NYC Arts: The Complete Guide to Art and Culture

Gateway National Recreation Area

Brooklyn

The 26,000-acre Gateway National Recreation Area includes parts of three boroughs and two states and is part of the national system operated by the U.S. Department of the Interior. The Recreation Area encompasses Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge and Breezy Point in Queens; Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn; Great Kills Park in Staten Island; and Sandy Hook in New Jersey.

General Grant National Memorial

Manhattan

Overlooking the Hudson River from the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan, General Grant National Memorial is the largest tomb in North America. Grant's Tomb (as it is commonly called) is not only the final resting place of the General but a memorial to his life and accomplishments.

Due to its original construction, the inside of Grant's Tomb is not air conditioned and is drafty in the winter. Visitors are advised to dress appropriately.

Governors Island

Manhattan

Governors Island

Manhattan

This 172-acre island in New York Harbor was a quiet military installation under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Army from 1794 to 1966 and of the Coast Guard until 1996. It now hosts free art exhibitions, festivals and ticketed concerts and is accessible by a free ferry.

Grand Army Plaza and Pulitzer Fountain

Manhattan

Grand Army Plaza is outside a southeast entrance to Central Park and is bisected by 59th Street. On its north side it holds a gilded-bronze equestrian group statue depicting General William Tecumseh Sherman (1820–1891). Dedicated in 1903, it was master sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens’ (1848–1907) last major work. On the south side is the 22-foot-high Pulitzer fountain, designed by sculptor Karl Bitter (1867-1915) and architect Thomas Hastings (1860-1929). The fountain was donated by publisher Joseph Pulitzer (1847–1911). The fountain is topped by the bronze allegorical figure Pomona, the goddess of abundance.