When you talk about famous buildings in New York City, Fifth Avenue certainly has a bunch of them. St. Patrick's Cathedral, Rockefeller Center and the Plaza Hotel, just to name a few.

Now, those iconic sites are accented by 5,600 flowers as part of "Fifth Avenue Blooms."

"We're making the sidewalks and the streets of New York just better and more beautiful and more exciting than they already are," said Marie Boster, president of the Fifth Avenue Association, the Business Improvement District for the area.


What You Need To Know

  • "Fifth Avenue Blooms" is a sidewalk flower installation along Fifth Avenue, between East 50th and 59th Streets, in Midtown Manhattan and at the Pulitzer Fountain near the Plaza Hotel 

  • It was started three years ago by the Fifth Avenue Association, the Business Improvement District for the area 

  • For the second year, jewelers Van Cleef & Arpels partnered with the association to imagine the installations created by French illustrator Charlotte Gastaut

  • The installations will be on display throughout the month of May 

There are 10 structures located along Fifth Avenue between East 50th and 59th streets, not to mention more near the landmark Pulitzer Fountain, where there are 3,600 geraniums.

It's the third year for "Fifth Avenue Blooms," which was started by the association as a gift to the city during the pandemic. For the past two years, it's been a partnership between the association and jewelers Van Cleef & Arpels.

(NY1/Roger Clark)

"Fifth Avenue has this unique typography of having Bryant Park at 42nd Street and Central Park up at 59th Street, and so connecting those parks with these structures, this greenery, these added plants, gives a much more enhanced experience," Boster said.

The floral installations imagined by Van Cleef & Arpels artist Charlotte Gastaut are not only giving New Yorkers and tourists a place to take a breather from shopping or whatever they may be doing, but beautifying the stretch of Fifth Avenue.

Boster says it's giving folks an extra reason to visit a neighborhood that is an important part of the city's economy, accounting for 5% of the jobs in New York City and 5% of its tax base.

(NY1/Roger Clark)

"Fifth Avenue does need attention. We can't live on legacy alone, and we need to be looking to the future, so we support our stores, we support our businesses, our office tenants as the association and our residents," Boster said.

Boster noted that Fifth Avenue is a critical economic engine for the city, which is why they need to make sure it's beautiful and welcoming for those who work there and visit from around the world.