On Broadway between 62nd and 66th Streets is New York City’s famed Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (212/546-2656, www.lincolncenter.org), presenting about 3,000 performances each year. The center is built around a wide marble plaza with a circular fountain in the middle.

The Metropolitan Opera House, on the plaza’s west side, is the center’s most ornate building, graced with sparkling multistoried windows and two vivid murals by Marc Chagall.

The New York State Theater, on the plaza’s south side, is home to the New York City Opera and the New York City Ballet.

The center’s recent massive renovation united West 65th Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, with the surrounding cityscape. The David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center became converted into a public community and cultural space offering free performances, shady seating with free wi-fi, information kiosks, a cafe, and discount ticket services to available Lincoln Center events.

Further goals of rebuilding the Lincoln Center Promenade, with its iconic Revson Fountain, to equal grandeur and incorporating a 3,500-square-foot green space should be met by the end of 2010.