Press

Spare Times for Children for April 19-25

The prospect of meeting police officers 10 feet tall might make you think of science-fiction robocops or the alien law enforcers in the “Star Wars” films. But all the officers in the museum show “10-Foot Cops” are fully human; it’s their partners who aren’t. These critical team members, some with evocative names like Alarm, Beacon and Shield, are horses. The police slang “10-Foot Cops” refers to the officers riding them, who seem to tower over the city streets. Young visitors to the Children’s Museum of Manhattan can learn about this working relationship in “10-Foot Cops: The NYPD’s Mounted Unit,” a display of photos, artifacts, video and art from the New York City Police Museum in Lower Manhattan, now closed because of damage from Hurricane Sandy.

Horses, used by the Police Department since 1845, first helped chase down nervous members of their species that had bolted. (A news clipping from 1897 details such an incident.) Today’s mounted forces — down to fewer than 100 — still help control crowds and manage parades. A photo from 2006 shows a mounted officer keeping onlookers. The exhibition easily captures the human-equine bond.

Police Inspector James Meehan is pictured in 1940 riding Steady, a horse he said could “keep time to any music” and tailored his walk to the ceremonial occasion. Another, Anzac, was so beloved by an officer, Walter Moulder — they’re here in a 1940s photo — that Patrolman Moulder visited Anzac every summer after the horse had been retired to a Catskills farm. (Above, another officer and his mount, about 1975.)

Children too young to read will still enjoy all the horse paraphernalia: a walled-off corner is partly outfitted as a stable, with farrier’s tools, a partial stall, old police uniforms and saddles from 1880 and 1960. Little ones can pose for pictures on small wooden horses; they can also sit at worktables for related crafts, which this Saturday and Sunday include decorating wooden horseshoes (2 to 4:15 p.m.) and making cardboard telescopes (noon to 4:15 p.m.) to gain the perspective of a “10-foot cop.”

A video screen features excerpts from Police Department films  from 1940 and 2007 that show the rigorous training mounted units require. They remind you that today a hero — or heroine — can still come riding to the rescue.

(Through Oct. 6, the Tisch Building, 212 West 83rd Street, 212-721-1223, cmom.org. Daily, except Mondays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; till 7 p.m. on Saturdays. Free with admission: $11; $7 for 65+; free for under 1 and members.)

By LAUREL GRAEBER