Rockefeller Center: Channel Gardens and Prometheus
Why is it significant?
Step into the serene pedestrian promenade of the Channel Gardens, gently sloping downward from Fifth Avenue toward Rockefeller Plaza.
Key Facts
| Place | Rockefeller Center: Channel Gardens and Prometheus |
|---|---|
| Address | 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112, USA |
| Geo Coordinates | 40.75870, -73.97870 |
| Part of Walk | New York: Midtown Art Deco and Grand Central Cathedrals |
| Generated | Generated |
Step into the serene pedestrian promenade of the Channel Gardens, gently sloping downward from Fifth Avenue toward Rockefeller Plaza. Flanked on your left by the British Empire Building and on your right by La Maison Française—a clever geographical nod that led to the name Channel Gardens, evoking the English Channel—this tranquil garden features six granite fountain pools adorned with bronze merman sculptures by René Chambellan, surrounded by ever-changing seasonal plantings of radiant flowers.
As you reach the balustrade overlooking the sunken plaza, look down at the world-famous gilded bronze sculpture of Prometheus, created in 1934 by master sculptor Paul Manship. The mythical Titan leaps through a zodiac ring, holding aloft the stolen fire of knowledge and craftsmanship to bestow upon humanity. In winter, this sunken courtyard transforms into the most romantic ice-skating rink in the world, sheltered beneath the towering eighty-foot Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. The flowing bronze drapery and radiant gilding of the heroic Titan symbolize the spark of divine inspiration that drives scientific progress, reminding urban passersby of the heroic creative energy that helped pull the nation out of economic catastrophe.
Rockefeller Center was the visionary creation of John D. Rockefeller Jr., who undertook this colossal fourteen-building complex during the darkest depths of the Great Depression. Employing over forty thousand architects, engineers, and construction workers between 1930 and 1939, it proved that private civic enterprise could spark massive economic renewal. Towering directly behind Prometheus is the seventy-story 30 Rockefeller Plaza, crowning the entire Art Deco acropolis.
Look closely at the carved granite inscription above Prometheus: Prometheus, Teacher in Every Art, Brought the Fire That Hath Proved to Mortals a Means to Mighty Ends.
Stroll around the plaza toward Sixth Avenue to conclude our Midtown exploration before the glittering marquee of the world's most spectacular showplace.