Smarty Pants: New York Public Library's Main Branch

On Saturday, Donna Mae and I began a 10-hour New York City jaunt that took us from Jane's Carousel in Brooklyn to Central Park to the new Uniqo flagship store on Fifth Avenue, a coolio street fair, the New York Public Library's main branch behind Bryant Park, Boxer's bar, Beauty Bar lounge... and finally home for din din. When we got to the city from BK post-carousel, we walked from 59th Street criss-crossing down to 14th Street. We figure we covered three-plus miles on foot.

Here, NYPL, the largest public library in North America, which opened in 1911, and its beautiful, historic third-floor Main Reading Room, which extends a half-acre and has seating for 768, with 25,000 volumes along the walls. As you see in the right pic, it has hardly changed in 100 years.