New York Public Library, New York City — Visitor Guide & Things to Do Nearby

The New York Public Library's main branch, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, is one of the most magnificent public buildings in the United States. Sitting on Fifth Avenue between 40th and 42nd Streets, directly behind Bryant Park, it has been a temple of knowledge and architecture since it opened on May 23, 1911. The building was designed by Carrere & Hastings in the Beaux-Arts style and took 10 years to build, rising on the site of the old Croton Reservoir. The two stone lions flanking the entrance are named "Patience" and "Fortitude," nicknames given by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia during the Great Depression as qualities New Yorkers needed to endure hard times. Inside, the Rose Main Reading Room is the building's crown jewel: a 78-foot-long hall with 52-foot ceilings, painted with murals of cloudy skies, and lit by grand chandeliers. The room can seat 500 readers and has been a workspace for some of the most important writers, scholars, and thinkers of the past century. The library holds more than 53 million items, including a Gutenberg Bible, an original Declaration of Independence draft, and Christopher Columbus's 1493 letter announcing the discovery of the New World. Everything about the main branch is free: entry, exhibitions, the reading rooms, and the daily guided tours. If you're on a Questo quest through midtown Manhattan, the NYPL is a stop where the grandeur of the building is matched by the generosity of its mission: free knowledge for everyone who walks through the door.