Where to See Public Art in New York City

It’s busy, it’s hot, and it’s often less than reliable, but even New Yorkers smile at unexpected art underground. There’s Samm Kunce’s eerily beautiful stone, glass, and marble mosaic in the long corridor connecting the Bryant Park/ 42nd Street subways. There’s the wacky class-photo-backdrop-in-the-80s neon beehive connecting the F train to the 6 at Bleecker/ Broadway-Lafayette. Roy Lichtenstein can be spied at the madcap Times Square station. And kids flip for Bill Brand’s MassTransiscope, a zoetrope-like apparition that appears out the window of Manhattan-bound B and Q trains from DeKalb.

Speaking of kids, there are tons of sculptures all around Central Park—not to mention the zoo!—but we’re partial to a classic: Jose de Creeft’s bronze sculpture of Alice and pals just north of East 74th Street.

Rent a bike or grab your CitiBike; there’s plenty of knockout street art all over Bushwick and Williamsburg, and with wheels, you can see a ton of it. Walking works, too: We like starting at the Jefferson stop on the L, where there are abundant cafes, bar, and taquerias, and exploring. (Pro tip: While planning your route, check out the #nycstreetart, #streetartnyc, #nycgraffiti and #muralart tags on Instagram.)

One of the city’s best-kept secrets, a short (and cheap!) ferry ride from Brooklyn and Manhattan, has fascinating artworks along with great views of the city and the Statue of Liberty. There’s a brand-new sculpture from Rachel Whiteread, and a month-long art fair every weekend in September.

En route to get hitched at City Hall? Great! Stop and see some art in City Hall Park on the way. The Public Art Fund almost always has something in those gardens, typically weather-worthy sculptures, and Claudia Comte’s “Italian Bunnies” (through September) should entice little ones.

Another Public Art Fund contribution to the city, Martin Creed’s “Understanding” is one of several works dotting the gorgeous Brooklyn Bridge Park—incidentally, an excellent place to snag views of the Manhattan skyline. Brooklyn artist Tom Fruin’s work “Watertower 3: R.V. Ingersoll” can be spotted near pier 5, and Deborah Kass’ “OY/YO” will be on display until late September, 2016.

Every walk down The High Line, the public park and garden on a raised onetime subway track, is slightly different from the one before. Maybe it’s that you see a new pop-up food vendor, or a different stripe of sunset, but you also might glimpse a new sculpture—or a performance artist, such as a bald man wearing only his underwear, in the midst of fully-clothed foot traffic. As is true of New York itself, The High Line keeps it real.