New York Historic Buildings -Visit the Six Best

Explore Some of the Most Famous Sites and Interiors in the USA

Jul 4, 2009

New York City has many fine world-class buildings, some of which are famous around the world. See all of the six listed below without having to leaving Manhattan.

From the Algonquin Hotel to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, the diverse contemporary and historical architecture of New York is typical of the imagination and style of this great city.

New York - The Cloisters

The Metropolitan Museum’s collection of mediaeval art is housed in this group of mediaeval cloisters and a chapel imported from Europe by John D.Rockefeller in the 1930s. It’s a rather incongruous sight – one that would look more at home in a mediaeval European town than in 20th-century Manhattan. It’s a beautiful, peaceful spot and a good place to rest after a busy day’s exploring. The herb garden contains more than 250 species of plants that were cultivated during the Middle Ages. Admission charge.

This beautiful Beaux-Arts building dates from 1903. It’s a wonderful open space, with a barrel-vaulted ceiling decorated with a painting of the winter night sky. Its 2,500 stars are shown back to front: “As God would have seen them”, the artist is said to have remarked. The terminal evokes the romance of train travel. It’s massive clock is a fabled meeting place and the concourses are stuffed with restaurants and shops and there are very good, free, tours available: call 212-697-1245 for tour information.

New York Public Library

Two marble lions mark the entrance one of New York’s finest buildings. Beautifully decorated inside and out in the Beaux-Arts style the interior is full of light from graceful arched windows. It was completed in 1911 and is one of the world’s leading research institutions. Among its treasured possessions are a letter written by Christopher Columbus, a first edition of Shakespeare’s works, and a draft of the declaration of Independence in Jefferson’s own hand.

Don’t miss the Main Reading Room, the showpiece of the library. Like the Spanish Steps in Rome, the great steps of the New York Public Library function as a popular meeting place, as well as a place to rest. No admission charge.

New York - Cathedral of St. John The Divine

Building of the cathedral started in 1892, and it is still going on. If ever it is completed it will be the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. It always has scaffolding around it. You can watch masons at work during the week, mostly local African Americans being trained by stone masons from England. It is equally busy inside, with choral groups and ensembles and an ongoing list of events. Classical and jazz concerts sound exceptionally good in this soaring space. There’s a Children’s Sculpture Garden beside the cathedral, displaying small bronze sculptures made by schoolchildren. Free Tours.

New York - Chrysler Building

If you can call a skyscraper pretty, this is the prettiest in New York – the perfect Art Deco building. Although it is no longer the property of the automobile manufacturer, it carries many hallmarks of the motor car. Its stainless steel arches represent a Chrysler car’s radiator, circa 1930 and its white facade is decorated with all sorts of designs taken from hub caps. For a fleeting moment it was the world’s tallest, but was very soon eclipsed.

Take a look at the lobby, with its opulent elevators and walls covered in African marble. For a great photo opportunity, you get the best view of it from the Empire State Building. Free Admission.

The Algonquin is historically impressive. It has hardly changed since the 1920’s when it was a literary hangout for The Round Table, a sort of American Bloomsbury Group of celebrated writers presided over by Dorothy Parker, known for her witticisms. She was to say: “Dammit, it was the twenties and we had to be smarty”.

The bar is one of the most civilised places in town to have drink. You’ll be in good company: Bernard Shaw, Noel Coward and Irving Berlin all frequented the Algonquin.

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