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Public Spaces in NYC
By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 23, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Mar 23, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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There's a rapturous look at the Bloomberg Tower at 731 Lexington
in Newsday. Even though the basic exterior of 731 Lex is not that great (it's kinda tacky) in our opinion, Justin Davidson raves about the potential of the inner piazza:
Its heart is a cobbled oval that links 58th and 59th streets, a private driveway disguised as a public piazza called Beacon Court. If it were truly open - if security guards did not track your steps through the premises or prohibit snapshots - it would be a marvelous civic gift.
This made Gothamist wonder about some of the great public spaces that some privately owned office buildings have, like the plaza at IBM or the Sony Building. There's Worldwide Plaza on the West Side, not to mention little nooks and crannies where you can eat your lunch in nice weather. We did a little research and discovered something awesome. The city has maps of these privately-owned public spaces:
- Downtown Manhattan
- Greenwich Village
- Clinton and the Upper West Side
- Central Midtown
- East Midtown
- Upper East Side
- Downtown Brooklyn
- Long Island City
Are there any public spaces you like? And Wired NY on Bloomberg Tower.
Photo of Bloomberg Tower's inner piazza from Newsday
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Worldwide Plaza
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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