The Great Bryant Park Lawn Rush

The city runs a free movies series on summer Monday nights in midtown's Bryant Park and for some reason nobody is allowed to put down a blanket until exactly 5PM. The resulting rush has become a Manhattan tradition. Last night's movie was Ghostbusters.

Afternoon View - Bryant Park Rink

There are three skating rinks around midtown Manhattan, but Bryant Park's is the only free one thanks to pervasive corporate branding.

World's Best Public Restroom

Virtual Tourist has named Bryant Park's restroom as the "world's #1 public toilet." I've been in there, it IS nice. "Who would have thought that a loo in the middle of such a dirty, noisy, frenetic city would have classical music, fresh flowers, and even an attendant! Visitors report that it's also spotlessly clean."

Afternoon View - Bryant Park

Everybody's favorite midtown oasis. Free wifi!

Movies At Bryant Park

During the summer months, New York City screens classic movies in Midtown's Bryant Park. Here's an oddly compelling and unnarrated clip from last week's screening.

Improv Everywhere - Carousel Horse Race

Improv Everywhere: Worst Ice Skater Ever

Improv Everywhere: "For our latest mission an ice skater stranded alone on the rink transformed from a novice into an expert in New York's Bryant Park. The project was a collaboration with Ice Theatre of New York."

Evening View - Bryant Park

Skating is free at Bryant Park's big holiday rink, but folks still line up a few blocks away to pay to skate at Rockefeller Center's smaller, but infinitely more chic rink, where it's $14 and a long wait to get on the ice.

Morning View - Bryant Park

Bryant Park is a neat little 9-acre park squeezed behind the Main Library at 5th Avenue & 42nd Street. While an official NYC park, Bryant Park is managed by a private non-profit group. During the civil war, Union soldiers drilled there. Fashion Week takes over the park twice a year and during warm weather I've seen some great 8AM concerts (Prince, Pink) on the way to work, via Good Morning America. The Bank of America Tower (soon to be the city's second tallest building) is being built at the northwest corner of the park, but unlike the boys in the West Village, the new tower is not expected to throw shade.