A Modern Guide To Gilded Age New York

Surely you've never passed Grand Army Plaza's Pulitzer Fountain and been struck by its lewd nature?

Well, you're clearly more evolved than Gilded Age socialite Alice Vanderbilt. 

Following the death of New York World publisher Henry Pulitzer, $50,000 was set aside per his will to construct a beautiful public work of art - a tiered fountain topped with a bronze statue of the Greek goddess of abundance, Pomona. Depicted in the nude, Pamona's face looks to Central Park, while her backside, well...

Before Bergdorf Goodman, the covetable location of 57th to 58th on Fifth Avenue played home to Alice Vanderbilt's 137-room mansion. Most unsettlingly for Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt II, her bedroom looked right out onto Paloma's butt.

The only sensible thing to do when you're stared in the face by an indecent statue? Why complain to all of the city officials for letting it happen, move your bedroom to a different location in your crazy big mansion, and then ultimately, sell the damn place and move farther uptown.

Pulitzer Fountain, 764 Central Park S.

[Photo via Wikipedia]