One of the highest profile and most cherished public spaces in the world, Bryant Park has become a model for environmental, social and economic sustainability. Many visitors to the park are unaware that the site is a large-scale green roof above an annex housing more than three million volumes of the adjacent New York Public Library. The social character of Bryant Park was transformed within days of the restoration’s completion in 1992. The New York Times cited, “Where once the park was the home of derelicts, drug dealers and drug users, it is now awash with office workers, shoppers, strollers and readers.” Today, Bryant Park draws thousands of visitors every day. The park is active year-round with concerts, performances, movie screenings, ice skating and more. The restoration of the park marked the beginning of an era in which public/private partnerships became the financiers and guardians of the public realm—a watershed moment in the history of park-making.
