Bryant Park, New York

Bryant Park is an 8-acre public park right in front of the New York Public Library. The oasis of greenery in the very heart of New York City sets amid the spectacular towering skyscrapers, such as the W.R.Grace building, the Bank of America, and the Bryant Park Hotel. This is the place where New Yorkers and visitors love to come for lunch or just to stretch out and take it easy for a while.

In 1686, when the area was still a wilderness, New York's colonial governor, Thomas Dongan, designated the area now known as Bryant Park as a public space. George Washington's troops crossed the area while retreating from the Battle of Long Island in 1776.

The first park on this site was called Reservoir Square, named after the adjacent Croton distributing reservoir. The square was the scene of the New York Draft Riots of July 1863 during the American Civil War. In 1884, it was renamed Bryant Park, after New York Evening Post editor and abolitionist William Cullen Bryant, whose statue now holds a prominent place in the park. In the 1970s the park had entered a state of deterioration, due to a lack of maintenance.

In 1988, the privately funded Bryant Park Restoration Corporation took over the matter, and the park was made into a safe and beautiful recreational area with movable chairs, chess tables, and cafes. The park is a regular host of fashion shows and summer film festivals and has a popular ice skating rink in winter.