Fried Frank acted as pro bono counsel to the Bronx Children’s Museum in negotiating agreements with the NYC Parks Department to provide the Museum with a long-term agreement for the physical location. The Bronx Children’s Museum, which opened to the public on December 3, 2022, is the first of its kind in the Bronx, and is located at Mill Pond Park in South Bronx. The museum invites children to construct modular bridges, learn and play in a 35-foot-long model waterway, and so much more. They can also explore the borough’s urban side, by exploring the culture of an imaginary Bronx block. The project’s had a consistent group of long-time supporters to help the museum persevere, which includes two high-profile women who are native to the Bronx, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor of the United States Supreme Court and Sonia Manzano, the Emmy-winning writer and actress who played Maria on “Sesame Street.”
The Fried Frank team was led by real estate associate Eric Marlowe and included real estate partners David Karnovsky and Jonathan Mechanic, real estate special counsel Matthew Bettinger and real estate associate Sarah Zehentner. Wendy Levine, wife of Jonathan Mechanic, is the liaison to the Bronx Children’s Museum Board of Directors and coordinated all related construction needs.
