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Manhattan

Flatiron & NoMad

A wedge of limestone, a park with a burger line, and some of the city's grandest dining rooms.

Where Broadway crosses Fifth Avenue at 23rd Street, the Flatiron Building comes to a point no wider than a doorway. Daniel Burnham's firm finished it in 1902 as the Fuller Building, and the nickname won within a few years. It is being turned into apartments now, and the scaffolding that wrapped it for years came down in early 2026.

Across the street is Madison Square Park, opened in 1847, where the torch-bearing arm of the Statue of Liberty stood on display for six years to raise money for the pedestal, and where a hot dog cart in 2001 became the first Shake Shack. North of the park is NoMad, a name the neighborhood has used since about 1999; south of it run the cast-iron and stone department stores of the old Ladies' Mile.

This is one of the best places in New York to spend real money on dinner. Eleven Madison Park overlooks the park from the base of an Art Deco tower; Gramercy Tavern's front room has fed walk-ins at its bar for three decades; a Korean steakhouse a few blocks west holds a Michelin star. At lunch the same streets are office workers with salads, and the park benches are the best seats.

The Flatiron Building's prow at Fifth Avenue and Broadway

Madison Square Park's lawns, benches and rotating public art

The 1909 Met Life clock tower above the park's east side

Grand dining rooms a few minutes' walk apart

Local notes

Flatiron Building

Completed in 1902 and designated a city landmark in 1966, the triangular tower is being converted to condominiums by the Brodsky Organization; the scaffolding came down in early 2026. You cannot go inside, but the best view has always been from the plaza at its tip.

Madison Square Park

A six-acre park opened in 1847 and run today with the Madison Square Park Conservancy. Shake Shack began here as a hot dog cart in 2001 and opened its permanent stand in 2004; the stand is still in the park.

NoMad

Short for North of Madison Square Park, the district runs roughly up Broadway and Fifth into the 30s, with Beaux-Arts office buildings turned into hotels and some of the city's most ambitious restaurants.

Through the lens

Stand on the pedestrian plaza at 23rd Street and Broadway and shoot north to get the Flatiron's prow head-on; early morning keeps the plaza empty and the sun on the east face. From inside Madison Square Park, the Met Life tower's clock framed by the trees is the classic second shot.

Editorial draft — core details last reviewed October 13, 2026. Confirm practical details with the official site before you go.

Where to eat & drink