The urban park with the highest occupancy density in the world
1. It was a cemetery and a water reservoir
Between 1823 and 1840, Bryant Park was a potter's field, a cemetery in which the poor and anonymous people were buried . The thousands of bodies buried there were exhumed and moved to Wards Island when work began in 1840 to build a large reservoir on this block between 40th and 42nd streets and Fifth and Sixth avenues that supplied the city with water for half a century. Remnants of his past as a deposit (thankfully not from the cemetery) can still be seen inside the great Municipal Library.
two. Has a buried library
In 1897, Bryant Park was transformed again, and on part of that block the great building of the municipal library that the Ghostbusters freed from…ghosts. At the end of the 1980s in the 20th century, the enormous amount of books and microfilm that the Library has forced to raise the esplanade of the park and build under it more than 40 thousand shelves that house more than three million books . So the next time you step on their lawn or skate on their rink, feel the culture enter your feet.
The Bryant Park Underground Library
3. The illustrious of the park
The inventor Nicholas Tesla he spent hours feeding the pigeons in Bryant Park. Probably, in that corner of peace he would find part of his inspiration and, as a tribute, the southwest corner of the park now has his name: 40th Street and Sixth Avenue is known as Nikola Tesla Corner . But Tesla is not the only illustrious person residing in this place who has a very clear preference for national heroes and writers. Thus, there is a sculpture dedicated to Benito Juarez, the hero of the Mexican nation and another to Jose Bonifacio de Andrada , hero of Brazilian independence. On the south side, there is a bust of the German writer goethe ; and another of the American poetess Gertrude Stein decorates the east corridor of the park that presides over the great memorial of the writer and journalist William Cullen Bryant , the most visible of all –finding the rest is almost a gymkhana–.
The Bryant Park Scavenger Hunt
Four. we all count
A secret that you probably already knew is that Bryant Park (like all New York parks) has free Wi-Fi . That is why so many people spend hours sitting on its green chairs or, when they leave, on its esplanade. What you probably don't know is that while you are so calm taking advantage of the free connection, someone is watching you and counting you: Bryant Park workers must count the number of visitors twice a day at 1:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. . These accounts have resulted in it being known to be the urban park with the highest occupancy density in the world . Wi-Fi helps, of course.
With wifi and crazy
5. Skating in winter / cinema in summer
The inexhaustible leisure offer it has also helps. Throughout the year, there is a reading corner that hosts talks with writers and famous people when the good weather is good; In addition, there are ping-pong tables and petanque courts. In summer, they give dance classes and small concerts. And in winter, a craft and gastronomy market fills all its narrow streets . Then there is the famous carousel. But what really attracts hundreds of people a day is the most winter bar skating rink that occupies its central esplanade between October and March and that, in the summer months, is converted into a great outdoor cinema.
The ultimate summer movie
6. The symbol of cold
The Bryant Park fountain dedicated to politics Josephine Shaw Lowell This winter has become the image of cold. It has been frozen for weeks and New Yorkers and other visitors have photographed it with the intention of sharing with the world the inhumane temperatures that have been suffered in the city. A powerful image that led you to sing 'Let it go!' which princess from Frozen. In the end, they had to remove the ice and cut off the water because of the danger of the stone breaking. . Now that winter is over, the fountain, filled with water again, will be the symbol of spring.
the frozen fountain
7. A wish well spent
Like all the fountains in the world, the one in Bryant Park also inspires its visitors to make a wish in exchange for a coin . Several times a year, park workers empty it of those coins (from up to 76 different countries) and, they say, collect between $3,000 to $4,000 a year (2,600-3,500 euros) that they reuse to improve the park itself.
A collection of between $3,000 and $4,000 per year
8. A public bathroom and clean!
That the park had a public bathroom probably wouldn't be much of a mystery or secret, but that bathroom being clean is. It is one of the most recommended public toilets in the city, with fresh flowers and classical music It is even better than the nearby Public Library.
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