Statue of William E. Dodge

The Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations was a World's Fair held in 1853 in what is now Bryant Park in New York City, in the wake of the highly successful 1851 Great Exhibition in London. It aimed to showcase the new industrial achievements of the world and also to demonstrate the nationalistic pride of a relatively young nation and all that she stood for. Jacob Aaron Westervelt, at that time Mayor of New York, was the President of the exhibition-committee. The general superintendent was Admiral Du Pont. Opening on July 14, 1853 with newly sworn President Franklin Pierce in attendance, the fair was seen by over 1.1 million visitors before it closed on November 14, 1854. The fair featured its own glass and iron exhibition building – the New York Crystal Palace – directly inspired by London's. The Palace was destroyed by fire on October 5, 1858.Walt Whitman, an American poet, wrote "The Song of the Exposition": ... a Palace, Lofter, fairer, ampler than any yet, Earth's modern wonder, History's Seven out stripping, High rising tier on tier, with glass and iron facades, Gladdening the sun and sky - enhued in the cheerfulest hues, Bronze, lilac, robin's-egg, marine and crimson Over whose golden roof shall flaunt, beneath thy banner, Freedom. Adjoining the Crystal Palace was the Latting Observatory, a wooden tower 315 feet (96 m) high, which allowed visitors to see into Queens, Staten Island and New Jersey. The tower, taller than the spire of Trinity Church at 290 feet (88 m), was the tallest structure in New York City from the time it was constructed in 1853 until it burnt down on August 30, 1856.Today, the expo is also remembered as the place where Elisha Otis demonstrated an elevator equipped with a device called a safety, which would kick in if the hoisting rope broke. This addressed a major public concern regarding the safety of elevators. Three years later, Otis installed the first passenger elevator in the United States in a New York City store.

The William Cullen Bryant Memorial is an outdoor sculpture of William Cullen Bryant, located at Bryant Park in Manhattan, New York. The bronze statue was created by Herbert Adams and installed in 1911, the year the New York Public Library Main Branch building was completed.The statue of William Cullen Bryant was one of the statues of “Eminent Americans” that surrounded the Palace of Fine Arts at the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, California. The William Cullen Bryant Memorial was a bronze of the same work by Herbert Adams. A portion of Bryant's poem, Thanatopsis, is at the base of the monument behind the New York Public Library which was not a part of the 1915 Panama Pacific International Exposition work.Adam's sculpture of Bryant is of an authoritative, elderly man in a conventional business suit with a throw on Bryant's lap suggesting he is a sedentary man, likely to retreat to his books and papers. He sits on an ancient Greek styled chair that recalls his love of the classics. The Bryant Memorial is an example of the legacy of the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago which spurred the City Beautiful movement in New York. The City Beautiful Movement, includes many of New York's grandest public buildings: the New York Public Library, the Customs House at Bowling Green, Pennsylvania Station and Grand Central Station.

An outdoor bronze portrait bust of German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe by sculptor Karl Fischer is installed on the south side of Bryant Park in Manhattan, New York. It is a replica of an iron and copper bust created by Fischer around 1832, the year of Goethe's death. Acquired by the Goethe Society of America in 1987, it was displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art until it was relocated to Bryant Park in 1932. Following its installation there, the iron and copper bust was replaced with a bronze casting and dedicated on February 15, 1932. The sculpture was refurbished in 1992 by the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation. The sculpture sits on a Swedish black granite pedestal.

Bryant Park is a 9.6-acre (39,000 m2) public park located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Privately managed, it is located between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue) and between 40th and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan. The eastern half of Bryant Park is occupied by the Main Branch of the New York Public Library. The western half, which contains a lawn, shaded walkways, and amenities such as a carousel, is located entirely over an underground structure that houses the library's stacks. The park hosts several events, including a seasonal "Winter Village" with an ice rink and shops during the winter. The first park at the site was opened in 1847 and was called Reservoir Square due to its proximity to the Croton Distributing Reservoir. Reservoir Square contained the New York Crystal Palace, which hosted the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations in 1853 and burned down in 1858. The square was renamed in 1884 for abolitionist and journalist William Cullen Bryant. The reservoir was demolished in 1900 and the New York Public Library's main branch was built on the site, opening in 1911. Bryant Park was rebuilt in 1933–1934 to a plan by Lusby Simpson. After a period of decline, it was restored in 1988–1992 by architecture firms Hanna/Olin Ltd. and Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates, during which the park was rebuilt and the library's stacks were built underneath. Further improvements were made in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Though it is owned by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Bryant Park is managed by the private not-for-profit organization Bryant Park Corporation, which was founded in 1980 and led the restoration of Bryant Park. The park is cited as a model for the success of public-private partnerships. The park is both a National Register of Historic Places listing and a New York City designated landmark.

Gertrude Stein is an outdoor bronze sculpture of Gertrude Stein, located at Bryant Park in Manhattan, New York. The casting was installed in 1992 and is based on a model created by Jo Davidson in Paris in 1923. It neighbors the New York Public Library Main Branch, which, according to the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, commemorates Stein's "significant literary contributions".

New York Crystal Palace was an exhibition building constructed for the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations in New York City in 1853, which was under the presidency of the mayor Jacob Aaron Westervelt. The building stood in Reservoir Square.

Gabriel Kreuther is a two-Michelin-star restaurant named after its chef and owner, Gabriel Kreuther. It was initially a one-star Michelin restaurant in its opening years and was subsequently awarded two stars in 2019. The restaurant specializes in modern Alsatian food with other French, German, and American influences. Their most famous dish is a sturgeon & sauerkraut tart with a caviar mousseline smoked in applewood. The restaurant also serves multiple house breads, including a savory kugelhopf with scallions and chive fromage blanc. Relais & Châteaux and entities such as Wine Enthusiast Magazine and Wine Spectator praised their varied wine list, primarily featuring wines from France, Germany, and other countries. Along with wine, their drinks include a variety of modern cocktails and traditional drinks from the chef's home region, including schnapps. Their current wine director is Aukai Bell. Their main dinner menu has a choice between two different tasting menus with a table located in their kitchen. There is also a less expensive pre-theater menu, a lunch menu with prix fixe options, and a large bar. Their bar offers a mix of modern and traditional cocktails. The restaurant offers a modern take on comfort food from Alsace, including flammekueche (a type of open tart), sausages, and à la carte dishes from their main menu. The restaurant was rated by Grub Street as having the best bar food in the city. While the food is considered to be Haute Cuisine, the restaurant is notably business casual, with Kreuther noting that this allows for a more "comfortable environment" without the hassle of needing a suit or jacket.

The Bryant Park restroom is a public toilet in Bryant Park, an urban park in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The 315-square-foot (29.3 m2) structure was built at the same time as the New York Public Library Main Branch and designed by the same architects. It opened in 1911 and closed in the 1960s as the surrounding park deteriorated. It was restored in the 1990s and underwent renovations in 2006 and 2017, modeled after luxury hotel bathrooms. With flowers, automatic toilets, original artwork, classical music, and an attendant, it is often regarded as among the best public bathrooms in the city, used by more than a million people per year.

The Josephine Shaw Lowell Memorial Fountain is an outdoor fountain in Bryant Park, Manhattan, New York memorializing Josephine Shaw Lowell, a social worker active in the late 19th century. The fountain was designed by architect Charles A. Platt and dedicated in 1912.

The State University of New York College of Optometry is a public school of optometry in New York City. It is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system and was established in 1971 as result of a legislative mandate of New York. It is located in midtown Manhattan in what was originally the Aeolian Building, which was built in 1912 for the Aeolian Company, a piano manufacturer. It is a center for research on vision and the only school of optometry in New York. The college grants a professional degree, the Doctor of Optometry (O.D.), and two academic degrees, the Master of Science (M.S.) in Vision Science and the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Vision Science. Continuing education courses for practicing optometrists are also provided by the College. The University Eye Center provides eye care, corrective lenses, and vision therapy to the public. The University Eye Center is one of the largest outpatient eye clinics in the country, with over 73,000 patient encounters in FY 2012-13.The Optometric Center of New York, established in 1956, is a foundation affiliated with the college to support vision science research, patient care, scholarships, and fellowships at the College and its clinical facilities. The college offers residencies to optometrists from around the world including specializations in subfields of optometry. The college enrolls between 80-100 optometry students per year in the professional degree program. About 20 of these students also seek an M.S. degree in Vision Science across the four years. The College also offers a Ph.D. in Vision Science and provides twelve graduate stipends per year. Research and graduate programs at the college are administered through the Graduate Center for Vision Research, which currently receives nearly $4 million in annual funding for research grants. Clinical research is conducted through the Clinical Vision Research Center. The college is a member of the SUNY Eye Institute.

José Bonifácio de Andrada e Silva, also known as the Andrada Monument, is an outdoor bronze sculpture of José Bonifácio de Andrada by José Otavio Correia Lima, located at Bryant Park in Manhattan, New York. It is 9 feet (2.7 m) tall and weights approximately 4,000 lbs. Lima was selected through a competition that was sponsored by the Brazilian government, which also donated $60,000 for the surrounding plaza and granite base.

The W. R. Grace Building is a skyscraper in Manhattan, New York City. The building was designed principally by Gordon Bunshaft, and completed in 1972. The building was commissioned by the W.R. Grace Company, and was also used by the Deloitte & Touche, LLP. The building is located at 1114 Sixth Avenue, but the main entrance is on 42nd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It overlooks Bryant Park and the New York Public Library's main branch. The building size has approximately 1.518 million square feet (141,000 m2) that are rentable, and sits on a site approximately 100 by 442 feet (30 by 135 m). The Grace Building is located on the former site of Stern's flagship department store and headquarters. Tenants include Bain & Company. The Michelin-starred restaurant Gabriel Kreuther is located in its lobby as well as a sister chocolate store.