The Virtues of Patience and Fortitude
Patience and Fortitude—the lions flanking the Fifth Avenue entrance to the New York Public Library at the corner of 42nd Street—have been welcoming visitors to this icon of New York architecture for more than a century.
On a sunny Monday in May, Greeter Heidi Schwab gave her own welcome to 25 Big Apple Greeter volunteers who wanted to learn more about the building and the library’s collections. Heidi, a retired librarian who volunteers as a docent at the library as well as being a Greeter, has been showing visitors the library for the last two years.
This flagship building of the New York Public Library, which has more than 90 branches in the Bronx, Staten Island, and Manhattan (Brooklyn and Queens have their own library systems), is a center for research rather than a lending library. The library is free to visitors who want to admire the grandeur of the structure’s interior, conduct research, or find a quiet spot to read. Some of the ornate rooms within the library, including the Rose Main Reading Room, are open to visitors—no talking allowed! Other specialized rooms and collections require an appointment.
The library opened in 1911 after 16 years of construction.
The city donated the land and funds for the building, which is on the site of the former Croton Reservoir. Stones from the reservoir are part of the current building’s foundation.
Like Grand Central Terminal, which opened on 42nd Street in 1913, the library features the arches, pediments, and symmetry that are hallmarks of the Beaux-Arts style.
The library was the first building in New York to feature both electric lights and elevators.
Architects John Merven Carrère and Thomas Hastings designed not only the building, but also the tables, lamps, chandeliers, hardware, and even the original wastebaskets.
Patience and Fortitude, sculpted in Tennessee marble by Edward Clark Potter, had several different names in the first decades of the library.
Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia rechristened the lions during the 1930s in recognition of the qualities New Yorkers needed to survive the Great Depression. The new names stuck, and Patience and Fortitude have been symbols of NYC ever since.
Philanthropists have been prominent supporters of the library since its founding. The library is called the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building in honor of the CEO of the Blackstone Group private equity firm, who donated $100 million in 2008 to fund expansion of the building. Visitors enter the library through Astor Hall in recognition of the generous support of five generations of the Astor family. One of the most meaningful gifts to the institution was a $368,000 bequest from Martin Radtke, a Lithuanian immigrant who worked as a gardener and made weekly visits to the library to study books about finance and investing. Radtke’s generosity and appreciation for the chance to educate himself are reflected in a plaque on the floor of Astor HhHall.