Bryant Park Grill
In 1686, the area now known as Bryant Park was designated public property by New York Colonial Governor Thomas Dongan. In 1807, the grid system of streets was laid out in what is now considered midtown, expanding north from the already cosmopolitan downtown Manhattan. In 1822, the land came under the jurisdiction of New York City and was turned into a potter’s field. The city decommissioned the potter’s field in 1840, in preparation for construction of the Croton Reservoir on the adjacent plot of land (now the Central branch of the New York Public Library).
Built in between 1839 and 1842, the Croton Distributing Reservoir was a man-made four acre lake, surrounded by massive, fifty-foot-high, twenty-five-foot-thick granite walls. This water-supply system was one of the greatest engineering triumphs of nineteenth-century America, and widely considered an integral part of the first supply of fresh water carried by aqueducts into the city from upstate New York. The reservoir itself was eventually torn down, following numerous delays, in 1900.
During the Civil War, Reservoir Square was used as an encampment for Union Army troops. Shortly after, in March of 1863.
In 1884, Reservoir Square was renamed Bryant Park, to honor recently deceased Romantic poet William Cullen Bryant.
By 1979, New York seemed to have given up Bryant Park for lost as an urban amenity, as well as an historic site. In 1974, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated Bryant Park as a Scenic Landmark.
Bryant Park reopened in April, 1992, to lavish praise from citizens and visitors, the media, and urbanists.
Not only is the fantastic Bryant Park Grill located in the center of Manhattan, the food is delicious and interiors are stunning. You can take your perfect NYC shots in the park with it’s beautiful french styled gardens complete with a carousel, then head over to the library or even Grand Central station for those iconic NY shots.