About Columbus Circle

Columbus Circle is a roundabout off the northern edge of Central Park and acts as a demarcation between midtown Manhattan and the Upper West Side, as Broadway angles to the west past 58th Street. Columbus Circle is dominated by a statue of Christopher Columbus. The statue, now in the midst of beautiful fountains and gardens, was completed by Gaetano Russo in 1894, and, according to geologists, will make a 180 degree turn from where it now faces in a certain number of centuries. Like the Empire State building, Columbus Circle was designed by the firm of Shreve and Lamb.

The Circle has seen much building and improvements in the past twenty years or so. Before, there was surprisingly little commerce, though the Coliseum stood west of the statue before it was replaced by the Time Warner Center, which houses various retail stores, and is also CNN's New York headquarters. To the south of the circle is the Museum of Arts and Design. North is the Trump International Hotel and Tower, and not far from that is Merchant’s Gate, with its memorial to the battleship Maine by Attilio Piccirilli. The monument, dominated by a golden sculpture of Columbia Triumphant upon a shell drawn by three sea horses, is tolerated now, but when it was unveiled in 1912 the City Art Commission had to defend its existence to appalled artists who lived in the neighborhood.

Columbus Circle is also a hub of New York mass transit. Several MTA buses stop around Columbus Circle on their way up or down town, while the 59th Street subway station is a stop for the A, C, D, and 1 and 2 trains. Other Attractions include: Empire State Buiding, Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Station, Madison Square, and Wall Street.