The Bryant

452 Fifth Avenue (also the HSBC Tower and formerly the Republic National Bank Building) is an office building at the southwest corner of Fifth Avenue and 40th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The building includes the 30-story, 400-foot (120 m) HSBC Tower, completed in late 1985 and designed by Attia & Perkins. The 10-story Knox Building, a Beaux-Arts office building designed in 1902 by John H. Duncan, is preserved at the base of the skyscraper. 452 Fifth Avenue faces Bryant Park immediately to the north. The HSBC Tower is designed with a glass facade, which curves around the Knox Building to the north; a similar curved tower across Fifth Avenue was never built. The Knox Building's facade remains largely as it was originally designed, with decorated limestone cladding, a cornice above the sixth floor, and a mansard roof. The Knox Building is a New York City designated landmark and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Internally, the tower is tied into the stories of the Knox Building. The Knox Building was erected between 1901 and 1902 for Edward M. Knox, who operated the Knox Hat Company and leased out several stories to office tenants. In 1964, the Knox heirs sold the building to a group that founded the Republic National Bank of New York and used the building as the bank's headquarters. The bank acquired the neighboring lots in the 1970s and hired Attia & Perkins to design a tower to house its new world headquarters, which would wrap around the Knox Building. The tower was expanded in the 1990s and sold to the investment bank HSBC. In October 2009, HSBC Holdings sold the building to Midtown Equities and Israeli holding company IDB Group, the latter of which passed the building to a subsidiary, Property & Building Corporation (PBC). HSBC continued to lease back its space in the building until 2022, when the bank announced it would relocate.

The Engineers' Club Building, also known as Bryant Park Place, is a residential building at 32 West 40th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, United States. Located on the southern edge of Bryant Park, it was constructed in 1907 along with the adjoining Engineering Societies' Building. It served as the clubhouse of the Engineers' Club, a social organization formed in 1888. The building was designed by Henry D. Whitfield and Beverly S. King, of the firm Whitfield & King, in the neo-Renaissance style. The building's facade is divided into three horizontal sections. The lowest three stories comprise a base of light-colored stone, including a colonnade with Corinthian-style capitals. Above that is a seven-story shaft with a brick facade and stone quoins. The top of the building has a double-height loggia and a cornice with modillions. Inside, the building contained accommodations for the Engineers’ Club, including 66 bedrooms and club meeting rooms. In the early 20th century, the Engineers' Club Building was connected to the Engineering Societies' Building. The Engineers' Club Building was partially funded by Andrew Carnegie, who in 1904 offered money for a new clubhouse for New York City's various engineering societies. The Engineers' Club did not want to share a building with the other societies, so an architectural design competition was held for two clubhouse buildings. The Engineers' Club Building served as a clubhouse until 1979, after which it became a residential structure. The building became a cooperative apartment called Bryant Park Place in 1983. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007, and the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the building as a landmark in 2011.

The American Radiator Building (also known as the American Standard Building) is an early skyscraper at 40 West 40th Street, just south of Bryant Park, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It was designed by Raymond Hood and André Fouilhoux in the Gothic and Art Deco styles for the American Radiator Company. The original section of the American Radiator Building, a 338 ft-tall (103 m), 23-story tower, was completed in 1924. A five-story annex, to the west of the original tower, was built from 1936 to 1937. The original structure consists of an eighteen-story tower above a base of five stories, while the western annex only rises five stories. The American Radiator Building's facade is made predominantly of black brick. Gold-colored decorations are used on the building's setbacks and pinnacles. Hood had intended for the original structure to be a standalone shaft, requiring the building to be set back from the lot line and reducing the maximum amount of space available. Inside, the basement, first, and second floors were originally designed as exhibition showrooms, while the upper stories served as office space. The building was completed five years before the American Radiator Company merged with Standard Sanitary Manufacturing Company to form American Radiator and Standard Sanitary Corporation, later known as American Standard. American Standard sold the building in 1988 to a Japanese company. The main building was sold in 1998 to Philip Pilevsky, who opened the Bryant Park Hotel there in 2001. The annex operated as the Katharine Gibbs School from 2001 to 2009 and was converted into the City University of New York's Guttman Community College in 2012. The American Radiator Building is a New York City designated landmark and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Macbeth Gallery was an art gallery in New York City that was the first to specialize in American art. Founded by William Macbeth in 1892, the gallery gained notoriety in 1908 when it put on an exhibition protesting the restrictive policies and conservative tastes of the existing art establishment in New York, exemplified by the National Academy of Design. The exhibition showcased the work of eight artists who were known for portraying gritty scenes of daily life, especially of poorer communities in New York: Robert Henri, William Glackens, George Luks, Everett Shinn, John Sloan, Arthur Bowen Davies, Ernest Lawson, and Maurice Prendergast. Though they had varying styles, the artists were later known collectively as "The Eight". Henri, Glackens, Luks, Shinn, and Sloan were associated with the Ashcan School, and the 1908 exhibition brought increased national attention to that movement and founded their reputations.In 1948, Andrew Wyeth's painting Christina's World was first exhibited at the Macbeth Gallery before it was purchased by the Museum of Modern Art.As the art scene in New York shifted towards abstract expressionism in the early 1950s, the gallery, which had focused on American Realism and Impressionism, started to fall out of favor. Macbeth celebrated its sixtieth anniversary with a group exhibition in April 1952 before closing its doors in 1953.

The Engineering Societies' Building, also known as 25 West 39th Street, is a commercial building at 25–33 West 39th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, United States. Located one block south of Bryant Park, it was constructed in 1907 along with the adjoining Engineers' Club. The building was designed by Herbert D. Hale, of the firm Hale & Rogers, along with Henry G. Morse, in the neo-Renaissance style. It served as the clubhouse of the United Engineering Societies, composed of its three founding societies: the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the American Institute of Mining Engineers (AIME), and the American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE). The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) joined the partnership in 1917. The Engineering Societies Building's facade is divided into three horizontal sections. The building was originally thirteen stories tall, excluding the second story, which was not visible from the facade. The lowest three stories comprise a rusticated base of limestone, including a colonnade with Doric columns. Above that is a seven-story stone midsection, followed by another loggia similar to that on the base. Inside, the building's first story contains the lobby. The second story is hidden beneath what was originally a double-tiered auditorium with 1,000 seats. The fifth and sixth stories contained several lecture rooms, and the seventh through eleventh stories contained engineering offices; the twelfth and thirteenth stories were devoted to an engineering library. Two stories were added later. The Engineering Societies' Building was funded by Andrew Carnegie, who in 1904 offered money for a new clubhouse for New York City's various engineering societies. The Engineers' Club did not want to share a building with the other societies, so an architectural design competition was held for two clubhouse buildings. By the 1950s, the Engineering Societies' Building was becoming too small for the engineering societies' needs, and the societies sold the clubhouse in 1960. In the late 20th century, the building was used by fashion firms such as women's clothing retailer Lane Bryant and fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger. The building has been owned by Thor Equities since 2005, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

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".

Lord & Taylor is an American e-commerce retailer which was originally the oldest surviving department store in the United States. Founded in 1826, the retail chain declared bankruptcy in 2020, ceasing brick-and-mortar operations in 2021.

The Croton Distributing Reservoir, also known as the Murray Hill Reservoir, was an above-ground reservoir at 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Covering 4-acre (16,000 m2) and holding 20 million US gallons (76,000 m3), it supplied the city with drinking water during the 19th century. Its massive 50-foot-high (15 m) granite walls, which presented a vaguely Egyptian-style facade, were 25 feet (7.6 m) thick. Atop the walls was a public promenade offering panoramic views; Edgar Allan Poe enjoyed walking there.When established, the Croton Aqueduct was New York City's foremost water source. Construction began in May 1837 and filling began July 4, 1842 amidst great fanfare. Prior to construction of the aqueduct, water was obtained from cisterns, wells and barrels from rain. The aqueduct and reservoir obtained their names from the water's source, a series of mostly underground conduits that would bring water from the Croton River in northern Westchester County to New York City's spigots.

The Lord & Taylor Building is an 11-story commercial building in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that formerly served as Lord & Taylor's flagship department store in the city. Designed by Starrett & van Vleck in the Italian Renaissance Revival style, it is at 424–434 Fifth Avenue between 38th and 39th Streets. Since 2023, it has been an office building for Amazon. The building's facade is made of limestone on the lower stories and gray brick on the upper stories, capped by a copper cornice. The structure contains a chamfered corner at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 38th Street, and it wraps around another building at Fifth Avenue and 39th Street. The store had multiple entrances, including a barrel-vaulted arch on Fifth Avenue The building was designed with several features that enabled the store to function efficiently, such as delivery ramps and movable window displays on elevators. The above-ground floors were connected via various elevators and stairs; there were no retail areas on the tenth floor. The building was constructed from 1913 to 1914 and served as Lord & Taylor's flagship store for over a hundred years. It was described as the first "frankly commercial" structure on Fifth Avenue north of 34th Street, and it replaced several of the company's previous headquarters. During the building's operation as Lord & Taylor's flagship store, it was renovated several times, and by the late 20th century, the store had expanded into an adjacent building. The Lord & Taylor Building was designated a city landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission on October 30, 2007. The building was mostly sold in a joint venture to workspace company WeWork in 2019. Amazon acquired the building in 2020, and opened an office there in mid-2023.

Stella and Charles Guttman Community College is a public community college in New York City. It is the newest of the City University of New York's (CUNY) community colleges and was founded on September 11, 2011. It opened on August 20, 2012 as New Community College. In April 2013 the college was renamed following a $15 million endowment from the Stella and Charles Guttman Foundation. Guttman offers associate degree programs with majors in liberal arts, sciences, business, human services, information technology (IT), and urban studies. Students are accepted with either a high school diploma or Certificate of High School Equivalency.

The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress) and the fourth largest in the world. It is a private, non-governmental, independently managed, nonprofit corporation operating with both private and public financing.The library has branches in the boroughs of the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island and affiliations with academic and professional libraries in the New York metropolitan area. The city's other two boroughs, Brooklyn and Queens, are not served by the New York Public Library system, but rather by their respective borough library systems: the Brooklyn Public Library and the Queens Public Library. The branch libraries are open to the general public and consist of circulating libraries. The New York Public Library also has four research libraries, which are also open to the general public. The library, officially chartered as The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations, was developed in the 19th century, founded from an amalgamation of grass-roots libraries and social libraries of bibliophiles and the wealthy, aided by the philanthropy of the wealthiest Americans of their age. The "New York Public Library" name may also refer to its Main Branch, which is easily recognizable by its lion statues named Patience and Fortitude that sit either side of the entrance. The branch was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965, listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966, and designated a New York City Landmark in 1967.

The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, commonly known as the Main Branch or the New York Public Library, is the flagship building in the New York Public Library system in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. The branch, one of four research libraries in the library system, contains nine separate divisions. The structure contains four stories open to the public. The main entrance steps are at Fifth Avenue at its intersection with East 41st Street. As of 2015, the branch contains an estimated 2.5 million volumes in its stacks. The building was declared a National Historic Landmark, a National Register of Historic Places site, and a New York City designated landmark in the 1960s. The Main Branch was built after the New York Public Library was formed as a combination of two libraries in the late 1890s. The site, along Fifth Avenue between 40th and 42nd Streets, is located directly east of Bryant Park, on the site of the Croton Reservoir. The architectural firm Carrère and Hastings constructed the structure in the Beaux-Arts style, and the structure opened on May 23, 1911. The marble facade of the building contains ornate detailing, and the Fifth Avenue entrance is flanked by a pair of stone lions that serve as the library's icon. The interior of the building contains the Main Reading Room, a space measuring 78 by 297 feet (24 by 91 m) with a 52-foot-high (16 m) ceiling; a Public Catalog Room; and various reading rooms, offices, and art exhibitions. The Main Branch became popular after its opening, and saw 4 million annual visitors by the 1920s. It formerly contained a circulating library, though the circulating division of the Main Branch moved to the nearby Mid-Manhattan Library in 1970. Additional space for the library's stacks was constructed under adjacent Bryant Park in 1991, and the branch's Main Reading Room was restored in 1998. A major restoration from 2007 to 2011 was underwritten by a $100 million gift from philanthropist Stephen A. Schwarzman, for whom the branch was subsequently renamed. Since 2018, the branch has been undergoing an additional expansion. The Main Branch has been featured in many television shows and films.