From Hemingway to Picasso: A Walk Along New York’s Library Way Celebrating Art and Literature

Walking through the heart of Manhattan, you may stumble upon a stunning architectural masterpiece guarded by two marble lions: the New York Public Library. Established in 1895, the NY Public Library is a true gem of the city, containing over 53 million items, including books, manuscripts, maps, and photographs.

You can always go here if you’re in New York City and need a quiet place to do some work. Just walk in and say that you are coming to study to avoid ending up on a tourist tour (which should be interesting too, but I have never joined it yet). This is a photo I took last week.

But many people don’t know that the Library Way (sometimes called library walk), a path leading to the entrance of the NY Public Library, is also a sight to visit. Walking along the route, you will notice evenly spaced bronze plaques running along 41st Street between Park and Fifth Avenue. These plaques are engraved with quotes from famous authors and poets and are a tribute to the written word and a nod to the library’s rich literary history.

In the late 1990s, the Grand Central Partnership (GCP), New York Public Library (NYPL), and the New York City Department of Transportation collaborated to commission these plaques as part of a street beautification project and celebration of literature. Gregg LeFevre was chosen to create the plaques and completed the project in 1998.

Aim to enter from the east and proceed along 41st Street. You’ll have a beautiful view of the library shining in the early morning light. And as you stroll along the library walk, take a moment to read the engraved words, and appreciate the beauty and power of language. You’ll find quotes like this one from Ernest Hemingway:

“All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you; the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was. If you can get so that you can give that to people, then you are a writer”.

Another plate features a quote from poet Pablo Picasso:

“Nature and art, being two different things, cannot be the same thing. Through art we express our conception of what nature is not”.

The library walk is a celebration of literature and the written word and a reminder of the transformative power of reading.

I love to study in the Public Library, a landmark that most visitors to New York will know. But I stumbled upon the library way when walking back after a meeting. I find it a beautiful tribute to literature and the written word. So as you walk along the path, take a moment to appreciate the quotes and their history.

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