St. Patrick’s Day is a big deal in NYC, which means it’s time to paint the town green. We all know that bars pour green beer, bakeries serve green bagels and revelers don sparkly green hats. But that’s only the start when it comes to NYC things that are the color green. Or contain the word “green.” Or whose names are homophones of “green.” Or are kind-of, sort-of greenish. With springtime in sight, join us on our verdant journey—no food coloring (though, in one instance, some serious face painting) required. Then come to New York City and see all of the green attractions for yourself (we’d also recommend embracing the entire spectrum of NYC things, but you’ve got to start somewhere).
And if you’re looking for eco-conscious travel tips and sustainable things to do or see in New York City, worry not: our site has a whole section on those subjects.
Statue of Liberty. Photo: Julienne Schaer
1. Statue of Liberty
This NYC icon didn’t start out green. The statue’s skin is made of copper and was brown when it was dedicated in 1886. Over 30 years it turned a pale shade of green because of exposure to the elements.
Top of the Woolworth Building. Photo: Julienne Schaer
2. Top of the Woolworth Building
Gimbels Skybridge. Photo: Molly Flores
Photo: Tagger Yancey IV
4. Street signs
5. Green Coca-Cola Bottles
This Warhol silkscreen takes an everyday item and transforms it into art. The canvas depicts 112 empty glass Coca-Cola bottles. While the seafoam color intensifies and wanes throughout each row, it’s the red logo at the bottom that stands out most.
Union Square Market. Photo: Walter Wlodarczyk
8. Union Square Greenmarket (and the 31 other greenmarkets in the boroughs)
Transmitter Park, Greenpoint. Photo: Julienne Schaer
9. Greenpoint
10. Fort Greene
Bowling Green Park. Photo: Phil Kline
11. Bowling Green
Wicked. Photo: Joan Marcus
12. Wicked
The Gershwin Theatre positively glows with green. That includes the Wicked marquee, the set of the Emerald City and, of course, the skin of the show’s star character. It takes about 20 minutes for actress Jessica Vosk to transform into Elphaba (aka the Wicked Witch of the West). Her face, neck and hands are painted using a MAC Cosmetics Chromacake in the shade “Landscape Green.”
13. GreeNYC
14. Rachel Green, of
15. Green boro taxis
Courtesy, Javits Center
16. Jacob K. Javits Convention Center roof
17. Monk parakeets
We’ve got all kinds of birdlife in NYC. Pigeons may first come to mind, but ornithologists know there are more than 400 species to spot here. The most beloved might well be the bright-green monk parakeets (also known as Quaker parrots ) brought to the City around 50 years ago from South America. Many have settled in Queens—but a particularly visible, and noisy, colony resides in the Gothic Revival archway entrance of Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery.
Green-Wood Cemetery. Photo: Tagger Yancey IV
20. Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway
Courtesy, New York Jets LLC
21. New York Jets, aka “Gang Green”
Dyker Beach Golf Course. Photo: Marley White
22. The fairways and greens at the City’s golf courses
23. The grass at Yankee Stadium
24. The seats at Citi Field
The Mets’ team colors are blue and orange. Their previous ballpark, Shea Stadium, had seats in those colors, plus red and green. But when New York’s National League team moved to their current home, Citi Field, in 2009, they switched to an all dark-green color scheme for their seats. It’s a tribute to the green seats at the Polo Grounds, where the New York Giants played for many years and the Mets spent their first two seasons.
Nathan's Coney Island. Photo: Brittany Petronella
25. Nathan’s logo
Russ & Daughters. Photo: Matthew Penrod
27. Blarney Stone near Penn Station
28. G train
Photo: Joe Buglewicz
Subway globe. Photo: Molly Flores
30. Subway globes
No, those glowing orbs aren’t just sitting on top of subway entrances to look pretty; they have a purpose. Not only do the orbs make it easier to spot a station, the green ones (and half green too) are there to let you know an entrance is open; red ones indicate that a stairway is closed or exit only.
West 8th Station. Photo: Julienne Schaer
31. Wavewall
Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. Photo: Jen Davis
32. Rockefeller Center Christmas tree
Pickle Guys. Photo: Will Steacy
33. Many of the delicious products at the Pickle Guys
35. Green tea ice cream, Chinatown Ice Cream Factory
36. Asparagus (or arugula or lettuce or green beans and mint) gelato, L’Albero dei Gelati
37. Pistachio pizza, Dar 525
With the exception of the odd green basil leaves, NYC pizzas are typically red and white. But Syrian restaurant Dar 525 serves an all-green pie. Made with parmesan and mozzarella cheese, onion and rosemary, it’s topped with pistachios and cooked to a golden green color. The result is a healthy-ish and striking pizza.
38. Gallow Green
Tavern on the Green. Photo: Maura Daley
Central Park. Photo: Brittany Petronella
40. Central Park
In a city with 30,000 acres of parkland—roughly enough to cover all of San Francisco—Central Park stands out for its mix of formal landscaping and wild patches, its natural attractions (20,000 trees!) and man-made monuments (a 3,500-year-old Egyptian obelisk!), and its setting smack in the middle of Manhattan. Right at the park’s heart is the Great Lawn—as lovely a patch of green as you’ll find.
New York Botanical Garden. Photo: Christopher Postlewaite
41. Greenhouses (notably those at New York Botanical Garden and Brooklyn Botanic Garden)
42. The ironwork of the Little Singer Building
43. Facade of Birdbath Bakery, aka the old Vesuvio Bakery
44. The walls and garden at Maison Premiere
45. Apothéke’s absinthe bottles
46. Banana-leaf wallpaper at Indochine
McSorley’s Old Alehouse. Photo: Kate Glicksberg
47. McSorley’s Old Alehouse
The sign above McSorley’s wasn’t always green— but it is now, as are the barrels out front, guiding you inside on your way to a pint. Much else about the bar has remained the same since it opened in 1854. There’s still sawdust on the floor and memorabilia covering the walls, and there’s only ale (light or dark) on the drink menu.
48. The bar at Mister Paradise
Photo: Molly Flores
49. Department of Sanitation logo
Palm Court. Photo: Tagger Yancey IV
50. The Palm Court at the Plaza
52. Kermit the Frog, Museum of the Moving Image
While Kermit claims it’s not be easy bein’ green, he’s certainly made quite the career of it. After debuting in black and white on a Washington, DC, TV show in 1955, he moved to NYC’s Sesame Street in the 1960s, got his own variety show in the 1970s and made some movies with his furry friends over 20-odd years. Visit him at this ongoing exhibit of Jim Henson’s work.
The Flower Market. Photo: Molly Flores
Washington Square Park. Photo: Christopher Postlewaite
The Allee, Snug Harbor. Photo: Julienne Schaer
Grand Central Ceiling. Photo: Brittany Petronella
58. The Ceiling at Grand Central Terminal’s Main Concourse
Officially, the color used for the background of Grand Central Terminal’s celestial ceiling mural is cerulean blue, meaning a blue intended to resemble the night sky. Seems simple enough. But plenty of people will tell you that it looks green, greenish or, at the least, blue green. And the product used to clean the ceiling during its restoration was called Simple Green. Plus, let’s say the color is blue. Combine that with the yellow stars, and you’ve got green. Basically, we like Grand Central Terminal so much we’ll take any excuse to include it here.
St Patrick's Day Parade. Photo: Joe Buglewicz
59. Pretty much everything at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade
60. Illumination Lawn, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
