DK Travel : New York : Fifth Avenue

Fifth Avenue

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Midtown Fifth Avenue is New York’s best-known boulevard and home to three of its most famous buildings. In the late 1800s, it was lined with mansions belonging to prominent families, but as retailers moved north in the 1900s, society fled uptown. The one remaining mansion is the Cartier building, reputedly acquired from banker Morton F. Plant in 1917 in exchange for a string of pearls. Although commercial enterprises now share the avenue, it has remained a mecca for luxury goods. Fifth Avenue is at its best on Easter Sunday when traffic is barred and the street is filled with New Yorkers in elaborate hats.
For more on New York shopping (see New York Stores)

Top 10 Exhibits

1. Grand Army Plaza

This ornamented plaza is presided over by the 1907 Plaza Hotel and Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ statue of General William T. Sherman. Hansom cab rides through Central Park can be boarded here.
2. Bergdorf Goodman

Founded in 1894 as a small ladies’ tailoring and fur shop, the most élite department store has been here since 1928. A separate shop for men was opened in 1990 across Fifth Avenue.
3. General Motors Building

Edward Durrell Stone’s 1968 marble skyscraper is of interest not for its architecture but for the CBS studio in the plaza area and the F.A.O. Schwarz toy store adjacent.
4. Tiffany and Company

Truman Capote’s 1958 Breakfast at Tiffany’s made this the most famous jewelry store in New York. The window displays are works of art.
5. Trump Tower

A six-story open interior space, the Trump Tower Atrium is graced by hanging gardens and a spectacular 80-ft (24-m) water wall. There are also several exclusive shops, a restaurant and a great coffee shop.
6. Cartier

Look up to admire what remains of the fine 1905 Beaux Arts mansion housing this famous luxury jeweler. During the Christmas season, the whole building is wrapped in a giant red ribbon.
7. St. Patrick’s Cathedral

In 1878 James Renwick, Jr. designed New York’s grandest religious building in French Gothic style. The bronze doors, the baldachin over the high altar, the Lady Chapel, and the rose window are among its notable features.
8. Saks Fifth Avenue

8. Saks Fifth Avenue

One of New York’s most attractive stores, Saks is famous for the changing seasonal decor on the main floor of its 1924 building, as well as for its exclusive fashions for men and women.
9. New York Public Library

The epitome of Beaux Arts elegance, this 1911 landmark features vaulted marble halls and a paneled reading room that glows with light from great arched windows.
10. Lord and Taylor

Retailing on Fifth Avenue since 1914, Lord and Taylor has a mix of fashions for budgets low and high. The store is known for its animated Christmas windows.

Practical Information

Free tours of the New York Public Library: 11am and 2pm Tue–Sat, and 2pm on Sun; there’s no need to book. St. Patrick’s Cathedral is open to visitors 7:30am– 8:30pm daily. The heart of Fifth Avenue is from the Empire State Building on 34th Street, to the Grand Army Plaza, 59th Street, an easily walkable stretch of just over one mile (1.6 km). Tourist Information: 212 484 1200 New York Public Library: 212 930 0800