12/8/2014
By Ivan Pereira
Kate Middleton brought some holiday cheer to a group of Harlem kids during her first royal outing in the Big Apple Monday, with the help of the city’s first lady.
Before the Duchess of Cambridge and her husband mingled with the Clintons and took in a Nets game at Barclays Center, she paid a morning visit to the Northside Center for Child Development at Madison Avenue and East 110th Street.
Crowds of fans lined up nearby, braving freezing temperatures, and East Harlem residents took in the scene from their windows in a bid to get a glimpse of royalty.
“A princess is coming here! That’s something big and great that never happens,” said Magali Martinez, 49, who has lived on the block for 25 years.
Chirlane McCray arrived first and about 10 minutes later Middleton showed up to a roar of “Kate! Kate! Kate!” from the crowd. The two made their way inside the center, and walked past the awe-struck staff.
“This is a typical day at Northside,” the facility’s executive director Dr. Thelma Dye joked.
The duchess helped the staff wrap presents for the kids in the gymnasium and at one point marveled at the skills of 71-year-old volunteer Mary Dawkins.
“Super speedy,” she said.
Middleton and McCray then met with 3 and 4-year old students with special needs and chatted with them for a while. Two of the students showed their appreciation by presenting the duchess and the first lady with bouquets of roses as they left Northside.
“They thought she was the princess from ‘Frozen,’” administrator Rose Ann Harris said.
Prince William traveled to Washington D.C., meeting President Barack Obama and attending a conference on illegal wildlife trade. The duke then returned to New York, where he and the duchess met Hilary and Chelsa Clinton at the British Consul General’s residence for a reception before watching the Nets take on the Cavaliers in Brooklyn.
A group of people numbering in the hundreds protested the grand jury decisions in the Michael Brown and Eric Garner cases at Barclays. The royals’ security earlier in the day said they expected no major problems.
The royal couple will visit the National September 11th Memorial and Museum Tuesday and then visit the nonprofit “The Door” and view some arts performances from inner city kids.
The Duke and Duchess are then scheduled to celebrate the talent partnerships between the U.K. and America at an event at the Empire State Building.
The final event on their city itinerary is dinner at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Tuesday night for the 600th anniversary of University of St Andrews.
(with Reuters/Alison Fox/pool report)
