Grand Army Plaza (formerly Fifth Avenue Plaza and Central Park Plaza) is a public square at the southeast corner of Central Park in Manhattan, New York City, near the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Central Park South (59th Street). It consists of two rectangular plots on the west side of Fifth Avenue between 58th and 60th streets. The current design of Grand Army Plaza dates to a 1916 reconstruction by the architectural firm of Carrère and Hastings. The plaza is designated as a New York City scenic landmark.
The plaza is bisected by Central Park South (59th Street). The centerpiece of the plaza's northern half, carved out of the southeastern corner of Central Park, is the equestrian statue of William Tecumseh Sherman, sculpted by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The principal feature of the plaza's southern half is the Pulitzer Fountain, topped with a bronze statue of the Roman goddess Pomona sculpted by Karl Bitter. The area around Grand Army Plaza was largely residential in the late 19th century, with several hotels. Though the surrounding area was redeveloped into a commercial neighborhood in the 20th century, the plaza is still surrounded by hotels such as the Plaza Hotel and the Sherry-Netherland.
The northern half of Grand Army Plaza was planned in 1858 as one of four entrance plazas at Central Park's corners, and it was expanded south in 1868. Several proposals for the plaza in the 19th century were not executed. The idea for a unified treatment of the plaza was first proposed by Karl Bitter in 1898, and the Sherman statue was dedicated in the northern half of the plaza in 1903. After the newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer died in 1911, the entire plaza was redesigned, and a memorial fountain was installed in 1916. The plaza was rededicated in 1924 in honor of the Grand Army of the Republic, although it was rarely known by its official name. Grand Army Plaza was refurbished in the 1930s when the Pulitzer Fountain was rebuilt, and the fountain was rebuilt again in 1971. The plaza received another major restoration in the 1980s, and the northern half was renovated in the 2010s.
Site Grand Army Plaza is one of four monumental plazas placed at the corners of Central Park in Manhattan, New York City. The plaza is bounded on the north by 60th Street, which contains the Scholar's Gate entrance to Central Park. Along the western edge are the Pond and Hallett Nature Sanctuary to the northwest and the Plaza Hotel to the southwest. The plaza's southern border, on 58th Street, contains the Paris Theatre, Bergdorf Goodman Building, and Solow Building. At the southeast corner is the Squibb Building at 745 Fifth Avenue, which contained an FAO Schwarz toy store for much of the 20th century. To the east is Fifth Avenue, on which the General Motors Building, the Sherry-Netherland hotel, Park Cinq, and Metropolitan Club (from south to north) are located. The Pierre Hotel is located just north of the plaza, and the New York City Subway's Fifth Avenue–59th Street station is directly underneath. The region around Grand Army Plaza has been referred to as the "Plaza district".
Development history In the late 19th century, the area around the plaza had several Gilded Age mansions. Mary Mason Jones developed "Marble Row" on Fifth Avenue between 57th and 58th streets in the late 1860s, and Cornelius Vanderbilt II built his 58th Street mansion on the southern side of the plaza in 1882. Hotels were also developed around the Fifth Avenue Plaza in the late 19th century. The politician Boss Tweed and several associates unsuccessfully tried to develop a hotel on the east side of the plaza, which was abandoned in 1874 after Tweed fell from power. The original Plaza Hotel was built on the west side of the Fifth Avenue Plaza starting in 1883, and it was completed in 1890. It was followed by the Savoy and New Netherland hotels on the northeast and southeast corners of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street, respectively, in 1892. The last vacant lot surrounding the plaza, at the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and 58th Street, was developed in 1894. The original Plaza Hotel was replaced in 1907 with the current Plaza Hotel.
By the 1900s, the eastern side of Grand Army Plaza included the Savoy and New Netherland hotels, in addition to a bank and an apartment house. Apartments around the plaza tended to be high-priced at the time. Although the area to the south had become a commercial area, there were upscale residences to the north. During the 20th century, the area around the plaza was known for its hotels and high-end retail. By the time the Vanderbilt mansion was demolished and replaced with the Bergdorf Goodman Building in 1927, the area was almost fully commercial. The same year, the Savoy-Plaza Hotel was built on the eastern side of the plaza between 58th and 59th streets, and the Sherry-Netherland was developed immediately to the north.
In the two decades after World War II, dozens of apartment and office buildings were erected on the blocks surrounding Grand Army Plaza. Along the plaza itself, the Paris Theatre opened at the south end of the plaza in 1948.; Five apartment buildings were developed around Grand Army Plaza in the early 1960s, and the Savoy-Plaza was replaced by the General Motors Building in the mid-1960s. The demolition of the Savoy-Plaza resulted in a preservation movement to save the hotels around Grand Army Plaza. The New York City Planning Commission rezoned a three-block area around Grand Army Plaza in 1968, which prevented the construction of further office buildings around the plaza. By the late 20th century, the plaza separated the upscale residential neighborhoods and Museum Mile to the north from the upscale shopping districts to the south.
Monuments and plaza Grand Army Plaza has an area of approximately . The current plaza dates to a 1916 redesign by Carrère and Hastings. The plaza is bisected by Central Park South (59th Street), with an equestrian statue of William Tecumseh Sherman on its northern half and the Pulitzer Fountain on its southern half. There is disagreement over whether the plaza is part of Central Park. The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation (NYC Parks) does not consider the plaza to be part of Central Park, although there are sources that consider the plaza to be part of the park.
The plaza is a loading area for the horse-drawn carriages that travel through Central Park. Grand Army Plaza has also hosted various events throughout its history. For instance, starting in 1920, concerts were hosted in the plaza at night, and the Grand Army of the Republic also hosted annual ceremonies at the plaza's Sherman statue. In addition, the Pulitzer Fountain was lit during the Christmas holiday season during the mid-20th century. Starting in 1977, a menorah has been placed on or near the plaza every Hanukkah; the menorah is wide and tall. Since 2006, it has held the Guinness World Record for the world's largest menorah,; even though it is smaller than a similar menorah in Brooklyn's Grand Army Plaza.
Northern section
The centerpiece of the plaza's northern half, at the southeastern corner of Central Park, is the equestrian statue of William Tecumseh Sherman by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The gilded-bronze monument consists of an equestrian statue of Sherman, which is coated in 23.5-karat gold. Next to the Sherman figure is Victory, an allegorical female figure of the Greek goddess Nike, which is based on the likeness of the model Hettie Anderson. The figure's right hand reaches forward, while her left hand carries a palm branch. The statues are set on a Stony Creek granite pedestal designed by the architect Charles Follen McKim, measuring wide. Saint-Gaudens had been hired in 1892 to design the sculpture; the casting of the statue was displayed at the Exposition Universelle in 1900, but the statue was not installed until 1903. There is a trap door under the monument as well to allow maintenance workers to repair the statue's interior. Lampposts and benches are arranged around the monument. , the northern half of the plaza is flanked by two rows of London planes.
Also in the northern section of Grand Army Plaza, at 60th Street near Fifth Avenue, is the Scholars Gate entrance to Central Park. Next to Scholars' Gate is Doris C. Freedman Plaza, named in honor of arts activist and administrator Doris Freedman in 1981. Within Doris C. Freedman Plaza are temporary sculptural art installations presented by the Public Art Fund. Over the years, artists such as Henry Moore, Isamu Noguchi, Louise Nevelson, and George Segal have displayed work at Freedman Plaza. There is also a commemorative plaque measuring , which was donated by Freedman's daughter Susan Freedman.
Southern section
The principal feature of the plaza's southern half is the Pulitzer Fountain, topped with a bronze statue of the Roman goddess Pomona sculpted by Karl Bitter. The sculpture depicts the goddess of abundance holding a basket of fruit and is modeled after Doris Doscher. Bitter died in 1915 after completing the plaster cast of the figure, and Isidore Konti completed the statue. The fountain contains six basins, which gradually decrease in size toward the top. The largest, lowest basin measures wide at the base and high. The three lowest basins are curved, while the two basins above them are polygonal. The statue of abundance rises above the topmost, circular basin. There are also scallop figures and mythical creatures carved into the western and eastern sides of the fountain. The fountain is higher at its south end, so water flows toward the north. The limestone basins were rebuilt in Italian marble in the 1930s and then replaced with granite in the 1970s. Various trees and paved areas surround the fountain.
History
19th and early 20th century
Creation and early years Until the 19th century, a stream traveled through what is now the site of Grand Army Plaza, extending from the Upper West Side east to the East River; the Pond in Central Park is a remnant of this stream. The landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a contest to design Central Park in 1858, and the park was completed in 1876. The design included entrance plazas at each corner of the park. At the southeastern corner was the plaza on Fifth Avenue between 59th and 60th streets, which was recessed into the corner of the park. The original plaza contained no decorations at all, and there were also loading areas for horse-drawn carriages along the nearby stretch of Central Park South. The space was variously called the Fifth Avenue Plaza, the Central Park Plaza, or just "the Plaza". At the time, the Fifth Avenue Plaza was located on the outskirts of New York City and was surrounded by shacks.
Central Park's commissioners, who did not like the Fifth Avenue Plaza's sparse decoration, began soliciting plans to decorate the plaza in the 1860s. The architect Richard Morris Hunt proposed that decorative gates be installed at Central Park's entrances, including the Fifth Avenue Plaza. The gateway, at Fifth Avenue and 60th Street, would have been wide, with five portals separated by rows of elm trees. There would have been sculptures on decorative pedestals, in addition to a semicircular landing on the plaza's western end, which would have overlooked the Pond in Central Park. The landing would have included a column measuring tall, with sculptures representing the explorer Henry Hudson and the East and Hudson rivers, as well as a waterfall leading to the Pond. There would also have been a fountain within the plaza itself. The gateway was not installed because of opposition from Vaux, who believed that gates were not appropriate for a park that was supposed to be open to all.