Duke Ellington Circle is a traffic circle located at the Northeast corner of Central Park

Central Park

Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...

 at the foot of Fifth Avenue and of 110th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

. The traffic circle is named for the legendary jazz musician Duke Ellington

Duke Ellington

Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...

.

Plaza

Formerly named "Frawley Circle", the traffic circle was renamed "Duke Ellington Circle" in 1995. In 1997, a 25 feet (7.6 m) tall statue by sculptor Robert Graham

Robert Graham (sculptor)

Robert Graham was a sculptor based in the state of California in the United States. His monumental bronzes commemorate the human figure and are featured in public places across America.-Biography:...

, depicting the Muses — nine nude caryatid

Caryatid

A caryatid is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term karyatides literally means "maidens of Karyai", an ancient town of Peloponnese...

s — supporting a grand piano and Duke Ellington on their heads was erected in the middle of the shallow amphitheater composing the circle. Though the circle diverts the flow of 110th street, Fifth Avenue maintains a direct route through the intersection.
A new main location for the Museum for African Art

Museum for African Art

The Museum for African Art is located in the neighborhood of Long Island City in the borough of Queens in New York City, United States. Founded in 1984, the museum is "dedicated to increasing public understanding and appreciation of African art and culture." The Museum is also well known for its...

 designed by Robert A.M. Stern is scheduled to open at the circle in 2011 and will be the first addition to New York City's Museum Mile

Museum Mile, New York City

Museum Mile is the name for a section of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan in the city of New York, in the United States, running from 82nd to 104th streets on the Upper East Side in a neighborhood known as Carnegie Hill. The "mile", which contains one of the densest displays of culture in the world, is...

 in decades.

Neighborhoods

Duke Ellington Circle connects the New York City neighborhoods of Harlem

Harlem

Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...

 with Spanish Harlem

Spanish Harlem

East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem and El Barrio, is a section of Harlem in the northeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. East Harlem is one of the largest predominantly Latino communities in New York City. It includes the area formerly known as Italian Harlem, in which...

. Harlem, which since the 1920s has been as a major African-American residential, cultural, and business center is to the North and East of the intersection. The nearest area of Central Park to the circle is the Harlem Meer

Harlem Meer, Central Park

Harlem Meer occupies the northeast corner of New York City's Central Park, in a section of park that was added to the original site, which had originally ended at 106th Street...

.