Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
CITIGROUP CENTER
601 Lexington Ave between E 53rd and E 54th sts. Subway #6 to 51st St.
MAP
Opened in 1978, the chisel-topped
Citigroup Center
(formerly the Citicorp Center) is one
of Manhattan's most conspicuous landmarks. The slanted roof was designed to house solar
panels to provide power for the building, and it adopted the distinctive building-top as a cor-
porate logo. Inside lies small
St Peter's Church
, known as “the Jazz Church” for being the
venue of many a jazz musician's funeral; jazz vespers are held Sundays at 5.45pm.
THE SONY BUILDING
550 Madison Ave between E 55th and E 56th sts. Subway E, M to 5th Ave/53rd St or Lexington Ave/53rd
St.
MAP
Philip Johnson's 38-storey
Sony Building
(1978-84) follows the Postmodernist theory of
eclectic borrowing from historical styles: a Modernist skyscraper sandwiched between a
Chippendale top and a Renaissance base. Even though the first floor is well worth ducking
into to soak in the brute grandeur - and, if you've got kids and booked well in advance, to
visit the
Sony Technology Wonderlab
(free 212 833 8100) - some speculate Johnson
should have followed the advice of his teacher, Mies van der Rohe: “It's better to build a
good building than an original one.”
THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY
E 42nd St and Fifth Ave. Subway B, D, F, M, #4, #5, #6 to 42nd St. 917 275 6975,
www.nypl.org
.
Mon &
Thurs-Sat 10am-6pm, Tues & Wed 10am-8pm, Sun 1-5pm (except in summer), building tours Mon-Sat
11am & 2pm, Sun 2pm.
MAP
This monumental Beaux Arts building, faced in brilliant white marble (and recently restored
for the library's centennial), is the headquarters of the largest public-library system in the
world. Plenty of folks meet at the
NYPL
's steps, framed by two majestic reclining lions, to
while away the time; head inside to explore the place on your own or to take a free guided
tour. The latter gives a good all-round picture of the building, taking in the
Map Room
and
evocative
Periodicals Room
, with its stunning faux-wood ceiling and paintings of old New
York. The undisputed highlight, however, is the large, coffered 636-seat
Reading Room
on
the third floor. Authors Norman Mailer and E.L. Doctorow worked here, as did Leon Trot-
sky during his brief sojourn in New York just prior to the 1917 Russian Revolution. It was
also here that Chester Carlson came up with the idea for the Xerox copier. Plans are in the
works to modernize the system, move many books from the underground stacks and to al-
low for lending - as of now, any item request works in an archaic system, complete with
pneumatic tubes.
