Channel Gardens (New York City, New York) | park, public garden, movie / film / TV location

 park, public garden, movie / film / TV location

The Channel Gardens separates La Maison Française (610 Fifth Avenue) from the British Empire Building (620 Fifth Avenue), just as the English Channel separates the two countries in whose honor the buildings were named. It is an approximately 200-foot-long, steeply banked corridor leading pedestrians down into the adjoining plaza. Divided by a spine of seasonal plantings and small decorative pools into two lanes, it has a variously colored flagstone pavement. The gardens consist of four square and six large rectangular granite planters. Developers John R. Todd and Rockefeller, Jr. set aside millions for the reflecting pools which was unheard of. Rene Paul Chambellan was responsible for bronze fountainhead sculptures of mermaids and tritons.

It is flanked by two six-story buildings called the British Empire Building, to the north, and La Maison Française, to the south. To attract tenants, Rockefeller Center advertised itself as a hub for international trade. Congress passed a bill in 1932 making these buildings a free port, which enabled importers to bring goods in duty free and store them on the premises. The slope downhill was thought by the Associated Architects as a way draw people from Fifth Avenue into the complex by the shift in grade.

The gardens served as a filming location for White Collar S01 E11 "Home Invasion" where Neal leaves an origami figure for Alex Hunt and then meets with him on the promenade around the flagpole border. it is used again in S02 E01 when Peter and Elle are meeting for lunch in the sunken plaza but was filmed with a greenscreen.

archive.org/details/rockefellercente0000krin/page/62/mo...
www.nytimes.com/2020/04/15/arts/design/rockefeller-cent...