Grand Army Plaza in Manhattan, New York is at the intersection of 59th Street and 5th Avenue in front of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, and opposite the south easternmost corner of Central Park, at the end of Central Park South. The idea for the plaza was first proposed by the sculptor Karl Bitter in 1898. It is named after the Grand Army of the Potomac. It was designed by Beaux-Arts architecture firm Carrère and Hastings and was completed in 1916.
The plaza is oval shaped and is bisected by the 59th street into northern and southern portions. The northern part has a golden equestrian statue of William Tecumseh Sherman designed by Augustus Saint-Gaudens. The statue features Sherman on a horse with "Victory" in front of him pointing the way forward (she has a palm frond in the other hand). Temporary sculpture exhibits are often mounted at the north side of the plaza.
The southern part is the site of the Pulitzer memorial fountain (Pulitzer Fountain of Abundance - designed by Bitter) contributed by Joseph Pulitzer. A bronze statue of the Roman goddess Pomona, also designed by Bitter (the final statue designed by him) is situated at the top of the fountain. The plaza underwent a renovation costing $3.7 million in 1990.[1][2][3][4][5] The world-famous Plaza Hotel is named for the Plaza, and sits on the southwest corner.