Citrovia

Citrovia is now open at 1 Manhattan West Plaza.

By Elazar Abrahams

I hopped on the train after work one day this week to head to Citrovia, a new art installation at Manhattan West. After all, when life gives you lemons, you best take an Instagram photo.

There isn’t much to Citrovia. It’s a pop up display of giant lemon sculptures, lemon trees, and just overall lemon-y vibes. It spans about 30,000 square feet in length. The idea is that come fall, this under-construction plaza is going to become a real scene, with many dining and entertainment options opening in the vicinity. Until then though, a couple fake lemons are the only thing of note in this Penn Station-adjacent strip.

However, if you’re looking to spice up your feed with some cute pics, I would stop by if you find yourself in Midtown. The whole experience is at most 10 minutes, but the setup is undeniably well done. Maybe wear yellow clothing to keep in theme? That would be cute. I didn’t notice this on my visit, but apparently the exhibit even smells like citrus.

The coolest aspect to Citrovia is what it is masking. This art piece is making use of scaffolding on the plaza that would otherwise just look like a dreary bleak Manhattan road. I’d love to see other developers adopt this tactic. Scaffolding stinks. Art will elevate your space and attract a crowd, especially if you market it as an attraction like this one.

Fruity.