Bryant Park is without doubt, the loveliest place in midtown Manhattan to have lunch out in the open or take a stroll after work. Located between Fifth and Sixth Avenues and 42nd and 40th Streets, the park is a little oasis among the sky-high concrete and corporate stress of the Big Apple.
However, the park was not always so wonderful. In the beginning of the 19th century the territory served as a common graveyard for the city's poorest residents. In the 1840s the bodies were excavated and moved to Wards Island by East Harlem. The territory then became known as Reservoir Square, in honor of the Croton Distributing Reservoir, the manmade lake supplying the city with drinking water. In 1853 the New York Crystal Palace was built on the square to host the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations. During the American Civil War the square was used for military drills. It was renamed Bryant Park only in 1884, in honor of poet, journalist and editor of the New York Evening Post, William Cullen Bryant. In the beginning of the 20th century the New York Public Library's Main Building built a structure under the park to house its archive. In the 1960s the park saw many anti-Vietnam protests, including the famous 1969 rally that had the participation of 40,000 people. In the 70s the park was teeming with prostitutes, drug dealers and the homeless. It was only in the 80s that the Bryant Park Corporation initiated a project to clean up the territory and give it a civilized aspect.
Today, during lunchtime, Bryant Park is the most popular midtown hangout for business executives. It is also visited by library-goers, reading books at the reading room, on the lawn or the café tables. One can admire sculptures, fountains, shop in the holiday shopping booths, ride a carrousel or just sprawl out on the grass and gaze up at the enchanting glass and steel towers soaring higher than the clouds. In the winter you can even do a couple of laps at the Citi Pond skating rink. The park is an all-year-round attraction