Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
floors, looking, for all the world, like streamline-Gothic hood orna-
ments. The observation deck closed long ago, but you can visit its
lavish ground-floor interior, which is Art Deco to the max.
405 Lexington Ave. (at 42nd St.). Subway: S, 4, 5, 6, 7 to 42nd St./Grand Central.
Flatiron Building
This triangular masterpiece was one of the first
skyscrapers. Its wedge shape is the only way the building could fill
the triangular property created by the intersection of Fifth Avenue
and Broadway, and that happy coincidence created one of the city's
most distinctive buildings. Built in 1902 and fronted with limestone
and terra cotta (not iron), the Flatiron measures only 6 feet across at
its narrow end. So called for its resemblance to the laundry appli-
ance, it was originally named the Fuller Building, then later “Burn-
ham's Folly” because folks were certain that architect Daniel
Burnham's 21-story structure would fall down. It didn't.
175 Fifth Ave. (at 23rd St.). Subway: R to 23rd St.
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library,
adjacent to
Bryant Park
and designed by Carrère & Hastings
(1911), is one of the country's finest examples of Beaux Arts archi-
tecture, a majestic structure of white Vermont marble with
Corinthian columns and allegorical statues. Before climbing the
broad flight of steps to the Fifth Avenue entrance, note the famous
lion sculptures—
Fortitude
on the right, and
Patience
on the left—so
dubbed by whip-smart former mayor Fiorello La Guardia. At Christ-
mastime, they don natty wreaths to keep warm.
This library is actually the
Humanities and Social Sciences
Library,
only one of the research libraries in the New York Public
Library system. The interior is one of the finest in the city and fea-
tures
Astor Hall,
with high arched marble ceilings and grand stair-
cases. Thanks to restoration and modernization, the stupendous
Main Reading Rooms
have been returned to their stately glory and
moved into the computer age (goodbye, card catalogs!). After a $5-
million restoration, what was once known only as Room 117, a
Beaux Arts masterpiece with incredible views of Fifth Avenue and
42nd Street, reopened and is now known as the Lionel Pincus and
Princess Firyal Map Division. Here you will find possibly the finest
and most extensive collection of maps in the world.
Even if you don't stop in to peruse the periodicals, you may want
to check out one of the excellent rotating
exhibitions.
And in 2008,
the Library's facade will begin a 3-year restoration, to be completed
for the building's centennial in 2011.
