Puppets for the people

Photo: Alice Ckildress

A small flock of birds occupies the fourth-floor landing inside the Grand Army Plaza Arch. One flight below, a grinning cat keeps watch over the spiral staircase. Walk down, and you'll see a swarm of insects and four sweet-faced ponies. There are usually eight ponies, but four are out on loan.

Welcome to the New York Puppet Library. Directly across the street from the main branch of the Brooklyn Public Library and secreted away on four floors of the west leg of the arch is a papier-mâché wonderland, the miscellany of eight years' of community puppetry in NYC by the legendary Puppeteers Cooperative. If you've ever witnessed the company's annual spectacle at Lincoln Center Out of Doors, then you'll recognize some of the creatures that inhabit the nooks and crannies of this unusual space, waiting for someone to come and take them out.

"We're storing our puppets and offering a service to the community," says puppeteer Teresa Linnihan. People can borrow puppets for block or birthday parties, celebrations, protests, whatever. Although the massive five-person puppets and towering "backpack" pieces are too bulky for children to carry, some models—including the ponies and the insect swarm—were designed for toddlers and kids.

Many of the puppets, such as the gang of sparkly Mylar flying dragons (or "bohemian Barneys," jokes Linnihan), were built by youngsters in the workshops that are the Co-op's raison d'être; its mission is to help build communities by helping them build puppets. One floor is crammed with scary constructions that were made by the Cooperative for various Halloween parades, including a dozen giant, loose-jawed skeletons, a coyote pack and Mr. Corporate Ice Man.

Maybe you'd like to take him home?—Barbara Aria

To schedule an appointment at the New York Puppet Library, call 718-853-7350.