Bryant Park, Manhattan

This is the closest New York gets to Paris' Luxembourg Gardens, albeit in miniature. The density of architectural marvels is spellbinding, with a green expanse of lawn nestled in a canyon-like setting. Of course, the massive architectural anchor is the NY Public Library. From the park side, the BP Grill and BP Cafe give a European flair, in fact, there is a lot of Eurobabble in the air. Looking up and over the library, the upper reaches of 500 Fifth Avenue are visible, a Saarinen influenced "styleless" skyscraper, built in 1931 (same year as Empire State). Facing south, one is drawn to the Gothic-style American Radiator Bldg (now the Bryant Park Hotel), which was arguably the first art-deco motif skyscraper in the world built in 1924. I got a great bird's-eye view of this architectural gem from the 27th floor of the HSBC Tower.

On the NW corner of the park is the new Bank of America Tower, completed in 2009, with a spectacular angled geometry. It is the second tallest building in NYC at 1200 ft. Environmentally friendly, it uses slag (blast furnace byproduct) as a 45% constituent of concrete (instead of 100% cement), saving greenhouse emissions be reducing cement manufacture. It also has a grey water system that captures rainwater for reuse. Here's the kicker, all the urinals are waterless !