You’ve probably walked right past 2 Columbus Circle NYC and didn’t even realize you were looking at one of the most hated—and then most loved—buildings in the history of Manhattan. It sits there on that odd, trapezoidal island where Broadway meets Eighth Avenue, looking like a sleek, white textured box. Today, it’s the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD). But if you ask anyone who lived in the city before 2005, they’ll tell you about the "Lollipop Building." It was weird. It was polarizing. Honestly, it was a miracle it stayed standing as long as it did before the massive 2008 renovation changed everything.
The site has always been a bit of a headache for architects. You have this awkward footprint. It’s cramped. It’s surrounded by traffic. Yet, it remains one of the most prominent pieces of real estate in the world.
The Venetian Folly That New York Hated
In 1964, Edward Durell Stone designed the original structure for Huntington Hartford, the heir to the A&P supermarket fortune. Hartford wanted a place to house his private art collection because he basically despised modern abstract art. He wanted something "humanist." Stone gave him a white Vermont marble monolith supported by these strange, spindly columns at the base that looked exactly like lollipops.
Critics went nuclear.
Ada Louise Huxtable, the legendary New York Times architecture critic, called it a "die-cut Venetian palazzo on lollipops." People thought it was tacky. It was a slap in the face to the sleek, glass-and-steel International Style that was booming at the time. While the Seagram Building was celebrating transparency, 2 Columbus Circle NYC was almost entirely windowless. It felt like a fortress or a very expensive tomb for a rich man’s ego.
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Hartford’s Gallery of Modern Art didn’t even last five years. By 1969, the building began a decades-long identity crisis. It was handed over to Fairleigh Dickinson University, then it became the headquarters for the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. For years, it just sat there, turning slightly grey from the smog, a relic of a style nobody quite understood or wanted to claim.
The Battle for the Lollipops
By the early 2000s, the building was a mess. The marble was deteriorating. The interior layout was cramped. When the Museum of Arts and Design announced they wanted to buy it and completely reclad the exterior, the preservationist community—which had previously ignored the building—suddenly decided it was a masterpiece.
It was a total civil war.
On one side, you had people like Tom Wolfe and Chuck Close fighting to save the original "Lollipop" facade. They argued that even if it was "ugly," it was a vital part of the city's architectural narrative. On the other side, the city and the museum argued that the building was non-functional and dying.
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The preservationists lost.
In 2005, the scaffolding went up. Architect Brad Cloepfil and his firm, Allied Works Architecture, took on the task of turning the marble box into something that actually worked for a modern museum. They didn't just slap on some paint. They stripped it down. They replaced the marble with 22,000 iridescent terra-cotta tiles that change color depending on how the sun hits them. If you stand there at 4:00 PM on a Tuesday, the building might look pearlescent; an hour later, it’s a matte grey.
They also cut "ribbons" into the facade—long, thin windows that finally allowed light into the galleries and gave visitors a view of Central Park. It was a gutsy move. It effectively killed the original building to save the site.
What’s Actually Inside 2 Columbus Circle NYC Today?
If you go in now, the vibe is completely different. The Museum of Arts and Design focuses on "making"—craft, jewelry, furniture, and contemporary art that bridges the gap between functional objects and fine art.
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- The Store: Honestly, the gift shop at MAD is one of the best in the city. It isn't just postcards; it’s high-end jewelry and glasswork that feels more like a gallery extension.
- The Artist Studios: This is the best-kept secret. On the 6th floor, you can actually watch artists-in-residence work. You can talk to them. You can see the sawdust and the solder. It’s one of the few places in Manhattan where the barrier between "viewer" and "maker" is totally gone.
- Robert: On the 9th floor, there’s a restaurant called Robert. It’s pricey, sure, but the view of Columbus Circle and the southwest corner of Central Park is arguably the best in the neighborhood. You’re looking down at the Maine Monument and the swirling traffic in a way that feels like a live-action Tilt-Shift video.
Why the Location is So Complicated
The geography of 2 Columbus Circle NYC is a nightmare for logistics but a dream for visibility. It sits at the intersection of the Upper West Side, Hell's Kitchen, and Midtown. It’s the gateway to the park.
Because of the heavy traffic flow, the building acts as a sort of "prow" of a ship. When the Time Warner Center (now the Deutsche Bank Center) went up across the street, 2 Columbus Circle suddenly looked tiny. It’s this little white jewel box dwarfed by massive glass skyscrapers. But that contrast is exactly why it works now. It provides a sense of scale and texture that the rest of the neighborhood lacks.
The Lingering Controversy
Even today, architectural purists haven't forgiven the city for letting the original Stone building be altered. There’s a segment of the New York intellectual crowd that views the current MAD building as a "lobotomized" version of history. They miss the lollipops.
But for the average New Yorker or the tourist heading to the park, the current version of 2 Columbus Circle NYC is a success. It’s open. It’s tactile. It doesn't feel like a tomb anymore. It feels like a piece of the city's living fabric. It’s a reminder that buildings in New York aren't static monuments; they are constantly being chewed up and spat back out in new forms.
Navigating Your Visit
If you’re planning to spend time at 2 Columbus Circle, don't just look at the outside. The building is meant to be experienced from the inside out now.
- Check the tiles closely. Walk right up to the wall on the 58th Street side. The terra-cotta has a specific glaze that was designed to mimic the shimmer of the original marble without the structural failures.
- Hit the 6th Floor early. The Open Studio program usually has artists present from 10:00 AM. It’s the most "human" part of the building.
- Look for the "H." In the original design, the windows were shaped like the letter H for Huntington Hartford. Some of that structural DNA is still buried in the current layout if you look closely at the floor plate transitions.
- Timing matters. Visit on a Thursday or Friday evening when the light hits the 8th-floor galleries. The way Cloepfil cut the windows creates these dramatic slashes of light across the floors that make the art look incredible.
2 Columbus Circle NYC isn't just an address. It’s a sixty-year-old debate that ended in a compromise. It proves that in New York, you can’t please everyone, but you can at least build something that makes people stop and argue on the sidewalk. That’s more than most buildings in this city can say.
Take Action: See It For Yourself
- Visit on a Pay-What-You-Wish Day: MAD usually offers these on Thursday evenings. It’s the best way to see the interior without the $18-$20 ticket price.
- The View is Free-ish: You can take the elevator up to the restaurant "Robert" just to look out the windows. You don't necessarily have to sit for a full meal, though grabbing a drink at the bar is the polite way to snag that Central Park view.
- Walk the Perimeter: Compare the 1964 "Lollipop" photos on your phone while standing at the corner of Broadway and 58th. It’s a masterclass in how much a city can change while staying in the exact same spot.