Grand Army Plaza (Manhattan)

plaza in Manhattan, New York City, USA

40°45′52″N 73°58′24″W / 40.76444°N 73.97333°W / 40.76444; -73.97333

W T Sherman, northern side of plaza
Pomona, atop the Pulitzer memorial fountain
1869 map of Grand Army Plaza
The Plaza Hotel, seen from corner of 5th Ave and 59th St

Grand Army Plaza is at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York. It is in front of the Plaza Hotel. It is opposite the southeast corner of Central Park. The sculptor Karl Bitter first had the idea for the Plaza in 1898. It is named after the Grand Army of the Potomac. The Carrère and Hastings architecture firm designed it. Construction was finished in 1916.

The Plaza is oval. 59th street divides it into northern and southern parts. The northern part has a golden statue of William Tecumseh Sherman designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The statue features Sherman on a horse with the goddess "Victory" in front of him. There are often temporary sculpture exhibits at the north side of the plaza.

The southern part is the Plaza of the Pulitzer Fountain of Abundance. This fountain was designed by Bitter and paid for by Joseph Pulitzer. A bronze statue of the Roman goddess Pomona is at the top of the fountain. The statue of Pomona was the last one that Bitter designed.

The plaza was renovated in 1990 at a cost of $3.7 million.[1][2][3][4][5] The Plaza Hotel is named for the Plaza, and is at its southwest corner.

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  1. Kenneth T. Jackson: The Encyclopedia of New York City: The New York Historical Society; Yale University Press; 1995. p. 497–498.
  2. Louie, Elaine (1 March 1990). "Currents; Grand Army Plaza's Rather Grand History". New York Times. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
  3. Goldberger, Paul (28 June 1990). "Review/Architecture; A Restored Grand Army Plaza, With a New Coat for the General". New York Times. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
  4. "Grand Army Plaza, Redressed". New York Times. 2 July 1990. Retrieved 14 April 2010.
  5. Morgan, Ann Lee (2007). The Oxford dictionary of American art and artists. Oxford reference online. Oxford University Press. p. 45. ISBN 9780195128789.