A Free Desk Under the Rose Room Ceiling on Fifth
Grand reading rooms, free exhibitions and no card at the door, with a ten a.m. weekday arrival beating every coworking rate.
📚 Ten a.m. is the whole trick
The Schwarzman Building at Fifth and 42nd opens at ten on weekday mornings, and the reading rooms upstairs are the reason to be there at that hour. The building pairs public research spaces with free walk-through galleries, and the halls are Beaux-Arts marble with oak tables and long windows. Seats are free, no card is asked for and the upper floors are working space. Arrive at ten and take the stairs before the tour groups form. Bring a laptop and a charger. The Treasures exhibition on the way out holds a Gutenberg Bible and the original Winnie-the-Pooh animals. Doors close at six most evenings and at eight on Tuesday and Wednesday.
