How to Spend 4 Hours in New York: Morgan Library and a Korean Lunch in NoMad
Updated October 3, 2026
Four hours in New York covers J. Pierpont Morgan's private library, a Korean home-style meal at Her Name Is Han and a stroll through Madison Square Park, where Shake Shack began.
This plan swaps the crowds of Fifth Avenue for the quieter side streets of Murray Hill and NoMad. Start in J. Pierpont Morgan's private library, then walk a few blocks south and west to a Korean restaurant a block from the neon signs of Koreatown. End beneath the trees of a compact park with the Flatiron Building across the street. It's a short, flat walk, so you can linger over lunch and still have time for a frozen custard at the end.
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The 4 hour plan, stop by stop
Stops and travel: 2 hr 44 min to 4 hr 14 min of 4 hours
Charles McKim designed this Renaissance-style marble library for financier J. Pierpont Morgan, and it was completed in 1906. As of October 2026, adult admission is $25, advance timed tickets are suggested but not required, and the museum is closed on Mondays. The East Room is the one to see, with three tiers of walnut bookcases holding about 11,000 volumes, concealed staircases tucked behind the shelves, and one of the museum's three Gutenberg Bibles on display. Next door, Morgan's study, the West Room, is hung with red silk damask, a faithful copy of the original. Renzo Piano's 2006 addition ties the old buildings together around a glass-roofed court.
Tip: See the historic library rooms first, then the changing exhibitions; on Friday evenings admission is free with a reservation that opens about a week ahead.
- Time here
- 1 hr 15 min to 2 hr
- Website
- themorgan.org
NaviTime to head out from The Morgan Library & Museum for Her Name Is Han. It's a 7 minute walk if you leave now. Here's the link
Since 2015, Her Name Is Han has cooked Korean home-style food in a cozy room on 31st Street, a block from Koreatown's main strip. Lunch runs on weekdays, brunch on weekends and dinner every night, and it takes reservations. Meals start with free banchan, and the menu leans on warming stews, stone-pot rice and noodle soups. The budae hot pot, an army stew loaded with rice cakes and ramen, is the big shared order, and the spicy seafood stew with dumplings is a close second.
Tip: Solo diners do best with a noodle soup or rice set, since the big stews are built for sharing; book a table if you are coming at the busiest lunch hour.
- Time here
- 50 min to 1 hr 15 min
- Website
- hernameishan.com
NaviTime to head out from Her Name Is Han for Madison Square Park. It's a 7 minute walk if you leave now. Here's the link
This 6.2-acre park between Fifth and Madison Avenues is run by a conservancy that commissions rotating contemporary art for its lawns and paths. Shake Shack started here in 2001 as a hot dog cart that helped fund an art installation, and the permanent kiosk followed in 2004, so this is the original. From 1876 to 1882 the park displayed the Statue of Liberty's torch arm to raise money for the rest of her. Across Fifth Avenue from the southwest corner, the narrow wedge of the Flatiron Building fills the view.
Tip: The park has no restrooms of its own; the nearest public one is a city-run facility on Madison Avenue at the southeast edge of the park.
- Time here
- 25 to 45 min
- Website
- madisonsquarepark.org
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