Union Square, Manhattan
Union Square is a historic intersection and surrounding neighborhood in Manhattan, New York City, United States, located where Broadway and the former Bowery Road – now Fourth Avenue[4] – came together in the early 19th century. Its name denotes that "here was the union of the two principal thoroughfares of the island".[5][6] The current Union Square Park is bounded by 14th Street on the south, 17th Street on the north, and Union Square West and Union Square East to the west and east respectively. 17th Street links together Broadway and Park Avenue South on the north end of the park, while Union Square East connects Park Avenue South to Fourth Avenue and the continuation of Broadway on the park's south side. The park is maintained by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.
This article is about the public plaza. For the subway station underneath the square, see 14th Street–Union Square station. For other uses, see Union Square (disambiguation).Location
Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
1882 (laid out c. 1832)[2]
Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, et al.
06101.009534
December 9, 1997[1]
December 9, 1997[3]
December 9, 1997
Adjacent neighborhoods are the Flatiron District to the north, Chelsea to the west, Greenwich Village to the southwest, East Village to the southeast, and Gramercy Park to the east. Many buildings of The New School are near the square,[7] as are several dormitories of New York University.[8] The eastern side of the square is dominated by the four Zeckendorf Towers, and the south side by the full-square-block mixed-use One Union Square South, which contains a wall sculpture and digital clock titled Metronome. Union Square Park also contains an assortment of art, including statues of George Washington, Marquis de Lafayette, Abraham Lincoln, and Mahatma Gandhi.
Union Square is part of Manhattan Community District 5[9] and its primary ZIP Code is 10003.[10] It is patrolled by the 13th Precinct of the New York City Police Department.[11] The New York City Subway's 14th Street–Union Square station, served by the 4, 5, 6, <6>, L, N, Q, R, and W trains, is located under Union Square.
There are several notable buildings surrounding Union Square. Clockwise from southwest, they are:
In addition, the Consolidated Edison Building is located one block east of the Zeckendorf Towers.[34] The Century Association clubhouse is located on 15th Street between Irving Place and Union Square East.[95]
Cultural impact[edit]
Social and political activism[edit]
The park has historically been the start or the end point for many political demonstrations. Although the park was known for its labor union rallies and for the large 1861 gathering in support of Union troops, it was actually named for its location at the "union" of Bloomingdale Road (now Broadway) and the former Bowery Road decades before these gatherings.[6][118] On April 20, 1861, soon after the fall of Fort Sumter, Major Robert Anderson, who was the commander of Fort Sumter brought the Fort Sumter Flag that flew at the fort to the park. The flag was flown from the George Washington statue, gathering patriotic rally of perhaps a quarter of a million people that is thought to have been the largest public gathering in North America up to that time. The flag was shortly removed after to be used as a patriotic fundraiser by being auctioned across the country repeatedly. In the summer of 1864 the north side of the square was the site of the Metropolitan Fair.
Union Square has been a frequent gathering point for radicals of all stripes to make speeches or demonstrate. In 1865, the recently formed Irish republican Fenian Brotherhood came out publicly and rented Dr. John Moffat's brownstone rowhouse at 32 East 17th Street, next to the Everett House hotel facing the north side of the square, for the capitol of the government-in-exile they declared.[119][120] On September 5, 1882, in the first Labor Day celebration, a crowd of at least 10,000 workers paraded up Broadway and filed past the reviewing stand at Union Square. On March 28, 1908, an anarchist set off a bomb in Union Square which only killed himself and another man.[121]
In 1893, Emma Goldman took the stage at Union Square to make her "Free Bread" speech to a crowd of overworked garment workers.[122] She also addressed a crowd in 1916 on the need for free access to birth control, which was banned by the Comstock laws.[123] Her visits to Union Square pulled hundreds of followers; some of these rallies resulted in her arrest.[124]
Union Square has been used as a platform to raise awareness about the Black Lives Matter movement, such as during the George Floyd protests in New York City in 2020.[125]
The Square's shopping district saw strikes in the S. Klein and Ohrbach department stores in 1934. White collar workers were among the worst paid in Great Depression-era New York City, with union memberships being highly discouraged by store managers and often seen as fireable offenses. These strikes often involved acts of disobedience by the workers as many of them did not want to lose their jobs.[126] This period saw Union Square as a gathering point for many of the city's socialist and communist groups. The centennial of Union Square was seen as a thinly veiled effort to displace those elements with its draping of the square with flags and police demonstrations of anti protester drills.[127]
Union Square Partnership[edit]
The Union Square Partnership (USP), a business improvement district (BID) and a local development corporation (LDC), was formed in 1984 and became a model for other BIDs in New York City. Jennifer E. Falk became its executive director in January 2007.[133]
The Union Square Partnership provides a free public Wi-Fi network in Union Square.[134]
Education[edit]
The Washington Irving Campus at 40 Irving Place between East 16th and 17th Streets, a block east of Union Square Park, was formerly the location of a comprehensive high school, but now houses Gramercy Arts High School, the High School for Language and Diplomacy, the International High School at Union Square, the Union Square Academy for Health Sciences and the Academy for Software Engineering. In 2012, Success Academy Charter Schools announced its plan to open an elementary school in the building,[135] and an elementary school opened there the next year.[136]
A boy selling newspapers in Union Square in July 1910
Metronome revision by Andrew Boyd and Gan Golan in 2020
Union Square West, including the Bank of the Metropolis Building and Decker Building (on the left at the end of the block) in 2011
Zeckendorf Towers with the renovated north plaza of the park in the foreground, and the Con Ed Building in the background
Notes
Bibliography