Grand Army Plaza (Manhattan)

Grand Army Plaza is at 59th Street and Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York. It is in front of the Plaza Hotel. It is opposite the southeast corner of Central Park. The sculptor Karl Bitter first had the idea for the Plaza in 1898. It is named after the Grand Army of the Potomac. The Carrère and Hastings architecture firm designed it. Construction was finished in 1916. The Plaza is oval. 59th street divides it into northern and southern parts. The northern part has a golden statue of William Tecumseh Sherman designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The statue features Sherman on a horse with the goddess "Victory" in front of him. There are often temporary sculpture exhibits at the north side of the plaza. The southern part is the Plaza of the Pulitzer Fountain of Abundance. This fountain was designed by Bitter and paid for by Joseph Pulitzer. A bronze statue of the Roman goddess Pomona is at the top of the fountain. The statue of Pomona was the last one that Bitter designed. The plaza was renovated in 1990 at a cost of $3.7 million. The Plaza Hotel is named for the Plaza, and is at its southwest corner. Related pages Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn. References