Go on Friday at 7 for free admission. You can see quite a lot in 2 hours, even if you stop for a drink first. There's lovely live music at the café and the apricot mimosa is delicious.
This is truly a gem in midtown - where else can u find yourself in a renaissance-revival library in the middle of busy corp manhattan w original scripts from dickens, Churchill , napoleon, Schubert ?
Built between 1902 and 1906, the library features towering triple tiers of bookcases made of bronze and inlaid Circassian walnut. J.P. Morgan Jr. gave his father's library to the public in 1924.
The library is astonishing; found the 2 hidden staircase behind the secret door bookshelves. Look up at Edgar Allan Poe's iron-designed ceiling room with 650 birds, each one is unique.
The North Room (aka Librarian's Office) is said to be haunted by the original Librarian, Belle de Costa Greene. This and more great info from the Untapped Cities article at: http://is.gd/ZVaWNf
