Named after Columbus Circle, which takes its name from the Columbus monument at its centre.
The traffic circle was part of Frederick Law Olmsted’s 1857 vision for Central Park. In 1892 the Italian sculptor Gaetano Russo’s 76-foot column topped by a marble statue of Christopher Columbus was placed at its centre, part of the city’s commemoration of the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s landing, and the circle became known as Columbus Circle. East of it, 59th Street is also called Central Park South.