- NGS PID:
- KU1448
- Coordinates:
- N 40.75333° W 73.98145°
- Location:
- Elevation:
- 80.57 ft.
- Type:
- Chiseled T
- Setting:
- Granite Monument
- Year Established:
- Unknown
- Established By:
- NYBE+A
- Status:
- Recovered
- Condition:
- Good as of July 31, 2013
- Official Description: NGS Datasheet
-
Official NYBE+A Description:
B. M. 814 - West Forty-first Street. The center of the horizontal bar of a T cut in the north side of a massive granite block surmounted by the figure of a lion, on the north side of the Fifth Avenue entrance to the New York Public Library opposite East Forty-first Street. The bench mark is 2.5 feet above the walk and 3 1/2 inches from the east side of the block.
I think I actually squealed when I read the description for this mark. "There's a bench mark on one of the lions in front of the library! One of the lions!!!" I exclaimed to Rich. He was excited too, although maybe not quite to that level. It was the first mark to go on the list for our New York City "benchmarks & bumming around" daytrip.
As expected, we found the cut T very easily in the north face of the base of the northernmost of two lion sculptures. (I think this particular lion's name is Fortitude.) The mark is surrounded by a square of yellow paint or chalk. Could it still be in use? It's in the NGS database, so it's likely that modern surveyors are using it. This mark is yet another hidden treasure in the big city!
