On the MUSEENYC M ListThe M List — one we'd cross the city for, and keep going back to. See the list →
Bryant Park
Midtown's best place to stop. Sit down, rest your feet, eat something and watch the city go by, a block from everything you came to see.
- Where
- Between 40th and 42nd Streets and Fifth and Sixth Avenues, Midtown Open in Google Maps ↗
- Cost
- Free
- Good with
- Solo · Groups · Family
- Go when
- A weekday lunch in good weather, or winter for the rink
- Website
- bryantpark.org
Bryant Park is the best place in Midtown to stop. You’re surrounded by the most touristy blocks in the city, Times Square, Grand Central, the library, Fifth Avenue, and this is where you sit down, let your feet rest and watch everyone else keep moving.
Pull a green chair up to a table, bring a snack or a whole meal from somewhere nearby, and stay as long as you like. Nobody moves you along. The people watching is some of the best in New York: office workers on lunch, chess players, tourists mid-itinerary, somebody always reading on the lawn.
What to know
The bathroom is famous for a reason. It’s insanely clean, attended, and has fresh flowers, which in Midtown is close to a miracle.
In the warm months the lawn is open and the outdoor Reading Room lends books and magazines, and the carousel on the 40th Street side costs a few dollars a ride. From late October the park turns into the Winter Village, with a free ice rink (bring your own skates or rent a pair) and a holiday market of small shops. It’s right behind the New York Public Library, so do both. Our NYC Christmas markets guide has this year’s Winter Village dates.