Page 124 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - New York City

122  NE W Y ORK CIT Y AREA B Y AREA

leading, of all places, to
the subway station.
Other famous buildings
have stood on this site.
Barnum’s Hippodrome was here
in 1874, then the first Madison
Square Garden opened
in 1879. A wide range of
entertain ments were put
on, including the prizefights
of heavyweight boxing
Farragut statue, Madison Square hero John L. Sullivan in
the 1880s. The next
1 Madison Square Madison Square Garden
– Stanford White’s
Map 8 F4. q 23rd St.
legendary pleasure
Planned as the center of a palace – opened on the
fashionable residential district, same site in 1890. Lavish Statues of Justice and Study above the Appellate Court
this square became a popular musical shows and social
entertainment center after events were attended by 3 Appellate
the Civil War. It was bordered New York’s elite, who paid over
by the elegant Fifth Avenue $500 for a box at the prestigious Division of the
Hotel, the Madison Square Theater, annual horse show. Supreme Court
and Stanford White’s Madison The building had street-level of the State of
Square Garden. The torch-bearing arcades and a tower modeled New York
arm of the Statue of Liberty on the Giralda in Seville. A gold
was exhibited here in 1884. statue of the goddess Diana E. 25th St at Madison Ave. Map 9 A4
The Shake Shack is a top stood atop the tower. Her nudity q 23rd St. Open 9am–5pm Mon–Fri
lunchtime spot for neighbor- was shocking, but far more (court in session from 2pm Tue–Thu,
hood office workers, while scandalous was the decadent from 10am Fri). Closed public hols. ^
the surrounding park makes life and death of White himself.
for a leisurely stroll to admire In 1906, while watch ing a revue Appeals relating to civil and
the sculptures. The 1880 statue in the roof garden, he was shot criminal cases for New York and
of Admiral David Farragut is by dead by millionaire Harry K. the Bronx are heard here, in
Augustus Saint-Gaudens, with Thaw, the husband of White’s what is widely considered
a pedestal by Stanford White. former mistress, showgirl Evelyn to be the busiest court of its
Farragut was the hero of a Nesbit. The headline in the kind in the world. James Brown
Civil War sea battle; figures journal Vanity Fair summed up Lord designed the small yet
representing Courage and popular feeling: “Stanford White, noble Palladian Revival building
Loyalty are carved on the Voluptuary and Pervert, Dies the in 1900. It is decorated with
base. The statue of Roscoe Death of a Dog.” The ensuing more than a dozen handsome
Conkling commemorates a trial’s revelations about decadent sculptures, including Daniel
US senator who died during Broadway high society leave Chester French’s Justice flanked
the great blizzard of 1888. The modern soap operas far behind. by Power and Study. During
Eternal Light flagpole, by the week, the public is invited
Carrère and Hastings, honors to step inside to admire the
the soldiers who fell during fine interior, designed by
World War I. the Herter brothers, including
the courtroom, when the court
is not in session. Among the
2 New York elegant details worth looking
Life Insurance for are the fine stained-glass
Company windows and dome, the murals,
and the striking cabinetwork.
51 Madison Ave. Map 9 A3. Displays in the lobby
q 28th St. Open office hours. often feature some of the
more famous – and infamous –
This imposing building was cases that have been heard in
designed in 1928 by Cass Gilbert this court. Among the celebrity
of Woolworth Building fame. names that have been involved
The interior is a master-piece, in appeals settled here are
adorned with enormous hanging Babe Ruth, Charlie Chaplin, Fred
lamps, bronze doors and New York Life Insurance Company’s Astaire, Harry Houdini, Theodore
paneling, and a grand staircase golden pyramid roof Dreiser, and Edgar Allan Poe.

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