A Giraffe's been sighted in Brooklyn NY Olga Bloom was a violinist in a big symphony orchestra that played in a huge concert hall in Manhattan. Her husband played in the same orchestra. They and the other players often said that they would love to play the way jazz players do—with just a few musicians playing in a small place. Music lovers would come to hear them, without paying a lot of money. The Blooms said that when they retired from the symphony, they would build a place like this for classical musicians. And that’s just what they did. When they retired, they started right to work. Olga Bloom was looking forward to many years of working with her husband, but he died suddenly. Everyone expected Mrs. Bloom to give up the dream. But she didn’t. She knew it was a wonderful dream that would make a lot of people happy. So she went right on, without any help. She borrowed every penny she could and bought a very old barge that had been used a long time ago to carry coffee beans. It was leaky and dirty and everything on it was broken. But it was just the right size for a small concert hall. As soon as she fixed the leaks, she had it towed to a place just under the bridge that goes from Brooklyn to Manhattan. Well, that caused a fuss. The city officials said she needed permission to do that, but no one had ever heard of a concert barge. They didn’t know what kind of permission she needed, so they told her to take the barge away. Mrs. Bloom said she wouldn’t do that. She told them the concert barge was a really good idea and they would just have to figure out how to make it OK. The other big problem she had was all the work that needed to be done to the barge. She didn’t have the money to pay other people, so she started doing it all herself. People walking by couldn’t believe their eyes. There, in between huge, seagoing ships, was the little barge, and on the deck there was a gray-haired woman sawing wood, scraping rust, fixing pipes. A lot of people who worked on the ships and on the dock were so amazed, they decided to help her! Soon there were people helping her create a beautiful little concert hall with a huge window that looks at the lights of the city. After two years of very hard work, the concert hall was open. It’s been open ever since—city officials figured out new rules that make a music barge OK. Music lovers come there to hear fine musicians play in the small, perfect space. The tickets are much less expensive than tickets to the symphony. The barge rocks gently as the ships pass by and the musicians play. And everyone looks just as happy as Olga Bloom thought they would when she refused to give up her dream. All materials on this website ©1996 - 2005 The Giraffe Project