Grand Army Plaza (Manhattan)

Grand Army Plaza (Manhattan)

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Coordinates: 40°45′52″N 73°58′24″W / 40.76444°N 73.97333°W / 40.76444; -73.97333

Not to be confused with Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn.

W T Sherman, northern side of plaza

Pomona, atop the Pulitzer memorial fountain

Looking west down Central Park South from the vicinity of Grand Army Plaza.

The Plaza Hotel, seen from corner of 5th Ave and 59th St

Grand Army Plaza lies at the intersection of Central Park South and Fifth Avenue in front of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, New York City. It stretches from 60th to 58th Streets between East Drive and Fifth Avenue.

The idea for such a plaza was first proposed by sculptor Karl Bitter in 1898. It was designed by Beaux-Arts architecture firm Carrère and Hastings and completed in 1916. The New York City Board of Aldermen named it Grand Army Plaza in 1923 ^[1] after the Grand Army of the Potomac. ^[2]

The plaza's northern half, carved out of the very south easternmost corner of Central Park, has a golden equestrian statue of William Tecumseh Sherman designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. Sherman sits astride behind "Victory", her one hand holding a palm frond and the other pointing the way forward. Temporary sculpture exhibits are often mounted on this side of the plaza.

The southern features the Bitter-designed "Pulitzer Fountain of Abundance" contributed by publisher Joseph Pulitzer. It is topped with a bronze statue of the Roman goddess Pomona also designed by Bitter.

The plaza underwent a $3.7 million renovation in 1990.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} The world-famous Plaza Hotel sits on its southwest corner.