Columbus Circle

As yesterday I’ve mentioned Columbus Day, today it’s time to talk about one of my favorite places in NYC, Columbus Circle.
It is located at the intersection of Broadway, Central Park West, Central Park South (59th Street), and 8th Avenue, on the southwest corner of Central Park is the official point at which distances to and from New York City are measured. The traffic circle was designed by William P. Eno, a businessman who pioneered many early innovations in road safety and traffic control, as part of Frederick Law Olmsted’s vision for the park, which included a circle at its Eighth Avenue entrance. Construction was completed in 1905.

About ten thousand people, including Italian, Spanish, and American dignitaries, gathered in Columbus Circle on October 12, 1892, the 400th anniversary of the arrival of Columbus in the “New World.” Together they dedicated the Columbus Monument, designed by Sicilian sculptor Gaetano Russo and donated to the City of New York by the Italian-American community. The monument consists of a statue of Columbus posed on a column mounted on a base surrounded by fountains; an allegorical figure depicting the Genius of Discovery stands on the base. Both Columbus and the latter figure are carved of Carrara marble. Bronze elements include two bas-reliefs (1,2) portraying Columbus’s journey, as well as an American bald eagle and lotus-shaped cresting. In addition, bronze ships’ prows and anchors adorn the granite column. The total height of the plinth, pedestal, column and sculpture is 77 feet.

The Time Warner Center, by David Childs, was built in 2000-2004 for the Time Warner media conglomerate. Originally constructed as the “AOL Time Warner Center,” the building surrounds half of Columbus Circle. The total floor area of 260,000 m² (2.8 million ft²) is divided between offices (notably the offices of Time Warner Inc. and the R&D Center), residential condominiums, and the Mandarin Oriental, New York hotel. The Shops at Columbus Circle is an upscale shopping mall located in a curving arcade at the base of the building, with a large Whole Foods Market grocery store in the basement. There I ate Caesar Salad for a whole year.
The complex is also home to a 1,200 seat theater for Jazz at Lincoln Center as well as CNN studios, from where Anderson Cooper 360° and Lou Dobbs Tonight, among other shows, are broadcast live. CNN’s Jeanne Moos, known for her offbeat “man on the street” reporting, frequently accosts her interview subjects just outside the building.

The building has several street addresses as, including 10 Columbus Circle for office, 25 Columbus Circle for the south tower that was named “One Central Park” and 80 Columbus Circle for The Residences at Mandarin Oriental. The address One Central Park West, meanwhile, belongs to a tower across the street owned by Donald Trump. Upon the completion of the Time Warner Center, Trump made a “little joke” at the Time Warner Center’s expense by hanging a large sign on his building gloating, “Your views aren’t so great, are they? We have the real Central Park views and address.”

The design of Time Warner Center pays homage to the streets of New York: The curvature of the base helps frame Columbus Circle, the angle of the two towers aligns with Broadway, and the space between the towers gives the illusion that 59th Street passes through. In addition, the rectangular patterns on the glass curtain wall overlooking Columbus Circle suggest the Manhattan street grid.