FAO Schwarz, Toy store in Manhattan, United States
FAO Schwarz is a toy store at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, and one of the oldest in the United States. The space includes a toy grocery store with small carts, a build-your-own remote-control car station, and a rocket ship about 27 feet (8 meters) tall at its center.
FAO Schwarz was founded in 1862 by a German immigrant in Baltimore before moving to New York City. After a long run on Fifth Avenue, the store closed in 2015 and reopened a few years later at its current Rockefeller Center location.
The store sits in the heart of Midtown Manhattan and is easy to reach on foot from several subway stations and Penn Station. Visiting on a weekday tends to be more comfortable since the store can get very busy on weekends and during school holidays.
The store has a giant floor keyboard that visitors can walk on to play melodies with their feet, similar to a scene from the 1988 film Big. That scene was actually filmed at the old FAO Schwarz location, making the keyboard a direct nod to the store's own film history.
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