Inside the New York Public Library: An Architectural Masterpiece

It's a pretty gloomy day today, but it might not rain. Yesterday was beautiful. The rest of the week is supposed to be cover-up. But we've got to get out and explore. The year is coming to an end. If you're just finding this channel, I picked places in New York City to go explore. I'm going to take you with me. Today we're going to head downtown. We'll go check out the Main Branch of the New York Public Library. Let's go. Subway and pop out and be in the middle of this. We've spent some time here before, though. Check out the episodes on Grand Central if you haven't already. Main Branch of the New York Public Library. We talked a little bit about this on our Fifth Avenue tour. Check out that video if you haven't seen it. Main building's here, 42nd Street and Fifth Avenue. Bryant Park is right behind it. We'll do a lap first since it's not raining right now, and then we'll go inside. I'm going to do some details out here since I'm not going to want to talk when we're inside. This main branch was formed from the combination of two big libraries in New York in 1895, the consolidation of the Astor and Lenox libraries, and this building was also built from a bequest from Samuel Tilden and also a gift from Andrew Carnegie, who really believed in donating to public libraries. So there are Carnegie libraries all over the country. This part of this one too. This was designed by the architecture firm Carrère and Hastings. They've got a lot of other famous buildings under their belts too. They also designed the Frick House, the Port Portland Main City Hall, the Arlington Memorial Amphitheater in Arlington National Cemetery, a bunch of houses for Henry Flagler in Florida, the Standard Oil building here in New York which is down by Bowling Green, and the plazas that are at both ends of the Manhattan Bridge. They got a bunch of other ones too. But this is in the Beaux-Arts style which is typical of the grand buildings of this era. Like I said in the last video, this sits on the site of the former Croton Reservoir. That was no longer in use, so when they were looking for a place to put the library they decided this was a good one. So this building opened in May of 1911. It was originally a circulation library as well as a research library. But then in 1970, they acquired the building across the street, the one with the red flags outside. That used to be a department store that opened in 1914, right after this building opened. But in 1970, the library acquired it and it became the main circulation library, right behind the library. And honestly, now that I'm standing here, I don't think I've ever seen it without the Holiday Village set up. So this is different for me too. Hey look, it's bathrooms. And actually, insider tip, these are supposed to be some of the nicest public bathrooms in New York. I've seen pictures, pretty nice. Robot lawnmower. The Bryant Park Grill. I don't think they're supposed to be there anymore. I think their lease ran out or something and they've refused to leave. All right, let's go back around the front and try to go inside. It's a big building. Like I said, 1911, they finished it. They built it with plenty of room to expand. I think as of 2015, it housed like 2.5 million volumes. That's a lot of books. Since on the other side, here's Carrère. This is the two architects of the building. Everyone jockeying for photographic positions outside There you go, the main branch of the New York Public Library. Beautiful Beaux Arts building In here already I'm gonna take this subway to get home though. Different way. Back up to the east side. The rain held off for the most part. Starting to drizzle a little bit now, but that's okay Thanks for coming and wandering around the New York Public Library with me. What a beautiful building. Be sure to check out the rest of the channel up to the east side on YouTube. Like and subscribe. Tell all your friends. Look for new episodes every Friday. Thanks for coming with me to explore New York City. I'll see you next time.