Pershing Square, Manhattan

40°45′07.6″N 73°58′39.6″W / 40.752111°N 73.977667°W / 40.752111; -73.977667

The Park Avenue Viaduct over 42nd Street, under which is Pershing Square; the green sign in the center of the bridge says "Pershing Square". Grand Central Terminal is on the center and left.
Pershing Square as originally proposed in 1919, showing (from L) a never-built replacement for the Murray Hill Hotel, the Belmont Hotel, the Hotel Manhattan, the Biltmore Hotel, Grand Central Terminal, and the Hotel Commodore

Pershing Square is a public plaza in Manhattan, New York City, located where Park Avenue and 42nd Street intersect in front of Grand Central Terminal. The main roadway of Park Avenue crosses over 42nd Street on the Park Avenue Viaduct, also known as the Pershing Square Viaduct. Two service roads, one northbound and one southbound, connect 42nd Street with the main roadway of Park Avenue, at 40th Street.

Pershing Square was named after John J. Pershing in 1919. The name was originally supposed to apply to the block bounded by Park Avenue, Lexington Avenue, 41st Street, and 42nd Street. Three buildings were ultimately developed on the block in the 1920s: the Pershing Square Building, 110 East 42nd Street, and the Chanin Building. Subsequently, the name applied to the service roads of the Park Avenue Viaduct. A tourist information center under the viaduct, at Pershing Square, was built in 1939; it was later reconfigured to be a store and then a restaurant. The service roads between 42nd and 41st Streets were converted into a pedestrian public plaza in 2018.