Columbus Circle

Columbus Circle

Columbus Circle is a busy traffic circle in Manhattan, New York City. It is where Eighth Avenue, Broadway, Central Park South, and Central Park West meet, right at the southwest corner of Central Park. This circle is important because it is the point from which official highway distances from New York City are measured.

The circle is named after a monument of Christopher Columbus in the middle. This monument is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The name “Columbus Circle” is also used for the neighborhood around the circle, which stretches a few blocks in each direction. Nearby areas include Hell’s Kitchen to the southwest, the Theater District to the southeast, and the Lincoln Square section of the Upper West Side to the northwest.

History

The traffic circle at Eighth Avenue/Central Park West, Broadway, and 59th Street/Central Park South was part of Frederick Law Olmsted’s 1857 design for Central Park. It was built at the park’s southwest corner, near the Merchant’s Gate, one of the park’s main entrances. Similar areas were planned at other corners of the park, like Grand Army Plaza, Duke Ellington Circle, and Frederick Douglass Circle. Work to clear the land for the circle began in 1868, and it was officially approved two years later. The Columbus Monument was placed there in 1892.

First called “The Circle,” it was later named after the monument. By 1900, subway construction began nearby, and a station was built under the circle. Over the years, traffic patterns were changed many times to make travel safer and smoother. By the 1990s, the area was renovated with new walkways, plantings, and a water fountain, making it a pleasant place for people to enjoy.

Monument

Main article: Columbus Monument (New York City)

The Columbus Monument is a tall column in the middle of Columbus Circle. It is 76 feet high and has a 14-foot marble statue of Columbus on top. The statue sits on a granite column made by an Italian sculptor named Gaetano Russo. The monument was placed there in 1892 and is a historic place.

Neighborhood

The five streets that spread out from Columbus Circle divide the area around it into five parts.

In the early 1900s, a magazine publisher named William Randolph Hearst helped the area grow. He bought land and built the Hearst Magazine Building at Eighth Avenue and 57th Street in 1928. Hearst wanted to make a big headquarters near Columbus Circle. The Hearst Magazine Building still stands today.

To the west of the circle is an area between Broadway, 60th Street, Ninth Avenue, 58th Street, and Eighth Avenue. This area once had two smaller blocks. In 1901, the first theatre here was built. Later, from 1902 to 1954, another theatre stood here.

When the New York Coliseum was built between 1954 and 1956, a street was closed. The Coliseum replaced an old neighborhood. It was a main event place until the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center was built in the 1980s. The Coliseum was torn down in 2000 and replaced by the Deutsche Bank Center in 2003. This center has tall towers, a shopping mall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and a hotel.

The north side of Columbus Circle is bordered by Broadway, Central Park West, and 61st Street. Hearst bought this block in 1911, and a building was built by 1914. In 1969 or 1970, a taller building was completed here. It later became the Trump International Hotel and Tower.

On the northeast side is the Merchant's Gate to Central Park, with a monument for sailors who died on the battleship USS Maine. The ship exploded in Havana harbor in 1898.

On the south side of the circle, Actors' Equity was founded in 1913. The original building was torn down in 1960 and replaced by a modern tower. After years of being empty, it became the Museum of Arts and Design in 2008.

Several notable buildings are on the southeast side of the circle. One is 240 Central Park South, a large apartment building. Nearby is the Gainsborough Studios, built for artists. Further east are two historic landmarks: the Helen Miller Gould Stable and a firehouse.

Transportation

Many bus routes stop at Columbus Circle, including the M5, M7, M20, and M104 buses. The New York City Subway has a station there called 59th Street–Columbus Circle station. You can ride the A, B, and D trains.

Cultural significance

Geographic center

Columbus Circle is the starting point for measuring official city distances, even though Google Maps uses New York City Hall instead. Some maps show areas within 25 miles (40 km) or 75 miles (121 km) from Columbus Circle.

People with a special travel visa for visiting the headquarters of the United Nations can only travel within a 25-mile radius of Columbus Circle. This circle also marks the area's limits for certain film productions, similar to rules in Los Angeles. The city government counts trips beyond 75 miles from here as long trips.

As a center for soapbox orators

In the early to middle 1900s, Columbus Circle was a popular spot for public speakers, much like London's Speakers Corner. It was especially known for speakers who were not left-wing, unlike Union Square.

In popular culture

Columbus Circle appeared in several famous movies and TV shows. In the 1954 comedy It Should Happen to You, a character tries to become famous using a big billboard there. The USS Maine Memorial appeared in the 1976 film Taxi Driver. The 1984 movie Ghostbusters shows a giant marshmallow man walking up Central Park West from Columbus Circle. The TV show The Venture Bros. later placed the Venture family in a skyscraper on Columbus Circle.