bryna, here are some interesting facts about my city: The distance between New York
and Pittsburgh is approximately 327 miles. Of all the cities in the United States, the
City of New York has the most people. Our metropolitan area ranks among the
largest urban areas in the world. Founded as a commercial trading post by the Dutch in
1625, it has been the largest city in the United States since 1790. I also found out that it
was the capital of the United States from 1785 until 1790. Located on one of the world's
finest

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 natural harbors, New York is one of the world's major centers of commerce and
finance. New York also has world-wide influence in media, politics, education,
entertainment, arts, fashion and advertising. Our city is also a major center for
international affairs, hosting the headquarters of the United Nations. New York City
comprises five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and
Staten Island within five counties, respectively: Bronx, Kings, New York, Queens,
and Richmond. With over 8.2 million people living within an area of
304.8 square miles, New York City is the most densely populated major city in
the United States. Many of our city's neighborhoods and landmarks are known
around the world. The Statue of Liberty greeted millions of immigrants as they
came to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 2005, nearly 170
languages were spoken in the city, and 36% of its population was born outside the
United States. Wall Street, in Lower Manhattan, has been the major global
financial center since World War II and is home to the
New York Stock Exchange. The city has been home to several of the
tallest buildings in the world, including the Empire State Building and the twin
towers of the World Trade Center that were destroyed during the attack on
September 11, 2001. New York is the birthplace of many cultural movements,
including the Harlem Renaissance in literature and visual art,
abstract expressionism (also known as the New York School) in painting, and
hip hop, punk, salsa, and Tin Pan Alley in music. It is the home of
Broadway theater. With

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 its 24-hour subway and constant bustling of traffic and people, New York is
sometimes called “The City That Never Sleeps.” Other nicknames include
the “Big Apple” and “Gotham.” Here is some interesting trivia about the city:
(1) New York City has 722 miles of subway track; (2) New York has over
70,000 miles of rivers and streams; (3) New York was the first state to
require license plates on cars; and (4) one of New York’s daily newspapers,
The New York Post, founded by Alexander Hamilton, is the oldest running
newspaper in the United States. By the way, New York’s other daily
newspapers are The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The New
York Daily News, The New York Post. New York is also the home of a
weekly, The Village Voice.

By the way, I’ll be sending Flat Gabriella and Flat Fluffy back to Pittsburgh
on a first class flight – Overnight FedEx!

XXXOOO,
Aunt Amirh

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