Among the towering sky scrapers, honking taxi cabs and the melange of meandering tourists and scrambling businessmen that define Midtown Manhattan is one of the island’s finest refuges. Amid all of the slightly-choreographed chaos is the New York Public Library, a serene oasis in the center of the concrete jungle. From the exterior, the grand branch of the New York Public Library system on the corner of 5th avenue and 42nd street appears as hectic and crowded as any other corner of the city, with guided groups gathering on the structure’s front steps and adventuresome youngsters clamouring for space with pigeons on the backs of the foreboding marble lion statues that stand guard at the entrance. However, once one wanders into the interior of the building a world of literary and architectural brilliance opens up like the pages of a novel. New York Habitat has been placing visitors in Midtown Manhattan accommodations for years, and 2010 will be no different.
The New York Public Library’s branch on 42nd and 5th has been the crown jewel of the public library system since it opened way back in the spring of 1911. Today’s library is widely recognized as one of the finest in the world for its catalogue, character and tradition of serving the community. While architectural buffs will surely marvel at the Beaux Arts structure, the bookish will feel most at home in the libraries nooks and expansive reading rooms. Each day the library wears thousands of different hats; museum for visitors marvelling at the earliest known copy of the Nican Mopohua, educational space for children in the new Children’s Room, resource for fact-finding journalists and inspiration for novelists scratching away at their notepad in quiet possibly the quietest corner in all of Manhattan. The literary possibilities are endless in the Public Library and so is the number of people that take advantage of the public service, from area students to far- flung tourists. Nonetheless, Perhaps the most marvellous aspect of the library is the silence that permeates the revered building. Despite its bustling location in New York, the library remains a place of calm and respite, no matter how many tourists gather for photos on her steps.
New York Habitat has a countless number of apartments available in Manhattan, below are a few to get your search off the ground:
– This charming 1 bedroom apartment rental in Midtown West (NY-15221).
– Just around the corner from the big library is this fully furnished 1-bedroom vacation rental accommodation in Murray Hill (NY-14517). This modern Manhattan apartment is an ideal choice for couples of solo travellers.
Come back next week to discover another Top Literary Haunt in New York: the Strand Bookstore!
Really cool article I love libraries.
I always wanted an apartment that had a library in it! Like that beautiful library in Beauty and the Beast!
OMG! I love that scene in Sex and the City when Carrie is going to get married at the library! It is so amazing looking! SO New York!
I have to say, I really like the library in Brooklyn Better. Grand Army Plaza is beautiful. I love to check a book out from the library there and go read in Prospect Park or in front of the Brooklyn Museum.
The Public Library is next to Bryant Park which is great location in Midtown New York. I wish I could go there very often, but unfortunately I live in Baltimore,MD now.
Isn’t this right by NYHabitat’s office?
They have a stamp museum too or something right?
Incredible museum in the heart of New York. Just to look at from the outside, is a experience and a treat without going inside to see the incredible libary of books on offer!!