Public Art on Manhattan Streets and Parks

Sculpture in the parks

Central Park holds the largest concentration of public sculpture on the island. An ancient Egyptian obelisk known as Cleopatra's Needle stands behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Mall is lined with bronze figures of writers and statesmen. Near Conservatory Water you will find the Alice in Wonderland group, and a statue of Duke Ellington stands at the park's northwest corner, close to 110th Street. The park is free to enter and open every day.

Smaller parks carry their own works. Madison Square Park runs a changing program of contemporary sculpture alongside its permanent statues, and Union Square holds several monuments near its greenmarket. Washington Square Park is built around a marble arch and a fountain that works as an informal stage. Bryant Park and City Hall Park both set temporary pieces among the lawns and paths, usually for a season at a time. Check each park's listings before you go, since the temporary work rotates.

The High Line and Chelsea

The High Line is an elevated park on a former freight rail line, running from Gansevoort Street to West 34th Street at Hudson Yards, and it is free. Its first section opened in 2009. Art is built into the design: the planting, the benches and the long views down to the streets. The park also commissions sculpture and installations, and the walls of nearby buildings give you close views of large murals. Access is by stair, ramp and elevator at set points along the route.

Chelsea sits below the High Line and around it. The neighborhood's blocks west of Seventh Avenue hold dozens of galleries, most of them free to enter and clustered between roughly West 20th and West 27th Streets. Murals cover walls along side streets and on the ends of buildings, and new ones appear as old ones are painted over. At Hudson Yards, the Vessel, a structure of connected staircases, rises above the plaza; check whether it is open for climbing before you go.

Temporary installations

Much of the public art you pass is temporary. Plazas, forecourts and park lawns host sculpture for a few months, then the piece moves on. Some of it arrives through the city's Percent for Art program, which sets aside a share of building budgets for artwork in new civic buildings, and through the Department of Cultural Affairs. Other pieces are funded by park groups and museums. What stands in a plaza this autumn may be gone by spring.

Because the program changes, the reliable way to see current work is to check listings before a visit. Park conservancies, the Department of Cultural Affairs and the museums that run outdoor commissions all publish what is on and when it ends. A few installations have timed entry or ticketed viewing, especially those in walled gardens or on museum terraces. Pieces in parks, plazas and on the street generally need no ticket. Hours and dates shift from year to year, so confirm with the organizer.

Murals and street art

Large murals are part of the street scene in several neighborhoods. The wall at East Houston Street and the Bowery has carried a series of big painted works that change every year or so, and it is visible from the sidewalk. Side streets on the Lower East Side and in Chelsea hold smaller pieces on shutters, fences and blank walls. Some are commissioned and some are not, and the paint weathers quickly in sun and rain.

Harlem has a long tradition of mural painting. West 125th Street, where the Apollo Theater stands, is the spine of it, with painted walls on the blocks just off the main road. Subjects run from jazz musicians and civil rights figures to ordinary neighborhood life, and several walls have been repainted by later generations of artists. A walk along 125th Street and the side streets nearby will pass a number of them, though the walls change without notice.

Memorials and monuments

Some of the most visited public art in Manhattan is commemorative. The 9/11 Memorial's two reflecting pools are free to visit, while the museum beside them is ticketed. The African Burial Ground National Monument in Lower Manhattan marks a cemetery used in the colonial period. In Central Park, the Imagine mosaic at Strawberry Fields draws a steady stream of visitors, and the park holds memorials and statues tied to the city's history. Most of these are outdoors and need no ticket.

Grand Army Plaza, at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street, holds a gilded equestrian monument to General Sherman led by a figure of Victory, set in the middle of the plaza. Washington Square Park's marble arch frames the view up Fifth Avenue. Near Bowling Green in the Financial District, the bronze Charging Bull draws crowds through the day, and the Fearless Girl figure now stands facing the New York Stock Exchange a short walk away.

Practical notes for a visit

The subway system carries public art of its own. Through MTA Arts & Design, stations have been fitted with mosaics, glass and metalwork, often by artists with a connection to the neighborhood around the stop. Grand Central Terminal and the stations near it are a good place to start. Much of this work sits inside the paid area, so seeing it means passing through the turnstiles, while a little of it shows from entrances and mezzanines.

A public art walk can be assembled without much planning. Start at Bowling Green for the Charging Bull, cross to the Lower East Side for murals, then take the High Line from Gansevoort Street north to Hudson Yards, where Chelsea's walls and galleries sit below. Central Park and Museum Mile fill a second day. Outdoor pieces can be seen at any hour, while museum terraces and indoor commissions keep their own opening times, so check before you set out.