Duke Ellington Circle is a

traffic circle A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...

located at the northeast corner of

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

at the intersection of

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...

and 110th Street in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. The traffic circle is named for the jazz musician

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

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Plaza

Formerly named "Frawley Circle", the traffic circle was renamed "Duke Ellington Circle" in 1995. In 1997, the Duke Ellington Memorial by sculptor Robert Graham was erected in the middle of the shallow amphitheater composing the circle. Though the circle diverts the flow of 110th Street, Fifth Avenue maintains a direct route through the intersection. A new main location for the Museum for African Art designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects opened at the circle in 2019 and was the first addition to New York City's Museum Mile in decades.

Neighborhoods

Duke Ellington Circle connects the New York City neighborhoods of

with

East Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, or , is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the eas ...

. Harlem, which since the 1920s has been as a major African-American residential, cultural, and business center is to the north and west of the intersection, while East Harlem is located to the east. The nearest area of Central Park to the circle is the Harlem Meer.

Transportation

The M1, M2, M3 and M4

New York City Bus MTA Regional Bus Operations (RBO) is the bus operations division of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York City. The MTA operates local, limited-stop, express, and Select Bus Service ( bus rapid transit) services across the city ...

routes serve the vicinity of the circle. In addition, the of the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...

stop nearby at 110th Street and Lenox Avenue, while the stop at 110th Street and Lexington Avenue.

References

{{Harlem Central Park Harlem Roundabouts and traffic circles in the United States Streets in Manhattan