Manhattan · New York County
445 Fifth Avenue
POPS - Outdoor Plaza
- Location
- 445 Fifth Avenue, at East 39th Street, Midtown / Murray Hill
- Size
- 0.10 acres
- Hours
- Open during business hours
- Type
- POPS - Outdoor Plaza
445 Fifth Avenue is a Privately Owned Public Space on Fifth Avenue in the Murray Hill / Midtown area, providing an outdoor plaza near the New York Public Library.
Fifth Avenue between 38th and 42nd Streets approaches the New York Public Library's magnificent Beaux-Arts main branch, where the stone lions Patience and Fortitude guard the entrance to one of the world's great research libraries.
The library's Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, completed in 1911, houses the Rose Main Reading Room, a 78-foot-long cathedral of learning that is one of the most inspiring interior spaces in New York. The room was restored to its original grandeur in 2016.
Bryant Park, behind the library, has been transformed from a drug-ridden no-go zone in the 1980s into one of Manhattan's most successful public spaces, with al fresco dining, a seasonal ice-skating rink, and free cultural programming.
This plaza provides public space on Fifth Avenue in the shadow of one of the most important cultural institutions in the Western world.