Out: The exit here is right at the corner of Bryant Park. Despite the late hour, there are still plenty of people lounging around in the park. They seem to be mostly office workers who have gotten out of work recently.
The streets are no longer too crowded, though, as it’s close to 8 p.m. and mostly past rush hour. The nearby sandwich shops have closed by now. The park is surrounded by the enormous modern skyscrapers of midtown; definitely in the thick of Manhattan 
Besides the office workers, there are some tourists around as well as people of all types (but most of them well-dressed). Not too many obviously residential places here; definitely seems to be mostly office space.
In: This station has better lighting inside, also with a two platform, four track layout. There are grey floor tiles, white wall stiles, and red metal columns by the edge of the platform. There is a red tile strips along the wall, following the grade of the platform. There is a small “42” repeated frequently on black tiles. There’s a long mezzanine in the station, with some included retails space (even though it’s currently unoccupied). There’s a large mosaic wall mural containing sizeable brown tiles. There is a quote as part of the mural: “Nature must not win the game but they cannot lose. Jung”. Not really clear what this environmental statement has to do with the subway, but whatever.
