Columbus Circle

Columbus Circle is a busy traffic circle and intersection in Manhattan, New York City. It is located where Eighth Avenue, Broadway, Central Park South, and Central Park West meet, right at the southwest corner of Central Park. This circle is very important because it is the point from which official highway distances from New York City are measured. It is also the center of a special 25-mile area where people with certain visas, called C-2 visas, have restrictions on where they can travel.

The circle is named after a monument of Christopher Columbus that stands 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 that was created by an Italian sculptor named Gaetano Russo. The monument was placed there in 1892 and is listed as a historic place.

Neighborhood

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

In the early 1900s, much of the growth around Columbus Circle happened because of a magazine publisher named William Randolph Hearst. He bought several pieces of land and built the Hearst Magazine Building at Eighth Avenue and 57th Street in 1928. Hearst wanted to create a big headquarters for his company near Columbus Circle, thinking the area would become a major entertainment spot. Though plans for a large "Hearst Plaza" never fully happened, the Hearst Magazine Building still stands today as part of the Hearst Tower.

To the west of the circle is a large area between Broadway, 60th Street, Ninth Avenue, 58th Street, and Eighth Avenue. This area was once two smaller blocks. In 1901, the first theatre in the area, the Circle Theatre, was built here. Later, from 1902 to 1954, the Majestic Theatre stood in the southern part of this area.

When the New York Coliseum was built between 1954 and 1956, the street that ran through this area was closed. The Coliseum replaced an old neighborhood called San Juan Hill. It was a main event place for the city 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 includes tall towers, a shopping mall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, CNN's New York studio, and the Mandarin Oriental hotel. The mall features famous restaurants like Per Se and Masa.

The north side of Columbus Circle is bordered by Broadway, Central Park West, and 61st Street. Hearst bought this block in 1911, and a three-story building was built by 1914. Plans for a taller tower were never made. In 1969 or 1970, the 44-story Gulf and Western Building was completed here. It later became the Trump International Hotel and Tower after being renovated in the 1990s. A steel globe outside the building was added during this renovation.

On the northeast side lies the Merchant's Gate to Central Park, featuring the USS Maine National Monument. This monument, made of marble and bronze, was dedicated in 1913 to honor sailors who died on the battleship USS Maine. The ship exploded in Havana harbor in 1898, which helped start the Spanish–American War.

On the south side of the circle, Actors' Equity was founded in 1913 in the old Pabst Grand Circle Hotel. The original building at 2 Columbus Circle was torn down in 1960 and replaced by a modern tower designed to hold the Huntington Hartford Gallery of Modern Art. After being vacant for years, it became home to the Museum of Arts and Design in 2008 after a major change to its design.

Several notable buildings stand on the southeast side of the circle. One is 240 Central Park South, a large apartment building built between 1939 and 1940. It has many apartments and roof gardens. Nearby is the Gainsborough Studios, built as artists' housing between 1907 and 1908. Further east are two historic landmarks: the Helen Miller Gould Stable and the firehouse of Engine Company 23.

Transportation

Several bus routes, including the M5, M7, M10, M20, and M104 buses, stop at Columbus Circle. The New York City Subway also has a station there called 59th Street–Columbus Circle station, where you can catch the A, ​B, ​C, 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 became 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. During the late 1930s, some far-right speakers also used the area. Sometimes the circle had a reputation for unusual or extreme speakers, but it was also seen as a lively example of free speech in America.

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.