Alphabet City, Manhattan : NYC Tourist Guide

Alphabet City

Herald Square is a typical Manhattan bow-tie square that consists of two named squares: Herald Square; and Greeley Square, which is specifically the portion between West 32nd Street and West 33rd Street between Broadway and Sixth Avenue (Avenue of The Americas). Herald Square is formed by the intersection of Broadway, Sixth Avenue (officially named Avenue of the Americas) and 34th Street in New York City. The area was named for the New York Herald, now the International Herald Tribune, a famous newspaper originally headquartered there. Befitting its newspaper heritage, a triangular park formed by Broadway, Sixth Avenue, and West 32nd Street is named Horace Greeley Square, after the New York Tribune publisher. There is a statue of Horace Greeley seated inside the park, that was created in 1890 by Alexander Doyle (the Tribune was later acquired by the Herald). There also is a huge mechanical clock located in the companion park, formerly the site of the New York Herald building, at the north end of the square between West 34th Street and West 35th Street, whose mechanical structures were constructed in 1895 by the sculptor Antonin Jean Carles.

The area is a retail hub. The most notable attraction is Macy's department store, the largest in the United States (and according to Guinness World Records the largest in the world). Macy's archrival Gimbel Brothers was also located in the neighborhood until 1986. Other past retailers in the area included E.J. Korvette, Stern's, and Abraham & Straus. The former Gimbel's site has been converted into the Manhattan Mall. J.C. Penney has announced plans to open its first Manhattan store in the former A&S location inside Manhattan Mall.

Its name is widely remembered from a lyric in a well known George M. Cohan song Give My Regards to Broadway, in reference to the newspaper.

The square is 10 Blocks south of Times Square, and 10 Blocks north of Madison Square. Herald Square's south side borders Koreatown, at West 32nd Street. The area is served by the 34th Street-Herald Square station (B D F V N Q R W) and the 33rd Street station of the PATH.