The northern and southern facades of the building are located along 42nd and 40th Streets, respectively.
The northern side contains an entrance to the ground level and the temporary Mid-Manhattan branch, while the southern side does not contain a public entrance.
These entrances are flanked by flagpoles whose sculpted bronze bases were designed in 1912 by Thomas Hastings.
They were realized by the sculptor Raffaele Menconi, who often worked closely with New York architects of the Beaux-Arts generation and had a deft command of the 16th-century Italian Mannerist classical idiom that was required by Hastings's design.
The bronzes were cast at Tiffany Studios in Long Island City.
They were rededicated to New York's former Reform mayor, John Purroy Mitchell, in 1941.

The building contained an enclosed courtyard on its south side called the South Court, measuring 88 by 88 square feet (8.2 by 8.2 m²).
It was originally a drop-off location for horse carriages.
The court contained a marble fountain and horse trough, with a bungalow erected in 1919 as an employees' break area.
The fountain was destroyed in 1950 and replaced with a parking lot, and the bungalow was taken apart in 1998.
A four-story glass structure was erected on the site of the South Court, and it opened in 2002.
The northern and southern facades of the building are located along 42nd and 40th Streets, respectively. The northern side contains an entrance to the ground level and the temporary Mid-Manhattan branch, while the southern side does not contain a public entrance. These entrances are flanked by flagpoles whose sculpted bronze bases were designed in 1912 by Thomas Hastings. They were realized by the sculptor Raffaele Menconi, who often worked closely with New York architects of the Beaux-Arts generation and had a deft command of the 16th-century Italian Mannerist classical idiom that was required by Hastings's design. The bronzes were cast at Tiffany Studios in Long Island City. They were rededicated to New York's former Reform mayor, John Purroy Mitchell, in 1941.
The building contained an enclosed courtyard on its south side called the South Court, measuring 88 by 88 square feet (8.2 by 8.2 m²). It was originally a drop-off location for horse carriages. The court contained a marble fountain and horse trough, with a bungalow erected in 1919 as an employees' break area. The fountain was destroyed in 1950 and replaced with a parking lot, and the bungalow was taken apart in 1998. A four-story glass structure was erected on the site of the South Court, and it opened in 2002.
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