Duke Ellington Circle Duke Ellington Circle Duke Ellington Circle is a traffic circle located at the Northeast corner of Central Park at the foot of Fifth Avenue and of 110th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The traffic circle is named for the jazz musician Duke Ellington. Formerly named "Frawley Circle", the traffic circle was renamed "Duke Ellington Circle" in 1995. In 1997, a tall statue by sculptor Robert Graham, depicting the Muses — nine nude caryatids — supporting a grand piano and Duke Ellington on their heads was erected in the middle of the shallow amphitheater composing the circle.
Manhattan Avenue (Manhattan) Manhattan Avenue (Manhattan) Not included in the original Commissioners' Plan of 1811, Manhattan Avenue in Manhattan Valley lies between Columbus Avenue (9th Ave.) and Central Park West/Frederick Douglass Boulevard (8th Ave.), extending from 100th Street to 124th Street, at which point it merges with St. Nicholas Avenue. It saw its first buildings in 1885, a group of row houses on its western side. These buildings were brick with stone and terra-cotta trim. The now defunct New York Cancer Hospital, a landmark since 1976, is nearby on Central Park West. There are two historic districts on this avenue. Manhattan Avenue between