Instant Cities: New York

New York › Places and landmarks

New York Public Library

The marble library on Fifth Avenue, guarded by the two stone lions Patience and Fortitude.

See it in 3D Watch the tour

Photo: (vincent desjardins) from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, the main building of the New York Public Library, opened in 1911 on the site of an old reservoir. Carrère and Hastings built it of white marble in the Beaux-Arts style, and it was the largest marble building in the United States at the time.

Two stone lions lie at the foot of its steps on Fifth Avenue. In the 1930s Mayor Fiorello La Guardia named them Patience and Fortitude, the qualities he said New Yorkers would need to get through the Depression. Upstairs the Rose Main Reading Room, under a painted ceiling, is open to anyone who wants to read. Visit it in 3D ›

More in New York

Empire State BuildingThe Art Deco tower on Fifth Avenue and 34th Street, the tallest building in the world from 1931 to 1970. Times SquareThe crossing of Broadway and Seventh Avenue, under walls of lit screens, at the heart of the Theater District. Chrysler BuildingThe Art Deco tower on 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue, with a crown of steel arches and a needle on top. Grand Central TerminalThe great railway station on 42nd Street, with its hall under a ceiling of stars and its clock of opal. Rockefeller CenterThe Art Deco towers between Fifth and Sixth Avenue, with the golden Prometheus, the skating rink and the Christmas tree. Bryant ParkThe green lawn behind the Public Library, with its plane trees, its green chairs and in winter its ice rink. St. Patrick’s CathedralThe Gothic cathedral of white marble on Fifth Avenue, facing Rockefeller Center. Macy’s Herald SquareOne of the largest department stores in the world, on 34th Street, where the Thanksgiving Day Parade ends. Statue of LibertyThe copper statue in the harbour, a gift from France, that greeted the ships of the immigrants. Central ParkThe great park in the middle of Manhattan, four kilometres long, just north of the game’s map. Yellow cabsThe yellow taxis of New York, which you hail from the kerb with a raised hand. New York pizzaThe big, thin pizza sold by the slice, to be folded in half and eaten on the street.