Herald Square | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Location in New York City | |
| Coordinates:40°45′00″N73°59′17″W / 40.750°N 73.988°W /40.750; -73.988 | |
| State | New York |
| City | New York City |
| Borough | Manhattan |
| Boundaries | Broadway,6th Avenue,34th and 47th Streets |
| Transit connections | New York City Subway:         at34th Street–Herald SquarePATH:JSQ-33,JSQ-33 (via HOB),HOB-33 at33rd Street |
Herald Square is a major commercial intersection in theMidtown Manhattan neighborhood ofNew York City, formed by the intersection ofBroadway,Sixth Avenue (officially Avenue of the Americas), and34th Street. Named for the now-defunctNew York Herald, a newspaper formerly headquartered there, it also gives its name to the surrounding area. The bow tie-shaped intersection consists of two named sections: Herald Square to the north (uptown) andGreeley Square to the south (downtown).
Herald Square proper is the north end of the square between West 34th and 35th streets. The oldNew York Herald Building was located on the square. The square contains a huge mechanical clock whose mechanical structures were constructed in 1895 by the sculptorAntonin Jean Carles.[1] The monument, known as theJames Gordon Bennett Monument, consists of the Goddess of Wisdom,Minerva with her owls in front of a bell, flanked by two bell ringers mounted on a Milford pink granite pedestal. The monument's bell was designed to chime on the hour. The two seven-foot-tall bronze laborers, nicknamed Stuff and Guff give the appearance of ringing the bell with their mallets, while in actuality is rung by mallets located behind the bell. The figures and the clock were originally part of the 1894 New York Herald Building that was located at the square. Prior to the demolition of the building in 1921, the figures were removed and reinstalled in the Square in 1940.
Greeley Square lies between West 32nd and 33rd streets between Broadway and Sixth Avenue, and is taken up almost entirely by a triangular park.[1] It is named afterHorace Greeley, who was the publisher of theNew York Tribune, theHerald's rival newspaper. (The two papers later merged to form theNew York Herald Tribune.)[2][3] There is astatue of Greeley inside the park, created in 1890 byAlexander Doyle.[1] The small park is planted with trees and shrubbery, enclosed by a wrought-iron fence, and provided with inviting chairs, tables and a restaurant kiosk.
Herald and Greeley squares stand today as rest areas for the thousands of shoppers that flood the neighborhood, as a lunchroom for thousands of midtown office workers, and as a stage for product launches, musical performances, and photo and film shoots.
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The area around Herald Square along Broadway and 34th Street is a retail hub. The most notable attraction isMacy's Herald Square, theflagshipdepartment store forMacy's, the largest Macy's store in the United States. In 2007,Macy's, Inc. moved its corporate headquarters to that store after changing the corporation's name from Federated. Macy's' archrivalGimbels was also located in the neighborhood until 1984; in 1986 that building became theManhattan Mall.[4] Other past retailers in the area includedE.J. Korvette,Stern's, andAbraham & Straus.J.C. Penney opened its first Manhattan flagship store in August 2009 at the former A&S location inside the Manhattan Mall. The square is roughly equidistant betweenMadison Square to the south, andTimes Square to the north. Greeley Square's south side bordersKoreatown, at West 32nd Street.
The area is served by theNew York City Subway's34th Street–Herald Square station, which is serviced by theB, D, F, <F>, M, N, Q, R, and W trains.[5] Additionally, the33rd Street station on thePATH'sHOB–33,JSQ–33, andJSQ–33 (via HOB) trains serves the southern part of Herald Square.[6]
Since 1992, Herald and Greeley Squares have been cared for by the 34th Street Partnership, aBusiness Improvement District (BID) operating over 31 blocks in midtown Manhattan. The 34th Street Partnership provides sanitary and security services, maintains a horticultural program that includes trees, gardens, and planters, and produces events, product launches, and photo shoots. 34th Street Partnership also added movable chairs, tables, and umbrellas, to the parks.[citation needed] In 1999, the parks were completely renovated by the 34th Street Partnership. Two years later, the partnership added the city's first Automated Pay Toilets in the two squares, one in each square.[7] Since 2008, each square has had a food kiosk operated by sandwich, soup, and salad shop 'Wichcraft.[8] In 2009, the 34th Street Partnership converted the parks' Automated Pay Toilets into free public facilities, a rarity in New York City.[9]
With the introduction of "Broadway Boulevard", a 2009 project by theNew York City Department of Transportation to increase pedestrian space on the segment of Broadway between 35th and 42nd Streets, the passive space provided by Herald and Greeley Squares more than doubled, radically changing the character of the area.[10][11] The two blocks of Broadway between 33rd and 35th Streets were completely closed to vehicular traffic, and were made pedestrian-only with bike lanes. The 34th Street Partnership filled the newly pedestrianized space with chairs, tables, umbrellas, and free public programs such aschess tables, dance lessons, and exercise classes.[citation needed] As of April 2013, the boulevard had been redesigned.[12] Because of the popularity of the pedestrian plaza and bike lanes in Herald and Greeley Squares, the plaza was redesigned again in 2019. Another block of Broadway between 32nd and 33rd Street was shut to vehicular and bike traffic, while 33rd Street between Broadway and Sixth Avenue was reopened, and the bike lane through Greeley Square was relocated from Broadway to Sixth Avenue.[13] The Greeley Square restroom was restored in 2020.[14]
Numerous songs refer to Herald Square, such as:George M. Cohan's song "Give My Regards to Broadway" (1904), which includes the lyrics "remember me to Herald Square"; Andrew B. Sterling and Harry Von Tilzer's song "Take Me Back to New York Town" (1907);Billy Joel's song "Rosalinda's Eyes" (1978); andFreedy Johnston's song "Bad Reputation" (1994).
Herald Square is the terminus for theMacy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, broadcast nationally by NBC-TV.
Notes
Although Macy's survived and has prospered as the Herald Square landmark, Ohrbach's, Korvettes and Gimbels had closed by 1984.... The 260,000-square-foot (24,000 m2) Herald Center, which opened in 1986 as the city's largestvertical mall, has so far shown little prospect of success.
