6 East 43rd Street
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading...
This strip of plaza is located on the south side of East 43rd Street between Madison and Fifth Avenues in front of a bank office. Built-in planters with ground-hugging ledges occupy much of the space. A large metal canopy extends over a portion of it, while a driveway runs through the western edge.
The plaza remains largely the same as in the description from 2000 with two large planters in the middle of the space and a driveway occupying the western corner. The canopy still sits in the same location as do the revolving doors for the building. However one of the planters has been filled in with a large statue dedicated as a 9-11 memorial. It depicts a fireman kneeling and commemorates the public servants who perished on that day, which is described on several plaques at the base of the statue. Two other plaques further explain the private organization’s (the organization occupying the building behind the plaza) history and connection to the loss incurred on 9-11.
It is curious that during the redesign for the statue, that no attempts were made to elevate the height of the planter’s ledges to provide seating for the public to observe the statue. Nowhere on the premises is there seating afforded to the public nor is there any indication that this is a public space and not the private property of the organization. Considering the installation of the statue and the significance it holds regarding the organization it is possible that the space appears to be less unambiguously public than prior.
A photograph of the statue.