Located in the very heart of Manhattan, Bryant Park hasn’t always enjoyed the glowing reputation it holds today, and New York’s city centre once struggled to attract visitors. But now, it stands as a symbol of how thoughtful design can breathe life into public spaces.
In fact, Bryant Park has become one of the most financially self-sustaining urban parks in the United States. And at the heart of this transformation is the Fermob Iconic Bistro chair.
In 1992, amidst the broader effort to revitalize Manhattan’s city center, the Bryant Park rehabilitation project took shape through Business Improvement Districts (BIDs). At the forefront of this transformation were Andrew Manshel, Associate Director, and Dan Biederman, President of the Bryant Park Corporation. Both were faced with a challenge: How do you bring people back to the heart of the city and one of the solutions was simple yet revolutionary: movable seating.
Manshel set out to pick a chair. After an eight-month selection process, narrowing down to a dozen options, one clear winner emerged. A cedar green steel-framed folding chair fitted with wooden slats, the Fermob Bistro chair. Lightweight, colorful, and straight from Paris, the chair didn’t just offer a place to sit, but invited people to stay, gather, and reconnect. Its design wasn’t just functional; it was transformative. “The elegance and design of the chair were more important than the grand design of the space itself,” Manshel noted. To make it even more special, Fermob customized the chairs with the Bryant Park name, embedding them into the park’s identity.
The result were immediate and profound.
What started as an experiment with a couple hundred of chairs quickly grew into thousands, and Bryant Park has become a magnet for locals and tourists alike, where peace and tranquillity have been restored. But the park’s success didn’t stop at its borders, it sparked urban revitalization projects worldwide, proving that small design choices can revitalize cities and foster community connections.
For over 30 years, the partnership between Fermob and Bryant Park has thrived, showing that great design goes beyond aesthetics. It’s about creating synergy, nurturing human connections, and building spaces where people feel they belong.
Author: Marnie Hammond
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