Bryant Park

Bryant Park, August 2003

Bryant Park is a 9.603 acre (39,000 m²) public park located in New York City. It is bounded by Fifth Avenue, Sixth Avenue (officially, Avenue of the Americas), 40th Street and 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan. The main branch of the New York Public Library is in the park. Although part of the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, Bryant Park is managed by the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation.

History

While it was still a wilderness, New York's colonial governor Thomas Dongan designated the area now known as Bryant Park as a public space in 1686. George Washington's troops crossed the area while retreating from the Battle of Long Island in 1776. From 1823 to 1840 it was a potter's field.

The first park at this site opened in 1847 as Reservoir Square. It was named after its neighbor, the Croton Distributing Reservoir. In 1853, the Crystal Palace Exhibition took place in the park, with thousands of exhibitors.

The square was used for military drills during the American Civil War, and was the site of some of the New York Draft Riots of July 1863, when the Colored Orphan Asylum at Fifth Avenue and 43rd Street was burned down.

In 1884 Reservoir Square was renamed Bryant Park, to honor the New York Evening Post editor and abolitionist William Cullen Bryant. In 1899 the Reservoir building and construction of the New York Public Library building began. Terraces and kiosks were added to the park.

However the construction of the Sixth Avenue Elevated railway in 1878 had cast a literal and metaphorical shadow over the park, and by the 1930s the park had suffered neglect and was considered disreputable. The park was re-designed in 1933-1934 as a Great Depression public works project under the leadership of Robert Moses. The new park featured a great lawn, but also added hedges and later an iron fence that cut off the park from the surrounding city streets. The park was temporarily degraded in the late 1930s by the tearing down of the El and the construction of the IND Sixth Avenue Line subway.

By the 1970s Bryant Park had been taken over by drug dealers, prostitutes, the homeless, and other seedy characters. It was nicknamed "Needle Park" by some due to its brisk heroin trade, and was considered a "no-go zone" by ordinary citizens and visitors. The Bryant Park Restoration Corporation was founded by the Rockefeller family to correct this. In 1988 a privately funded re-design and restoration was begun, with the goal of opening up the park to the streets and encouraging activity within it.

In 1992 the new Bryant Park re-opened and was an instant and spectacular success, immediately attracting local workers and tourists to it.

Bryant Park today

Bryant Park with the main branch of the New York Public Library behind it

Bryant Park now has a Parisian feel, and has been compared to Jardin du Luxembourg. When re-opened the re-designed French formal garden was planted exclusively in whites, pinks, and blues. Two thousand green chairs are available for sitting in.

On days when the weather is nice, Bryant Park is a popular spot for area office workers to eat lunch. Several dining spots are located in the park, including Bryant Park Grill, Bryant Park Café, Bryant Park Pub and Il Forno Toscano.

In the summer of 2002, the Bryant Park Wireless Network was launched, allowing free WiFi internet access within the park.

New York Fashion Week is held in tents in Bryant Park each autumn.

On Monday evenings during the summer, HBO presents the Bryant Park Summer Film Festival. Movies are projected onto a large screen and people sit on the lawn to watch. On Friday mornings during the summer, ABC's Good Morning America presents the Summer Concert Series. There is no admission charge for either event.

External links

• Bryant Park Restoration Corporation
• Another park history
• New York Public Library
• Gallery of photographs
• One day in the life of the Bryant Park