Plateau Strategy

Destinations › New York

New York Public Library and Bryant Park

New YorkAttractionhistoric destination
New York Public Library and Bryant Park
Photo: photo source

Two marble lions guard a Beaux-Arts library whose main reading room is nearly as long as a football field, with Bryant Park behind it.

Guide's tip. Begin between the marble lions, Patience and Fortitude, then climb to the Rose Main Reading Room if it is open to visitors. Behind the library, Bryant Park offers chairs, shade and a skyline framed by trees. Walk 0.30 miles east on 42nd Street to Grand Central Terminal.

On a walking tour. Stop 2 of 9 on the walking tour New York, Midtown from the Empire State to Central Park, every stop on a map in walking order.

about 45 min for a visit

The story

The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building opened in 1911 as the central building of the New York Public Library, on ground that had held the walled Croton Reservoir. The architects Carrère and Hastings gave the city a Beaux-Arts palace of marble, and the two lions on the Fifth Avenue steps were later nicknamed Patience and Fortitude by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, for the qualities he thought New Yorkers needed in the Depression.

Upstairs, the Rose Main Reading Room runs nearly the length of a football field under a painted sky, and anyone may read there when it is open. Look for the long oak tables and the brass lamps, and for how quiet a room this large can be.

Bryant Park, behind the library, was neglected for decades before a restoration in the early 1990s made it one of Midtown's favourite outdoor rooms, with movable chairs, a lawn and trees that frame the towers. Library rooms, exhibitions and park events keep their own schedules, so check before planning around one.

Open in the Destination Book →Plan a day around it →Stay nearby →Eat nearby →

Nearby in New York