Greeted by Patience & Fortitude

Exhaustion was approaching rapidly, aided by digestion. I needed a place, a warm place, to rest my feet, and if I could, my pounding head. Luckily on the next block was New York Public Library's Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, aka "the main branch". I was graciously welcomed in by Patience. Ironically I had no patience for the photo-snapping tourists outside, so I have no picture of Fortitude.

Looking down the hall toward the Library Shop. I was so giddy, I didn't know which way to go.
With three floors to explore, I had to go up. This is a view back at Astor Hall, which is the first space you enter from Fifth Avenue. In Sex and the City: The Movie, Carrie Bradshaw ascends the iconic marble steps of The New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street wearing a stunning Vivienne Westwood wedding gown....Once inside, Carrie's pupils dilate as she marvels at the Library's majestic architecture and design. How could she not marvel at this space?

The 25th Governor of New York Samuel J. Tilden bequeathed the bulk of his fortune to "establish and maintain a free library and reading room in the city of New York.Although New York had two libraries, the Astor Library and Lenox Library, they were neither fully free nor fully accessible to the public. A plan was devised to combine the resources of the two former libraries and the Tilden Trust to form a new entity to be known as The New York Public Library.

Following an open competition among ;the city's most prominent architects, the relatively unknown John Merven Carrère and Thomas Hastings were selected to design and construct the new library. They also designed the tables, chairs, lamps and chandeliers, even the hardware and wastebaskets.

It took 16 years from design to completion, cost $9,000,000 on a $20,000,000 plot of land, with dimensions of 390' x 270' = 10,382,600 cubic feet; height 68' front; 98' back. The resulting Beaux-Arts design, was the largest marble structure ever attempted in the United States. Using 530,000 cubic feet of marble, with exterior marble facing 12 inches thick, it was more than six times the marble used in the New York Stock Exchange and the New York Chamber of Commerce combined. There are 88 miles of shelf space in the Humanities & Social Science Library and 40 miles under Bryant Park.

More than one million books were set in place for the official dedication of the Library on May 23, 1911. The following morning, New York's very public Public Library officially opened its doors and 50,000 visitors streamed through the building the first day it was open.

Just look up for architectural jewels , made not for monarchy, but the people. John Q. Public should be proud. Each door, ceiling, and hallway are delectable treasures, and that's without cracking a book. Of which they have millions along with the real Winnie the Pooh, and other rare and valuable pieces.

I did get the chance to rest and even re-charge my cell phone, as the tables in the Rose Main Reading Room, on the third floor, not only includes outlet but also data ports, and free WiFi. The library has multiple events for all ages, even if you can't make it in person, they're posted online. One example is Live from NYPL. You can watch one such interview below, "Conversation Portrait: Jay-Z Decoded".