Columbus Circle: Where discoverer of America & first planner of Chandigarh meet

Now that I’m familiar with navigating the ‘grand canyons of steel & glass’ of Manhattan, through the warrens and burrows of its Subway-- I easily get into a train to ‘Up Town’ for my destination of the day, the Columbus Circle.

The Circle is primarily a busy traffic intersection, located at the meeting points of prominent avenues like Eighth, Broadway and is your entry to the Central Park. Officially the Columbus Circle is the point from which official highway distances from New York City are measured. It’s like the ‘Matka Chowk’ of Chandigarh or say the Connaught Place of Lutyens’s Delhi!

Within walking distance to the Times Square and famous museums like the MET, Guggenheim and the MoMA with its proximity to Central park—it’s the perfect place to be called the heart and soul of Manhattan.

The circle is named after the monument of Christopher Columbus   in the centre. The Columbus Monument, a 76-foot column installed at the centre of Columbus Circle, consists of a 14-foot marble   statue of Columbus atop a 27.5-foot granite column on a four-stepped granite pedestal.  These steps are the favourite place for tired tourists to sit by the cooling murmuring fountains and gaze at the endless caravan of life and traffic that flows around the Circle.  Created by Italian sculptor Gaetano Russo, the monument was installed at the center of the circle in 1892. It   is  now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

This lively outdoor living room of Manhattan has a row of food trucks that sell affordable refreshing juices, milkshakes and other cooling drinks. Also souvenirs like ‘I love New York’ sweat shirts, caps, ladies’ straw hats can be bought at bargain prices.

Adjoining the Columbus statue is USS Maine National Monument located at the Merchants' Gate entrance to Central park.   It was cast on September 1, 1912 and dedicated on May 30, 1913 to the men killed aboard USS Maine   when the ship exploded in Havana harbour.  Designed by Harold Van Buren it was completed and dedicated in New York City. The monument consists of a pylon with a fountain at its base and sculptures surrounding it. The gilded bronze figures atop the pylon represent Columbia Triumphant, her seashell chariot being drawn by three mythical horses.  The bronze for this group reportedly came from metal recovered from the guns of the Maine.

Going around the East side of the Circle you will notice a stand for Citi bikes where you can rent a bicycle to ride around the large avenues around it, just as sleek luxury limousines drop people at the Trump International Hotel, where it is rumoured that a Trump look-alike is seen roaming around in the lobby!

But Trump or no trump—there is a street musician blowing his own trumpet, and bellowing out soulful music. And besides the musician there is a young melancholy ‘homeless woman’ with a placard asking for charity.

For an architect from Chandigarh, a very exciting building to watch out for is the famous 240 Central Park South just across the Circle. The residential building was designed by none other, then the first planner of Chandigarh Albert Mayer, who later was replaced by Le Corbusier. The well renowned firm of Messer’s  Albert Mayer and Julian Whittlesey,  built  it between 1939 and 1940. Its  design is  a combination of the  Art Deco and Modern –reminding one of Chandigarh’s  cuboid brick architecture.  The facade is made in light brownish-red brick with  offset shopfronts along  Broadway, and the apartments have the unique feature for the city of New York of cantilevered balconies.

When completed, 240 Central Park South was one of Manhattan's largest apartment buildings, and presented as an alternative concept to suburban living fast getting developed in the New York City area at the time. The design was highly acclaimed  by leading thinkers and urbanists like Lewis Mumford and the journal Architectural Forum. It was designated a city landmark and  added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

The Columbus Circle thus converges two key historic notables. One, the discoverer of America—who really set out to discover India. And the other, the first original planner of my hometown Chandigarh.

And I stand at the intersection of these two histories in the centre of New York City.