Page 208 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - New York City

206  NE W Y ORK CIT Y AREA B Y AREA

Street by Street: Lincoln Center

Lincoln Center was conceived when
both the Metropolitan Opera House
and the New York Philharmonic
required homes, and a large tract
on Manhattan’s west side was in dire
need of revitalization. The notion of
a single complex where different
performing arts could exist side by
side seems natural today, but in the 2. Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
1950s it was considered both daring Dance, music, and theater come together in this fine
and risky. Today Lincoln Center has contemporary complex. It is also a great place to sit
around the fountain and people-watch.
proved itself by drawing audiences
of five million each year. Proximity
to its halls prompts both performers
and arts lovers to live nearby.

5 Lincoln Center Theater
The Vivian Beaumont and the
Mitzi E. Newhouse theaters are
both housed in this building. E
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Composer Leonard Bernstein’s C O L U M B U S A V E N U E W 6 5 T H S T R E E T T
famous musical West Side Story, which
was based on Shakespeare’s Romeo A Y
and Juliet, was set in the impoverished
neighborhood that was razed to make ADW
room for Lincoln Center. Bernstein was W 6 2 N D S T R E E T
later instrumental in setting up the BRO
large music complex.

The Guggenheim
Bandshell in
Damrosch Park is the
site of free concerts.
3 David H. Koch Theater
This is the home of the
New York City Ballet, and
is a secondary venue for
American Ballet Theater.
The College Board
Building is an Art Deco
delight that now houses
condominiums and
4 Metropolitan Opera House the administrative offices
Lincoln Center’s focus is the Opera of the College Board,
House. The café at the top of the developers of the
lobby offers wonderful plaza views. college entrance exam.

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