Bryant Park is where I often sit for a spell before heading out. It’s the last chance to soak up the vibe of the city before catching a train. Sometimes it’s a place to eat and rehydrate, other times a chance to poke through bags and see what treasures I’ve found to bring home. Always though, it is a comfort place. It’s wide open and beautiful, the views are stunning, and its good for people watching.
Summer in Bryant Park
Like so much of NYC, one can get lost in the history of a spot. In 1686 this area was designated as public property. I learned on the Bryant Park website that General George Washington raced his troops across the land when being chased by the British at the start of the Revolutionary war.
The Upper Terrace by the NY Public Library is my favorite spot to take photos. It offers the best views of the lawn and the midtown skyscrapers on 6th Ave.
I love this view from the Upper Terrace of the Bank of China (2016), 1045 6th Ave (center). It’s one of my favorite midtown buildings.
This shot really gives you perspective: the massive Salesforce Tower (1974), 1095 Avenue of the Americas, and Bank of America building (2010) at One Bryant Park tower over parkgoers.
One Bryant Park has hosted scenes in a number of movies: Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Younger, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, and The Newsroom.
Bryant Park Chess is on the south side of the park, near Le Carrousel. The park makes the chess boards available every day from 11am – 7pm and an attendant is there to help and oversee the games.
Le Carrousel in Bryant Park was created to complement the park’s French classical style. It plays French cabaret music and is just wonderful to watch. Not the greatest shot, I’ll have to take a better one.
The beautiful layout of Bryant Park is the gift of architect Lusby Simspson, whose design won a contest in the 1930’s. When Robert Moses became Parks Commissioner the plan was put into action, and the park opened to the public on September 14, 1934.
I took this shot this weekend, it perfectly embodies summer dining at Bryant Park Grill. 25 W. 40th St.
The marvelous Bryant Park Hotel, formerly the American Radiator Building (1924), 40 W. 40th St. It’s been covered in scaffolding for a few years while they restored the pinnacle, so I’m loving the bare and clean look!
The architects combined Gothic and modern styles in the design of the 23-story building. Black brick on the frontage of the building (symbolizing coal) was selected to give an idea of solidity and to give the building a solid mass. Other parts of the façade were covered in gold bricks (symbolizing fire), and the entry was decorated with marble and black mirrors.
Real estate developer Philip Pilevsky bought the main tower for $15 million in 1998 and began turning it into a 170-room hotel.
A summer storm ready to break over Bryant Park. The W.R. Grace Building (1974) curves upward. I took this photo in 2019, before One Vanderbilt was completed; you can see it behind the trees on the right.
Autumn settles over Bryant Park
Arrive early enough in the morning and you can catch a free exercise class. Classes are year-round starting at 7AM.
In autumn the park practically begs you to sit and soak up its beauty. In a short time it will be cold and less inviting, so make the most of today.
The French classical style of the park is unmistakeable, and found in so many of its accents. My favorites are the planters and the elegant barouque-style torchères.
A close-up of one of the torchères, on the 6th Ave side.
The park is a haven for readers; in fact there is a reading room on the north side where you’ll find a nice variety of books and papers.
The original Reading Room began in August of 1935 as a public response to the Depression Era job losses in New York. Many people did not have anywhere to go during the day, and no prospects for jobs. The New York Public Library opened the ‘Open Air Library’ to give these out-of-work businessmen and intellectuals a place to go where they did not need money, a valid address, a library card, or any identification to enjoy the reading materials.
It’s October, and time to pull up the lawn and get ready for the skating rink, and the Winter Village.
I wonder how many people know that under the lawn lies a fantastic book bunker with 55,600 square feet of space. You can read all about it here: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/21/nyregion/new-york-public-library-book-train.html#:~:text=The%20space%20under%20the%20park,converted%20into%20the%20Milstein%20stacks
1992 Sculpture of Gertrude Stein (1874-1946), trailblazing American author and arts patron. In the 1920s she established a cultural salon in Paris, and influenced such writers as Ernest Hemingway, Sherwood Anderson, and F. Scott Fitzgerald.
The Josephine Shaw Lowell Memorial Fountain (1912) commemorates social worker Josephine Shaw Lowell, who founded the Charity Organization Society. According to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Shaw was the first female member of the New York State Board of Charities; the fountain marks the “first woman to be honored by a major monument” in the city.
It’s late November, and the Winter Village is up. Everything the artisans offer is lovely and high-quality, whether jewelry, food, crafts and gifts.
The London Plane trees in November. From 1822 to 1840 the land here served as a potter’s field, until the Croton Reservoir was built next door, where the NY Public Library now stands.
Even in November the some of the greens are alive. The Bryant Park Café does it’s best to create privacy for you as you dine.
William Cullen Bryant, by Thomas Hastings (1911). During the Civil War, this land was called Reservoir Square and was used as an encampment for the Union Army. In 1884 the square was renamed Bryant Park, in honor of abolitionist and New York Evening Post Editor William Cullen Bryant (1794-1878).
Winter in Bryant Park
The sun sets down W. 41st Street, as the skaters flock to the skating rink.
December crowds at the skating rink. This is NYC’s only free skating rink! You can rent skates for $15-$50.
The Empire State Building looks like it’s standing guard as skaters whirl by and enjoy the frosty night.
How inviting! You know you’ll be warm in here. I imagine sitting here with coffee and a good friend.
The Josephine Shaw Lowell Memorial Fountain at night. The Winter Village is in full swing, but the warm lights of the New York Public Library are what call to me.
A January view of the Winter Village, from 6th Ave. The holidays may be over, but the Winter Village will stay up a while.
It’s a frigid February afternoon and few folks are braving the cold (your fearless photographer excepting). A view from the northwest corner of the park.
Le Pain Quotidien (The Daily Bread) is my lemonade stop. Even when it’s freezing outside the lemonade is divine!
When it’s this cold the fountain starts to freeze over. It doesn’t stop me from sitting a while, though.
An ice-encrusted fountain.
A nighttime shot of the Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) sculpture.
Springtime in Bryant Park
You can feel the hope and and freshness as the park transitions into spring.
You just have to wonder how that happened. A squirrel, maybe?
Perky violas are a welcome sight after winter.
I couldn’t think of a better place to read, could you?
Thank you for walking with me!
Dedicated with love to Auntie Joanne.
All photos by Debbie In the City, all rights reserved.
Sources:
https://bryantpark.org
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Radiator_Building
https://www.nyc-arts.org/organizations/bryant-park-reading-room/
https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/bryant-park/monuments/1502
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephine_Shaw_Lowell_Memorial_Fountain
3 responses to “A Year of Beauty in Bryant Park”
What wonderful photos you got! How I love to see such a happy place for me change throughout the year. You really managed to capture the change throughout the seasons in these photos. Bravo!
I’ve been going to Manhattan since 1974 and Bryant Park has always been a big favorite. To sit and watch the people so happy and listen to all the languages and accents, divine!
Have been to the Winter Village; watched the skaters; loved the small tables and chairs to sit and rest and gaze; hydrate; yes, poke around and peek at the treasures and trinkets I purchased earlier; gazed at the planters with flowers; admired the Christmas tree … but I was young then. I never noticed or appreciated all the beauty captured here. I’m in love with the frozen fountain. Always meant to go to Le Pain Quotidien. Never heard the carousel’s music … Once on a bus returning from the Nutcracker at Lincoln Center, an elderly woman told me I must go to Bryant Park Grill once in my life. Missed it.
Now my knees are not my friend. I long to be back at Bryant Park. Am so grateful to be able to visit it virtually and view even more beauty and detail than I could have ever imagined.
Maybe some day … THANK YOU
Thank you for sharing your memories. The greatest compliment you could give my photos is that they reminded you of good memories.