New York City Turtle Bay And United Nations

Named after an 18th-century farm, the Turtle Bay neighborhood hosts the United Nations and its population of diplomats and bureaucrats. The area houses some of New York’s more peaceful parks, which aren’t in the perpetual shade of skyscrapers. Sights are listed from east to west.

The United Nations. Founded just after WWII to serve as a “center for harmonizing the actions of nations,” the United Nations fittingly makes its home in the world’s most diverse city. Though located along what would be First Ave., the UN is international territory and not under US jurisdiction. The flags of the 191 member nations fly outside at equal height, in violation of American custom. The site consists of four main buildings: the General Assembly Building, the Conference Building, the 39-floor Secretariat Building, and the Dag Hammarskjöld Library, added in 1961 as a gift from the Ford Foundation. The complex was designed by an international team of 11 architects led by Wallace K. Harrison.

A prominent feature of the General Assembly lobby is a Foucault pendulum, given by the Netherlands to the UN in 1955. In the eastern side of the lobby is a stained-glass window designed by the French artist Marc Chagall. A Norman Rockwell mosaic, a Japanese Peace Bell, and a Chinese ivory carving are also exhibited in the building. The only way to view the enormous General Assembly and the council rooms is by guided tour. Outside, a rose garden and statuary park provide a lovely view of the East River and the industrial wastelands of western Queens. The UN garden has several sculptures and statues that have been donated by different countries. Note the Evgeniy Vuchetich statue called Let Us Beat Swords into Plowshares , a gift from the former USSR in 1959. The best way to learn about the building and the work done here is through one of the guided tours, which provide access to parts of the complex you can’t visit on your own. (1st Ave., between 42nd and 48th St. S 4, 5, 6, 7, S to 42nd St./Grand Central. ☎212-963-4475, tours 212-963-3242; www.un.org. 1hr. tours, available in 20 languages, depart from the UN visitor’s entrance at 1st Ave. and 46th St. every 15min. M-F 9:15am-4:45pm, Sa-Su 9:30am-4:45pm. $12, seniors $8.50, students $8, children ages 5-14 $7. Reservations required for groups larger than 12. Children under 5 not admitted on tour.)

The Chrysler Building. One of New York’s most iconic buildings, and its third tallest, the Chrysler building is a monument to the car. The building’s spire is meant to evoke a 1930 Chrysler car’s radiator grille. Other motoring mementos on the facade include stylized lightning bolts symbolizing the energy of the new machine, and gargoyles styled after hood ornaments and hubcaps. While many consider it to be the most beautiful building in New York, it ruined architect William Van Alen’s career; Walter Chrysler, unsatisfied with the final product, accused Van Alen of embezzlement and refused to pay him. Chrysler no longer has offices in the building.

The Art Deco lobby alone is worth a visit, with several different types of African marble, onyx, and amber set into the walls. The elevators are paneled with Japanese ash and oriental walnut. The ceiling fresco, titled Transport and Human Endeavor , was painted by Edward Trumbull and depicts the Chrysler assembly line. (405 Lexington Ave., at E. 42nd St. S 4, 5, 6, 7, S to 42nd St./Grand Central.)

Luxury hotels like the Essex House, the St. Moritz, and the Plaza overlook Central Park from Central Park S, between Fifth and Eighth Ave., where 59th St. should be. Two blocks south, on 57th St., galleries and stores surround Carnegie Hall. Sights are listed from west to east.

Carnegie Hall. Since hosting Tchaikovsky’s American debut in 1891, Carnegie Hall has featured such classical artists as Caruso, Toscanini, and Bernstein; jazz greats like Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, and Billie Holiday; and even rock-and-rollers like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Performing here remains the mark of “making it” as an artist in North America.

Constructed in 1890 under Andrew Carnegie’s patronage, this brick and brownstone Italian Renaissance structure was one of the last buildings of its size to be built without a steel frame. In the late 1950s, when an enormous red skyscraper threatened to replace Carnegie Hall, violinist Isaac Stern led a city-wide campaign to save the building. The City of New York purchased it for $5 million in 1960, and it was declared a historic landmark in 1962. Decades of patchwork maintenance and periodic facelifts left the venue in various stages of disrepair until 1985, when a $60 million restoration and repair program returned the building to its earlier splendor. The small Rose Museum provides an exhibit on Carnegie Hall’s history, as well as temporary displays of art memorabilia and photography. (881 7th Ave., at W. 57th St. S N, Q, R, W to 57th St.; B, D, E to 7th Ave./53rd St. ☎212-247-7800, tours 212-903-9765; www.carnegiehall.org. 1hr. tours M-F 11:30am, 2, 3pm. Purchase tour tickets at the box office. $9, students and seniors $6, children under 12 $3. Group tours available. ROSE MUSEUM: 154 W. 57th St., 2nd fl. Open daily 11am-4:30pm and to concert ticketholders in the evenings. Museum, gift shop, and tours closed July to early Sept. See Entertainment for concert information.)

City Center Theater. City Center’s unique neo-Moorish facade recalls the building’s Masonic origins. It was built in 1923 as a meeting hall for the members of the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. After reverting to city ownership in 1943, the building became Manhattan’s first performing arts center, and the birthplace of both the New York City Opera and the New York City Ballet. Legendary artists Leonard Bernstein, Paul Robeson, and Tallulah Bankhead all performed here. Sickles and crescents still adorn each doorway, and four tiny windows on the limestone upper stories face Mecca—or at least the East Side. (130 W. 55th St., between 6th and 7th Ave. S N, Q, R, W to 57th St.; B, D, E to 7th Ave./53rd St.; 57th St./Ave. of the Americas (6th Ave.). ☎212-581-1212 or 877-581-1212; www.citycenter.org. See for box office info.)

Plaza Hotel. A New York landmark, this hotel designed by Henry J. Hardenbergh dates from 1908. Its splendid carved marble fireplaces, gold leaf, and crystal chandeliers have entered New York lore through Eloise stories and films like North by Northwest , The Way We Were , Plaza Suite , and Home Alone II . Past guests have included Frank Lloyd Wright, The Beatles, Mark Twain, and F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Plaza was sold in 2005, and its hotel operation is being drastically scaled back, with most rooms being converted to private residences. Afternoon tea sessions, famous for their live harp serenades and extreme luxury ($60-100 per person, 2-5pm), are stilled enjoyed by tourists and ladies. (758 5th Ave., at 59th St./Central Park S. S N, R, W to 5th Ave./59th St.)

Grand Army Plaza. The dividing point between Midtown East and the Upper East Side, Grand Army Plaza sits across the street from the Plaza Hotel and serves as an entrance to Central Park and the starting point for horse-drawn carriage rides. Karl Bitter’s bronze statue of Pomona, the goddess of abundance, graces the plaza’s southern half, atop the Pulitzer Fountain . Doris Doscher, who modelled for the Liberty quarter as well as for the statue, was a silent film actress featured in Birth of a Nation (1915), the controversial but innovative film about the Ku Klux Klan. On the other side of Central Park South sits St. Gaudens’s 1903 gilt equestrian statue of Union General William Tecumseh Sherman led by a figure of victory. (59th St. and 5th Ave. S N, R, W to 5th Ave./59th St.)