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Upon entering the new Flagship LEGO Store on Fifth Avenue, customers take in various New York City landmarks that surround the Tree of Life, the LEGO Group’s symbol signifying the ability to build from the ground up. These structures are comprised of approximately 3.5 million LEGO blocks, with the Tree of Life made of 880,000 blocks alone.
The LEGO Group rebuilt their version of New York City in the LEGO structures on the first floor of the store. Multiple Statues of Liberty sit throughout the store. One Lady Liberty even blinks and speaks, encouraging customers to interact with her. Other structures include the One World Trade Center, the Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Rockefeller Center skating rink.
“We asked how can we dedicate this night to celebrate what New York has built, unbuilt, and rebuilt through the challenges of 2020,” Regan Love-Campbell, East Coast Regional Director of LEGO, said. “How can we mark the creative reawakening in a city that is always building and inspire the world as it reopens as well?”
As the second LEGO Store in New York City, the Flagship location on Fifth Avenue honors the approaching return of Broadway with its own short musical feature, LEGO Store: The Musical. This opening number follows a young girl who joins Broadway actors, frontline workers, and LEGO Minifigures to build, explore, and celebrate the spirit of New York City. Renée Elise Goldberry, best known for her role as Angelica Schuyler in Hamilton, accompanies the young girl on her journey.
“[I’m] so incredibly proud of this musical number and to be bringing back the creativity and joy that Broadway has to offer after so long on hiatus,” Goldberry said. “LEGO store on Fifth embodies that same spirit of creativity and joy and this musical number celebrates everything that New York City, the city that’s always building, has to offer.”
The Flagship location also boasts elements set to arrive at other LEGO stores throughout the world. A Brick Lab and LEGO Minifigure Factory await customers who climb the stairs lined with Broadway posters made of LEGO bricks and pass by life-sized LEGO firemen saving a kitten from distress.
The Brick Lab features a 20-minute interactive experience that encourages customers to use LEGO bricks to create innovative designs. Their creativity can defeat an evil scientist who has taken over New York City. After children craft a LEGO structure, a scanning compartment transports their creation onto the interactive screen. Here, their creation floats around the virtual New York City.
To the right, the LEGO Minifigure Factory encourages customers to create the best — or most funky — version of themselves. After they virtually design a torso, a large printer places the design on a blank piece. Creators can then add their own legs, face, hair, and accessories.
After a stint of creating, customers can relax in a life-size taxi built with LEGO blocks. They can now return to a real New York City that awaits them outside. St. Patrick’s Cathedral is right across the street, and Radio City Music Hall waits around the corner. Mustard LEGO bags will soon line Fifth Avenue.
Next, check out the LEGO versions of famous art at The New York Hall of Science!
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