This film has historical value but it's very short and isn't a particularly fascinating film in and of itself. The print I saw (on the "Before Hollywood....." DVD) didn't have any title credits so I wasn't sure who the actors were but I recognized Mary Pickford and I also recognized D.W. Griffith's style. Coming as early as 1912 that's saying something for Griffith, but it's not a particularly interesting film other than as a study in early film and an example of Pickford towards the very beginning. Lionel Barrymore is also in the film as a minister who's been given the task in the dead mother's will of helping little Mary's character buy things from time to time without her father knowing it because he's a puritan type who wouldn't approve. He buys her a $10 hat, but the dad tears it up in a rage. From that point on there's not much plot and I won't "spoil" the ending per se but I didn't think it was a particularly interesting story.
Review of The New York Hat
