The famous lion statues stand guard over the library’s entrance

The Main Branch of the New York Public Library is arguably the most famous of the city’s 92 branches in its system. The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building opened in 1911 and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1965.

The library’s Children’s Room contains a display of the original collection of dolls which inspired author A. A. Milne to write the Winnie-the-Pooh series of books which in turn inspired the Disney version.

The entire Pooh collection on display

You may also recognize the library from a number of classic films but the most notable Disney related one is Spider-Man (2002) – this is the scene where Uncle Ben gives Peter the “with great power comes great responsibility” speech before dropping him off at the library. Peter is really headed to an underground fight tournament to take on Bone Saw as Spider-Man.

Peter gets dropped off at the library. Image ©Sony/Marvel Studios

Address: 476 5th Ave, New York, NY 10018
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