Juggling equipment.

Alex Dyer in action

Bryant Park is next to the New York Public Library in midtown Manhattan, between 40th and 42nd Street and Fifth and Sixth Avenue. It is named after a poet and journalist, William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878), and it is an oasis of green in an area that mainly consists of skyscrapers. Not surprisingly, office workers love to relax there during their lunch break. Alex Dyer (see interview), is an international student advisor at Berkeley College, a business college on East 43rd Street. Alex’s hobby is juggling and five years ago he started juggling in Bryant  Park on his lunch break...  

OFFICIAL

Needless to say, people began to notice the man in a business suit who was juggling, and they stopped to watch. Alex has always been more than happy to teach his craft to others (for free) and soon he began giving informal lessons in the Park to anyone who was interested. Groups initially consisted of about 10 people. After 18 months the Park authorities noticed this new activity, but instead of asking Alex whether he had a licence or a permit, they invited him to become part of their “Programs in the Park.” Not only that, they offered him money for his services and even provided some equipment.

A BADGE OF HONOUR

Alex also teaches juggling in Bryant Park  on Tuesday evenings and Saturday mornings. He says that “As many as 150 people turn up on Tuesday evenings in summer.” I also learned to juggle with Alex and this entitles me to wear a badge that says,  “I learned to juggle at Bryant Park.”  I proudly carry it on my bag and when I ride the subway people often come up to me and say, “So did I!”

INTERVIEW

NEW YORK STORIES

LANGUAGE LEVEL C1 (ADVANCED)

Speaker: Chuck Rolando (Standard American accent)

We speak to a man who has a job – and a hobby:

Alex Dyer (Standard American/Very Mild German accent)

My name is Alex Dyer, I am Director of International Student Advising, so I’m an international student advisor at Berkeley College, a business college in Manhattan. I also juggle on my lunch break, from 12 o’clock to one o’clock every day. I started in early 2010. I started going out to juggle by myself in Bryant Park, and people started joining me out in the Park, to juggle. Bryant Park, for those who do not know, is in the middle of Manhattan, it’s where everyone comes for their lunch time to take a break in the middle of the day, a lot of business people. So people just saw me doing it and were attracted, and if they know how to do it, they come, they do it with me, if they want to learn how, I would teach them how, and then, about a year-and-a-half later, the Park saw that we had been coming there every day, and they said, “We want to make you part of our Programs in the Park,” so we said, “Sure, that sounds great!” They started buying us equipment, they started paying me to organize it a little bit, so a very, very nice situation.

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