Union Square, Manhattan

File:Union Park New York (East side) (NYPL b13476046-EM11347).jpg

Prior to the area's settlement, the area around present-day Union Square was farmland. The western part of the site was owned by Elias Brevoort,{{Rp|221}} who later sold his land to John Smith in 1762;{{cite web |title=Museum of the City of New York – [Map of land owned by Brevoort family at Bowery Lane] |url=https://collections.mcny.org/Collection/%5BMap%20of%20land%20owned%20by%20Brevoort%20family%20at%20Bowery%20Lane%5D-2F3XC5U9NNQQ.html |website=collections.mcny.org |access-date=December 10, 2019}} by 1788 it had been sold again to Henry Spingler (or Springler).{{cite web |title=Getting Dressed: Gilded Age Afternoon Dress |url=https://www.mcny.org/story/getting-dressed-gilded-age-afternoon-dress |website=Museum of the City of New York |access-date=December 10, 2019}}{{cite book |last=Jenkins |first=Stephen |title=The Greatest Street in the World: The Story of Broadway, Old and New, from Bowling Green to Albany |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_LJQsAAAAMAAJ |publisher=Knickerbocker Press |location=New York |year=1911 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_LJQsAAAAMAAJ/page/n137 107] |oclc=794027661}} On the eastern part of the land were farms owned by John Watts and Cornelius Williams. The northwestern corner of the park site contained {{convert|1|acre|ha}} of land owned by the Manhattan Bank, which supposedly was a "refuge" for businesses during New York City's yellow fever epidemics.{{Rp|222}}

When John Randel was surveying the island in preparation for the Commissioners' Plan of 1811, the Bloomingdale Road (now Broadway) angled away from the Bowery at an acute angle. Because it would have been difficult to develop buildings upon this angle, the Commissioners decided to form a square at the union.Randel, John.[https://archive.org/stream/cityofnewyorknor00rand#page/n7/mode/2up City of New York, North of Canal Street, in 1808 to 1821]. p. 7. (via the Library of Congress). Retrieved September 5, 2011. In 1815, by act of the state legislature, this former potter's field became a public commons for the city, at first named Union Place.Burrows & Wallace, pp. 577 et passim. Union Place originally was supposed to extend from 10th to 17th Streets. Several city officials objected that Union Place was too large and requested that it be "discontinued", and in 1814, the New York State Legislature acted to downsize the area by making 14th Street the southern boundary.{{cite web|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1539.pdf|title=Century Building|date=October 7, 1986|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|page=2|access-date=November 12, 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/iconographyofman06stok|title=The iconography of Manhattan Island, 1498–1909 : compiled from original sources and illustrated by photo-intaglio reproductions of important maps, plans, views, and documents in public and private collections|last=Stokes|first=Isaac Newton Phelps|year=1915|via=Internet Archive}}{{cite book|title=Union Square|last1=Schachter|first1=Sophia|last2=Gilbertson|first2=Elsa|date=June 1982|publisher=Program in Historic Preservation, Columbia University|type=Unpublished manuscript}}{{Rp|3}}

In 1831, at a time when the city was quickly expanding and the surrounding area was still sparsely developed, Samuel Ruggles, one of the founders of the Bank of Commerce and the developer of Gramercy Park to the northeast, convinced the city to rename the area "Union Square". In doing so, Ruggles also got the city to enlarge the commons to 17th Street on the north and extend the axis of University Place to form the square's west side, thus turning the common from a triangular to a rectangular area.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r8i-xIrryL4C&pg=PA233|title=The Environment and the People in American Cities, 1600s–1900s: Disorder, Inequality, and Social Change|last=Taylor|first=D.E.|publisher=Duke University Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0-8223-9224-8|series=e-Duke books scholarly collection.|page=233|access-date=December 10, 2019}}{{Rp|5}} By 1832, the area had been renamed Union Square.{{cite book |last=Trager |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hJQsAAAAMAAJ&q=%22renamed+union+square+in+1832%22 |title=Park Avenue: Street of Dreams |page=18 |access-date=August 31, 2018 |publisher=Atheneum Books |year=1990 |isbn=9780689120244 |quote=Ruggles was also helping to develop a collection of vacant lots from 14th Street to 17th between Broadway and Fourth Avenue into Union Square, a 3.48-acre field indicated in the commissioners' plan as Union Place and renamed Union Square in 1832.}} Ruggles obtained a fifty-year lease on most of the surrounding lots from 15th to 19th Streets, where he built sidewalks and curbs. In 1834, he convinced the Board of Aldermen to enclose and grade the square, then sold most of his leases and in 1839 built a four-story house facing the east side of the Square.[http://www.columbia.edu/~bjp/usehistory/TimelineImages/timelineimagesnotes.doc Union Square Timeline], Columbia University. Accessed January 16, 2018. "In 1832, Samuel Buckley Ruggles obtained a fifty-year lease on the Union Place area." The park at Union Square was completed and opened in July 1839.

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|caption1=George Washington (Henry Kirke Brown, 1856) in the middle of Fourth Avenue at 14th Street, c.1870

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|caption2=The statue in its current location in the middle of the park

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A fountain was built in the center of Union Square to receive water from the Croton Aqueduct, completed in October 1842.{{cite book |last=Roberts |first=S. |title=A History of New York in 101 Objects |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OGxNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA50 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=2014 |page=50 |access-date=November 12, 2019 |isbn=978-1-4767-2880-3}} In 1845, as the square finally began to fill with affluent houses, $116,000 was spent in paving the surrounding streets and planting the square, in part owing to the continued encouragement of Ruggles. The sole survivors of this early phase, though they have been much adapted and rebuilt, are a series of three- and four-story brick rowhouses, 862–866 Broadway, at the turn where Broadway exits the square at 17th Street. The Everett House on the corner of 17th Street and Fourth Avenue (built 1848, demolished 1908) was for decades one of the city's most fashionable hotels.{{cite news |author=Staff |title=Creditors Take Charge of the Everett House – Bankruptcy Petition Is Filed Against Famous Hostelry – Mortgage Also Foreclosed – A Woman Says She Lost All in Loan to President Seibert of the Hotel Company |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1906/12/25/101813608.pdf |work=The New York Times |page=4 |date=December 25, 1906 |access-date=September 5, 2011}} In the early years of the park, a fence surrounded the square's central oval planted with radiating walks lined with trees.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}} After the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865, arrangements were made for the erection of the statue of Lincoln in the square.{{cite news|url=https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn82016415/1865-05-23/ed-1/seq-2/|title=The Lincoln Monument|newspaper=Southern Recorder|publication-place=Milledgeville, Georgia, U.S.|page=2|volume=XLVI|issue=21|date=May 23, 1865|via=Digital Library of Georgia, Galileo, University Libraries University of Georgia}} In 1872, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux were called in to replant the park, as an open glade with clumps of trees.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Initially, the square was largely residential: the Union League Club first occupied a house loaned for the purpose by Henry G. Marquand at the corner of 17th Street and Broadway. After the Civil War the neighborhood became largely commercial, and the square began to lose social cachet at the turn of the twentieth century, with many of the old mansions being demolished. Tiffany & Co., which had moved to the square from Broadway and Broome Street in 1870, left its premises on 15th Street to move uptown to 37th Street in 1905; the silversmiths Gorham Company moved up from 19th Street in 1906. The last of the neighborhood's free-standing private mansions, Peter Goelet's at the northeast corner of 19th Street, made way for a commercial building in 1897.{{citation needed|date=January 2025}}

The Rialto, New York City's first commercial theater district, was located in and around Union Square beginning in the 1870s. It was named after Venice's Rialto, a commercial district.{{cite book |last=Wollmann |first=Elizabeth L. |title=Hard Times: The Adult Musical in 1970s New York City |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x9bQRcQdRpMC&pg=PA196 |date=November 29, 2012 |publisher=Oup USA |access-date=March 10, 2013 |isbn=9780199747481}}{{cite book |last=Bianco |first=Anthony |title=Ghosts of 42nd Street |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qq0VqF9vK4EC&pg=PA15 |date=October 13, 2009 |publisher=Harper Collins |access-date=March 10, 2013 |isbn=9780061847653}}{{cite book |last=Allen |first=Irving L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j41z0yeKbeIC&pg=PA61 |title=City In Slang: New York Life and Popular Speech |date=February 23, 1995 |publisher=Oxford University Press |access-date=March 10, 2013 |isbn=9780195357769}} The first facility to open within the Union Square Rialto was the Academy of Music, which opened at Irving Place in 1854. The theater district gradually relocated northward, into less expensive and undeveloped uptown neighborhoods, and eventually into the current Theater District.{{cite book |last=Chesluk |first=Benjamin |title=Money Jungle: Imagining the New Times Square |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z6x7L-jhXmgC&pg=PA19 |publisher=Rutgers Press |date=2008 |page=19 |isbn=9780813543819}}

Before the Civil War, theatres in New York City were primarily located along Broadway and the Bowery up to 14th Street, with those on Broadway appealing more to the middle and upper classes and the Bowery theatres attracting immigrant audiences, clerks and the working class. After the war, the development of the Ladies' Mile shopping district along Fifth and Sixth Avenues above 14th Street had the effect of pulling the playhouses uptown, so that a "Rialto" theatrical strip came about on Broadway between 14th and 23rd Streets, between Union Square and Madison Square.

At the same time, a transition from stock companies, in which a resident acting company was based around a star or impresario, to a "combination" system, in which productions were put together on a one-time basis to mount a specific play, expanded the amount of outside support needed to service the theatrical industry. Thus, suppliers of props, costumes, wigs, scenery, and other theatrical necessities grew up around the new theatres. The new system also needed an organized way to engage actors for these one-off productions, so talent brokers and theatrical agents sprang up, as did theatrical boardinghouses, stage photographers, publicity agencies, theatrical printers and play publishers. Along with the hotels and restaurants which serviced the theatregoers and shoppers of the area, the Union Square Rialto was, by the end of the century, a thriving theatrical neighborhood, which would soon nonetheless migrate uptown to what became known as "Broadway" as the Rialto became subsumed into the more vice-oriented Tenderloin entertainment district.Burrows & Wallace, pp. 946–948.

File:View of Union Square, New York.jpg

By the first decade of the 20th century, Union Square had grown into a major transportation hub with several elevated and surface railroad lines running nearby, and the New York City Subway's 14th Street–Union Square station having opened in 1904.{{Rp|2}}{{cite magazine|title=Plans for Everett House Site Improvement|url=https://rerecord.library.columbia.edu/pdf_files/ldpd_7031148_041_26.pdf|journal=The Real Estate Record: Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide|volume=81|pages=1178|date=June 20, 1908|via=columbia.edu|number=2101}} With the northward relocation of the theater district, Union Square also became a major wholesaling district with several loft buildings, as well as numerous office buildings.{{Rp|2}} The office structures included the Everett Building, erected at the northwest corner of Park Avenue South and 17th Street in 1908;{{Rp|4}} the Germania Life Insurance Company Building, erected at the northeast corner of the same intersection in 1910–1911;{{Rp|6}} and the Consolidated Edison Building, constructed three blocks south at 14th Street between 1910 and 1914.{{Rp|5, 8}} Existing houses were also converted into stores, including a pair of merchants' houses on the east side of the park at 16th Street in 1916.{{cite news |date=1916-05-14 |title=Union Square Changes; Altering Two Old Houses, Once the Homes of Wealthy Merchants. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1916/05/14/archives/union-square-changes-altering-two-old-houses-once-the-homes-of.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |issn=0362-4331}}

During this era, many of the older homes on Union Square were converted into tenements for immigrants and industrial workers. Numerous artists relocated into the attics of the remaining mansions along 14th Street, where they had their studios. The 1939 WPA Guide to New York City said that by the 1920s, the "south side of Fourteenth Street became virtually an ex-tension of Greenwich Village". Further, real estate values around Union Square had declined by the 1920s, with "burlesque houses, shooting galleries, and shoddy businesses" lining the square. Throughout the decade, most buildings on the eastern part of the square were purchased by department stores S. Klein and Ohrbach's.{{Rp|2}} Real estate activity resumed in the late 1920s, and according to a 1928 piece in The New York Times, “several smaller operations are planned or are under way in the neighborhood".{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/06/08/archives/bulk-of-trading-on-the-east-side-big-cooperative-apartment-to-be.html|title=BULK OF TRADING ON THE EAST SIDE|date=June 8, 1928|work=The New York Times|access-date=November 25, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} By then, at least eight banks had opened locations on the western and eastern sides of the park.{{cite news |date=1929-09-29 |title=Union Sq. Attracts Banking Locations; Many Institutions Open Quarters in the FourteenthStreet Section. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/09/29/archives/union-sq-attracts-banking-locations-many-institutions-open-quarters.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |issn=0362-4331}}

File:UnionSqPlazaNth 20231024 163705138.MP.jpg

City officials announced in 1910 that they would install a firefighters' memorial near the northern end of the park.{{cite news |date=January 9, 1910 |title=For Fire Fighters: Memorial Will Be Thing of Beauty to Occupy Front of 180 Feet on Plaza at North End of Union Square Park |page=C8 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|572316412}}}} The same year, there was a failed proposal to construct a courthouse within the park.{{cite news |date=1910-03-27 |title=Urge Union Square for Court House; Preserve City Hall Park and Spread Out Public Buildings, Says H. Prescott Beach. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1910/03/27/archives/urge-union-square-for-court-house-preserve-city-hall-park-and.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |issn=0362-4331}} As part of the Dual Contracts, workers began constructing the 14th Street–Union Square station, on the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company's Broadway Line, under the park in 1913. The station was built using an open cut method, and a {{convert|120|ft|m|-wide|adj=mid}} strip of land, running diagonally through Union Square Park, was closed and excavated.{{cite news |date=September 17, 1913 |title=New Union Square to Make Up for Closing |page=16 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|575130370}}}} By late 1913, large portions of Union Square Park had been demolished as part of the construction of the Broadway Line's Union Square station.{{cite news |date=1913-09-07 |title=Subway's Progress Mars Union Square; Fine Old Shade Trees Fall Under the Axe and May Never Be Replaced in the Park. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1913/09/07/archives/subways-progress-mars-union-square-fine-old-shade-trees-fall-under.html |access-date=2023-04-30 |issn=0362-4331}}{{cite news |date=1913-10-19 |title=Dire Destruction at Union Square |pages=4 |work=The Standard Union |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123815454/dire-destruction-at-union-square/ |access-date=2023-04-30}} New York City's parks commissioner promised members of the public that the park would be remodeled after the station was finished. The station had been completed by early 1916, and workers began restoring the section of Union Square Park above the 14th Street station.{{cite news |date=February 25, 1916 |title=Old Union Square to Be Park Again: Wooden Shacks and Rubbish Will Be Cleared Away in Spring |page=9 |work=New-York Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|575517751}}}}

The city's park commissioner Francis D. Gallatin proposed relocating the park's Washington, Lincoln, and Lafayette statues in 1922 to bring the Washington statue closer to the center of the park.{{cite news |date=1922-05-16 |title=Plans to Regroup Union Sq. Statues; Francis D. Gallatin, Commissioner of Parks, Gets Many Suggestions of Changes |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1922/05/16/archives/plans-to-regroup-union-sq-statues-francis-d-gallatin-commissioner.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |issn=0362-4331}} A group of sculptors approved his proposal the same month.{{cite news |date=1922-05-21 |title=Sculptors Approve Union Square Plan; National Society Endorses Commissioner Gallatin's Idea for Regrouping Statues |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1922/05/21/archives/sculptors-approve-union-square-plan-national-society-endorses.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |issn=0362-4331}} In 1927, the Municipal Art Society approved plans for a renovation of the park, which was to include a covered parking area at the north end of the park.{{cite news |date=1927-02-17 |title=Park Change Plans Approved by Board; Feature of Design for Union Square Is Large Parking Place Under a Terrace. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/02/17/archives/park-change-plans-approved-by-board-feature-of-design-for-union.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |issn=0362-4331}}

To make way for a further expansion of the Union Square subway station, the park was raised by about {{convert|3|ft}} as part of a renovation during the late 1920s.{{cite news |date=23 Sep 1928 |title=Union Square Builds to Regain Its Prominence: Enlarged Subway Transfer Point Expected to Triple Traffic Before New Year Park Will Be Elevated 14th Street Tunnel to Jersey Proposed by Business Men |page=C16 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1113774203}}}}{{cite news |date=1929-06-06 |title=Union Square Park to Be Raised 3 Feet; Plans for Improvement Call for Boundary Wall and Complete Relandscaping |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1929/06/06/archives/union-square-park-to-be-raised-3-feet-plans-for-improvement-call.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |issn=0362-4331}} The plans, announced in June 1929, also included relocating several statues and building a concert plaza with a bandstand at the park's northern end. There were also plans to relocate the Washington statue to Washington Square Park, although this proposal was opposed.{{Cite news |date=1928-11-30 |title=Opposes Removing Washington Statue; William C. Demorest Says It Would Be 'Outrageous' to Take It From Union Square. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1928/11/30/archives/opposes-removing-washington-statue-william-c-demorest-says-it-would.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |issn=0362-4331}}{{cite news |date=18 Nov 1928 |title=Washington's Statue Source Of Park Strife: Square Named in His Honor Wants Equestrian Bronze Now in Union Square Opposition Cites History Fourteenth St. Tells of Welcome to First President |page=12 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1113405053}}}} Although the city decided to keep the Washington statue in Union Square Park, the statue was relocated to the southeast corner{{cite news |date=22 June 1929 |title=Washington's Statue to Stay In Union Square: Petition for Removal to Washington Square Is Denied by Commissioner Herrick Declared Best Location To Be Transferred to Southeast Corner of the Park |page=11 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1109941842}}}} to make way for a flagpole honoring former Tammany Hall leader Charles F. Murphy.{{cite news |date=15 Aug 1929 |title=Murphy Shaft To Be Jewel Of Union Sq: Statues of Washington, Lincoln and Lafayette Subordinated to Tammany Flagpole Tribute Structure to Bear Name of Late Chief Plan to Call 50,00 0Granite Bronze Work Liberty Memorial Dropped |page=1 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1111656381}}}}{{cite news |date=1926-07-04 |title=Tammany to Erect Murphy Monument; Gift to City Will Be Announced at Celebration Tomorrow at Tammany Hall. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/07/04/archives/tammany-to-erect-murphy-monument-gift-to-city-will-be-announced-at.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |issn=0362-4331}} Landscaping of the park was delayed by the construction of the subway mezzanine below it.{{cite news |date=1931-01-28 |title=Landscaping to Start Soon at Union Square; Broadway Group Hears Herrick Proposals to Expedite Park Beautification Work. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/01/28/archives/landscaping-to-start-soon-at-union-square-broadway-group-hears.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |issn=0362-4331}} The park's renovation was nearly completed by mid-1931;{{cite news |date=25 July 1931 |title=Shovels Rooting In Union Square For 'Last Time': Park Officials Swear Newest Gouging Will Convert Desert, to Blooming Garden Union Square in Final Stages of Its Upheaval |page=3 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1114180192}}}}{{cite news |date=1931-03-28 |title=Union Sq. Park Work to Be Completed Soon; 14th St. Association Head Says Area Torn Up for Years Will Be in Shape This Summer. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/03/28/archives/union-sq-park-work-to-be-completed-soon-14th-st-association-head.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |issn=0362-4331}} the last construction contract, for the bandstand, was awarded that August.{{cite news |date=August 23, 1931 |title=Work Speeded On Union Square Park Rebuilding: Contract Let for Improvements Dictated by Municipal Art Commission |page=E2 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1114140766}}}}{{cite news |date=1931-08-23 |title=Completing Work on Union Square; Changes of Southerly End Due to Providing Approach to the Washington Statue |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/08/23/archives/completing-work-on-union-square-changes-of-southerly-end-due-to.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |issn=0362-4331}} After building the bandstand, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation could not afford to landscape the park.{{cite news |date=June 13, 1932 |title=Wastes of Union Square To Be Made Into Garden: Civic Groups Give Flowers as City Funds Run Out |page=7 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1114523020}}}} As a result, civic groups started landscaping the park for free in June 1932.{{cite news |date=1932-06-16 |title=Celebrate Garden in Union Square; Park Officials and Leaders of Civic Groups in Ceremony as Top-Soil Is Leveled |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1932/06/16/archives/celebrate-garden-in-union-square-park-officials-and-leaders-of.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |issn=0362-4331}}{{cite news |date=June 16, 1932 |title=2,000 Bulbs Are Planted In Union Square Park: Landscaping Will Be Done Without Cost to City |page=14 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1114523837}}}}

Most of the neighborhood's largest retailers, such as Ohrbach's and Hearn's, had relocated by the 1950s, and the area began to decline.{{cite news |last=Wellisz |first=Christopher |date=1983-08-14 |title=Union Square on Verge of Redevelopment |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/14/realestate/union-square-on-verge-of-redevelopment.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |issn=0362-4331}} One of the last major retailers on Union Square, S. Klein, closed in 1975.{{cite news |last=Barmash |first=Isadore |date=1975-08-19 |title=Plans Made to Save S. Klein's on Square |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/08/19/archives/plans-made-to-save-s-kleins-on-square.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |issn=0362-4331}} The S. Klein site remained vacant until 1983, when William Zeckendorf leased the site for the Zeckendorf Towers development. The New York Times wrote at the time, "The former S. Klein store, boarded up since 1975, is a melancholy monument to a once-thriving commercial district."

In 1982, a $1.5 million refurbishment of Union Square Park was announced. At the time, the park was frequented by drug users because of its tall hedges, and many of the benches, lights, and statues had been vandalized.{{cite news |last=Carmody |first=Deirdre |date=November 29, 1982 |title=Union Square Park to Undergo Overhaul |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/29/nyregion/union-square-park-to-undergo-overhaul.html |url-status=live |access-date=December 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524120706/http://www.nytimes.com/1982/11/29/nyregion/union-square-park-to-undergo-overhaul.html |archive-date=May 24, 2015 |issn=0362-4331}} The first phase of the renovation, which cost $3.6 million, was completed in May 1985.{{cite news |last1=Arena |first1=Salvatore |last2=Sutton |first2=Larry |date=1985-05-23 |title=Dum-de-dum-dum: Our mayor asks no quarter—& gives none |pages=121 |work=Daily News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123836112/dum-de-dum-dum-our-mayor-asks-no/ |access-date=2023-05-01}} The renovations included removing hedges, increasing lighting, and erecting new subway entrances.{{cite news |last=Carmody |first=Deirdre |date=May 23, 1985 |title=Union Square Park Reopens With a Lush Grandeur |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/23/nyregion/union-square-park-reopens-with-a-lush-grandeur.html |url-status=live |access-date=December 27, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171125034905/http://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/23/nyregion/union-square-park-reopens-with-a-lush-grandeur.html |archive-date=November 25, 2017 |issn=0362-4331}} The renovation of Union Square, along with the construction of the Zeckendorf Towers, caused real-estate values in the area to increase.{{cite news |last=Berkowitz |first=Harry |date=1988-12-05 |title=Union Square Won't Let Glory Days Pass It By |pages=122, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123834614/union-square/ 131], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123834654/union-square/ 134] |work=Newsday |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/123834585/union-square-wont-let-glory-days-pass/ |access-date=2023-05-01}} By 1987, there were plans to close off two blocks of the little-used Union Square West to make way for an expansion of the park. This plan was not carried out at the time due to a lack of funds. When the idea of closing Union Square West was again proposed in 1996, local business owners opposed the proposal because the park had become extremely popular, causing vehicular traffic in the neighborhood to increase significantly.{{cite news |last=Jacobs |first=Andrew |date=1996-03-10 |title=Neighborhood Report: Union Square; Park's New Problem: Success |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/03/10/nyregion/neighborhood-report-union-square-park-s-new-problem-success.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |issn=0362-4331}} Union Square was named a National Historic Landmark in 1997, primarily to honor it as the site of the first Labor Day parade.{{cite web |last=Bond |first=John W. |title="Union Square", March 6, 1996, National Historic Landmark Nomination |url={{NHLS url|id=97001678}} |publisher=National Park Service |date= March 6, 1996}}{{cite web |title=Union Square – Accompanying photos from 1995–1997 and illustration from 1882. National Historic Landmark Nomination |url={{NHLS url|id=97001678|photos=y}} |publisher=National Park Service |date=March 6, 1996}} Mayor Rudy Giuliani announced plans in early 1998 to spend $2.6 million on expanding the park, following advocacy from area residents.{{cite news |date=February 17, 1998 |title=A $2.6 Million Expansion Is Planned for Union Square Park |page=16 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|430923994}}}}{{cite news |date=17 Feb 1998 |title=Union Square Expansion |page=A21 |work=Newsday |agency=The Associated Press |issn=2574-5298 |id={{ProQuest|279074278}}}} The expansion consisted of a pocket park in a traffic island at the southeast corner of Union Square, which was completed in 2000.{{cite news|last=Friedman|first=Andrew|date=December 3, 2000|title=Neighborhood Report: New York Parks; in Union Square, the End of a Long Wait|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/03/nyregion/neighborhood-report-new-york-parks-in-union-square-the-end-of-a-long-wait.html|access-date=December 27, 2020|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=May 27, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150527131056/http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/03/nyregion/neighborhood-report-new-york-parks-in-union-square-the-end-of-a-long-wait.html|url-status=live}}

File:Union Square Park pavilion.jpg

Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, Union Square became a primary public gathering point for mourners. People created spontaneous candle and photograph memorials in the park and vigils were held to honor the victims. At the time, non-emergency vehicles were temporarily banned and pedestrian travel was restricted in Lower Manhattan below 14th Street.{{cite news |last=Marlantes |first=Liz |date=18 Sep 2001 |title=Memorial doubles as forum on tragedy A popular New York park overflows with mourners and a range of opinions on retaliation |page=13 |work=The Christian Science Monitor |id={{ProQuest|405655463}}}}

In March 2008, an eighteen-month renovation began on the northern end of the park. The renovation was controversial because of disagreements over whether to place a restaurant in the pavilion at the north end of the park.{{cite news |last=Siegel |first=Jefferson |title=Opponents Pile on Union Sq. Pavillion Plan at Rally |url=http://www.thevillager.com/villager_189/opponentspileonunionsq.html |work=The Villager |date=December 13, 2006 |access-date=May 27, 2008 |archive-date=April 17, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180417023415/http://thevillager.com/villager_189/opponentspileonunionsq.html |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |title=Groups Protest Planned Restaurant in Union Square Park |url=http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=54305 |newspaper=NY1 |date=October 17, 2005 |access-date=May 27, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051228210425/http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=54305 |archive-date=December 28, 2005}} A New York Supreme Court judge approved the renovation of the park's north end in April 2008 but placed an injunction temporarily banning the city from renovating the pavilion.{{cite web |last=Signore |first=John Del |date=April 28, 2008 |title=Work on Union Square Can Continue, but Not on Pavilion |url=https://gothamist.com/news/work-on-union-square-can-continue-but-not-on-pavilion |access-date=June 14, 2024 |website=Gothamist}}{{cite web |date=April 29, 2008 |title=City must show restraint on pavilion, trees, W.C. |url=https://www.amny.com/news/city-must-show-restraint-on-pavilion-trees-w-c/ |access-date=June 14, 2024 |website=amNewYork}} In early 2009, a judge dismissed the lawsuit against the renovation, allowing a seasonal restaurant in the pavilion.{{cite news |last=Gregorian |first=Dareh |title=Judge Throws Out Suit Against Union Square Renovation and Seasonal Restaurant |url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/03312009/news/regionalnews/union_sq__eatery_okd_162171.htm |newspaper=New York Post |date=March 31, 2009 |access-date=May 30, 2010}} CMS Architecture and Design was hired in 2011 to design the restaurant in the pavilion.{{cite web |last=Kludt |first=Amanda |date=May 23, 2011 |title=New Rendering for Union Square Pavilion's City Farm Cafe |url=http://ny.eater.com/archives/2011/05/new_rendering_for_union_square_pavilions_city_farm_cafe.php |access-date=June 14, 2024 |website=Eater NY}}{{cite web |last=Polsky |first=Sara |date=May 23, 2011 |title=What the Union Square Pavilion Restaurant Will Look Like |url=https://ny.curbed.com/2011/5/23/10465440/what-the-union-square-pavilion-restaurant-will-look-like |access-date=June 14, 2024 |website=Curbed NY}} The Pavilion restaurant opened in Union Square Park in May 2014,{{cite web |last=Kaminer |first=Michael |date=May 2, 2014 |title=Pavilion, controversial restaurant inside Union Square Park, opens |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/eats/restaurant-union-square-park-opens-article-1.1777000 |access-date=May 1, 2023 |website=New York Daily News}}{{cite web |last=Casey |first=Nell |date=May 2, 2014 |title=Union Square's Controversial Pavilion Restaurant Opens For Judgment |url=https://gothamist.com/food/union-squares-controversial-pavilion-restaurant-opens-for-judgment |access-date=May 1, 2023 |website=Gothamist}} following years of disputes.{{cite news |last=Fabricant |first=Florence |date=2014-02-28 |title=Plans for a Restaurant in Union Square Park Move Ahead |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/28/dining/plans-for-a-restaurant-in-union-square-park-move-ahead.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |issn=0362-4331}}

In 2021, the Union Square Partnership proposed spending $100 million to overhaul Union Square.{{cite web |last=Passy |first=Charles | title=New York City's Union Square Park to Grow Under $100 Million Plan |work=The Wall Street Journal|issn=0099-9660 |date=January 18, 2021 |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/new-york-citys-union-square-park-to-grow-under-100-million-plan-11610974800 |access-date=May 1, 2023}}{{cite web |title=Union Square Park to Get $100 Million Makeover |website=Spectrum News NY1 New York City |date=January 19, 2021 |url=https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2021/01/19/union-square-park-to-get--100-million-makeover |access-date=May 1, 2023}} The plan entailed closing off adjacent streets to increase the park's size by 33%, as well as adding benches and lighting, improving restrooms, and refurbishing a dog run in the park itself.{{cite web |last=Ricciulli |first=Valeria |title=New Union Square Plan Takes Over Streets to Make a Bigger, Greener Park |website=Curbed |date=January 21, 2021 |url=https://www.curbed.com/2021/01/union-square-park-partnership-plan.html |access-date=May 1, 2023}}

File:W_Hotel_in_Union_Square_New_York_City.JPG with the Everett Building visible on the left]]

There are several notable buildings surrounding Union Square. Clockwise from southwest, they are:

• Lincoln Building at Union Square West and 14th Street, a city landmark{{cite web|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1536.pdf|title=Lincoln Building|date=July 12, 1988|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|access-date=October 10, 2019}} that is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP)
• Spingler Building (also Springler Building) at 5–9 Union Square West{{cite web | title=5 Union Square – TRD Research | website=The Real Deal | date=March 14, 2019 | url=https://therealdeal.com/new-research/topics/property/5-union-square/ | access-date=December 11, 2019 | archive-date=May 7, 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507150946/https://therealdeal.com/new-research/topics/property/5-union-square/ | url-status=dead }}
• 15 Union Square West (former Tiffany & Co. Building){{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/02/realestate/02scap.html|title=Before Tiffany & Co. Moved Uptown|last=Gray|first=Christopher|date=July 2, 2006|work=The New York Times|access-date=December 9, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}
• Bank of the Metropolis at 31 Union Square West, a city landmark{{cite web|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1537.pdf|title=Bank of the Metropolis|date=July 12, 1988|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|access-date=October 10, 2019}} and a NRHP listing
• Decker Building at 33 Union Square West, a city landmark{{cite web|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1538.pdf|title=Union Building|date=July 12, 1988|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|access-date=October 10, 2019}} and a NRHP listing
• Century Building (Barnes & Noble) at 33 East 17th Street, on the north side of Union Square, a city landmark and a NRHP listing
• Everett Building at 45 East 17th Street, on the north side of Union Square, a city landmark{{cite web|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1540.pdf|title=Everett Building|date=September 6, 1988|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|access-date=October 10, 2019}}
• W New York Union Square (former Germania Life Insurance Company Building) at 50 Union Square East/105 East 17th Street, a city landmark{{cite web|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1541.pdf|title=Germania Life Insurance Company Building|date=September 6, 1988|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|access-date=October 10, 2019}} and a NRHP listing
• 44 Union Square East (former Tammany Hall Building), a city landmark{{cite web|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2490.pdf|title=Tammany Hall|date=October 29, 2013|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|access-date=October 10, 2019}}
• Daryl Roth Theatre (former Union Square Savings Bank) at 20 Union Square East, a city landmark{{cite web|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1945.pdf|title=Union Square Savings Bank|date=February 13, 1996|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|access-date=October 10, 2019}}
• Zeckendorf Towers at 1 Union Square East, a condominium complex on the former site of the bargain-priced department store S. Klein
• One Union Square South (Davis Brody Bond, 1999),One Union Square South was voted "New York's Ugliest Building" by a panel of architects assembled by the New York Post; results were published in the paper on January 9, 2000. features a kinetic wall sculpture and digital clock expelling bursts of steam, titled Metronome.

In addition, the Consolidated Edison Building is located one block east of the Zeckendorf Towers.{{cite web|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/2313.pdf|title=Consolidated Edison Company Building|last=Harris|first=Gale|date=February 10, 2009|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|access-date=November 18, 2019}} The Century Association clubhouse is located on 15th Street between Irving Place and Union Square East.{{cite web|url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1763.pdf|title=Century Association Building|date=January 5, 1993|publisher=New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission|access-date=October 10, 2019}}

File:Gandhi Union Square.jpg, a statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Union Square]]

Union Square contains a large equestrian statue of U.S. President George Washington, modeled by Henry Kirke Brown and unveiled in 1856. Located at the south end of the park, it was the first public sculpture erected in New York City since the equestrian statue of George III in 1770, and the first American equestrian sculpture cast in bronze.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/union-square-park/monuments/1676|title=Union Square Park Monuments – George Washington : NYC Parks|website=www.nycgovparks.org|access-date=November 27, 2019}}

The Marquis de Lafayette, at Union Square East and 16th Street, was modeled by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and dedicated in 1876, the 100th anniversary of U.S. independence.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/union-square-park/monuments/884|title=Union Square Park Monuments – Marquis de Lafayette : NYC Parks|website=www.nycgovparks.org|access-date=November 27, 2019}}

The statue of Abraham Lincoln, modeled by Henry Kirke Brown (1870), is located near the north end of the park.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/union-square-park/monuments/913|title=Union Square Park Monuments – Abraham Lincoln : NYC Parks|website=www.nycgovparks.org|access-date=November 27, 2019}}

A statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the southwest corner of the park was added in 1986.[http://www.saadigitalarchive.org/item/20130816-3090 "Flyer for Gandhi Memorial Statue in New York City, dedicated on October 2, 1986" in the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)]

The Union Square Drinking Fountain (1881) near Union Square West, also known as the James Fountain, is a Temperance fountain with the figure of Charity who empties her jug of water, aided by a child. It was donated by Daniel Willis James and sculpted by Adolf Donndorf.{{cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/union-square-park/monuments/797 |title=Union Square Park Monuments – Union Square Drinking Fountain: NYC Parks |website=www.nycgovparks.org |access-date=November 27, 2019}}

The Charles F. Murphy Memorial Flagpole, also known as the Independence Flagstaff, was cast in 1926{{cite news |date=1926-03-21 |title=Flagpole in Union Square to Honor Murphy; Leading Democrats Have Raised $50,000 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/03/21/archives/flagpole-in-union-square-to-honor-murphy-leading-democrats-have.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |issn=0362-4331}} and dedicated in 1930 to mark the 150th anniversary of U.S. independence. It is located in the center of the park.{{cite web |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/union-square-park/monuments/766 |title=Union Square Park Monuments – Independence Flagstaff: NYC Parks|website=www.nycgovparks.org |access-date=November 27, 2019}}

In October 2023, an outdoor version of the sculpture N.Y.C. Legend by the Swedish artist Alexander Klingspor, featuring a New York sewer alligator, was unveiled in the square by Queen Silvia of Sweden.{{cite web |title=N.Y.C. Legend |url=https://www.nyc-legend.com/ |website=nyc-legend.com |access-date=29 December 2023}}{{cite news |last=Barron |first=James |title=Why a Sculptor Was Drawn to Sewer Alligators |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/17/nyregion/sewer-alligator-sculpture.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 17, 2023}}

A double line of trees is planted along 17th Street, and a corresponding plaque installed nearby, as a monument to victims of the Armenian genocide.{{cite web |title=Union Square Park Monuments – Armenian Grove Plaque: NYC Parks |url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/union-square-park/monuments/48 |access-date=2021-05-29 |website=www.nycgovparks.org}}

File:Union Square Farmers Market.jpg

In 1976, the Council on the Environment of New York City (now GrowNYC) established the Greenmarket program, which provided regional small-family farmers with opportunities to sell their fruits, vegetables and other farm products at open-air markets in the city. There were originally seven farmers at the first Greenmarket, and their selection sold out by noon.{{cite web|url=http://www.newvillage.net/Journal/Issue2/2greenmarket.html|title=Issue 2: Community Scale Economics|last=McGroarty|first=Jane|access-date=August 4, 2007}} That summer, two more markets opened in New York City. Despite some backlash from local merchants and supermarkets who believed the Greenmarket was cutting into their profits, more markets opened in the city.

Today, the Union Square Greenmarket, the best known of the markets, is held year-round on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays between 8 am and 6 pm. The market is served by a number of regional farmers, as the average distance between farmers and the market is {{convert|90|mi}}. During peak seasons, the Greenmarket serves more than 250,000 customers per week,{{cite web|url=http://www.cenyc.org/site/pages/GMKT/GMKTfacts.htm|title=Greenmarket Facts|access-date=August 4, 2007|archive-date=June 14, 2007|archive-url=https://archive.today/20070614172751/http://www.cenyc.org/site/pages/GMKT/GMKTfacts.htm|url-status=dead}} who purchase more than one thousand varieties of fruits and vegetables can be found at the Greenmarket;{{cite web|url=http://www.grownyc.org/site/pages/GMKT/GMKTfacts.htm|title=Greenmarket Facts|access-date=August 4, 2007}}{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} and the variety of produce available is much broader than what is found in a conventional supermarket.{{cite news |last=Fishman |first=Steve |title=Manhattan Gets Fresh |url=http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/anniversary/35th/n_8592/ |work=New York |date=April 7, 2003 |access-date=August 4, 2007}}

Union Square hosts the Union Square Holiday Market every November and December, in which more than 150 vendors sell handcrafts.{{cite web | last=Davenport | first=Emily | title=Union Square Holiday Market to open with lineup of local vendors Nov. 16 | website=amNewYork | date=November 15, 2023 | url=https://www.amny.com/lifestyle/shopping/union-square-holiday-market-2023/ | access-date=June 14, 2024}} Around two million people visit the Holiday Market annually.{{cite web | last=Weaver | first=Shaye | title=The Union Square Holiday Market is the best holiday market in America | website=Time Out New York | date=November 11, 2023 | url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/the-union-square-holiday-market-is-named-the-top-holiday-market-in-america-111123 | access-date=June 14, 2024}} Starting in 2024, UrbanSpace also hosted the Night Market food market in Union Square during the summer.{{cite web | last=Izzo | first=Christina | title=Union Square will debut its first-ever Night Market next month | website=Time Out New York | date=June 13, 2024 | url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/union-square-will-debut-its-first-ever-night-market-next-month-061324 | access-date=June 14, 2024}}

File:Kellogg's Cafe 17th St jeh.jpg's cafe at Union Square; the AT&T Wireless store is underneath it and next to the entrance.]]

Union Square is a popular meeting place, given its central location in Manhattan and its many nearby subway routes. There are many bars and restaurants on the periphery of the square, and the surrounding streets have some of the city's most renowned (and expensive) restaurants. S. Klein's department store promoted itself in the mid-20th century as an "On the Square" alternative to higher prices uptown,{{Cite news|date=1991-09-29|title=Postings: S. Klein Renovation; Something New on the Square|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/09/29/realestate/postings-s-klein-renovation-something-new-on-the-square.html|access-date=2020-09-01|issn=0362-4331}} and late in the century several big-box chain stores established a presence, including Barnes & Noble in the Century Building,{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/14/nyregion/new-yorkers-co-full-circle-at-union-square.html|title=New Yorkers & Co.; Full Circle at Union Square|last=Stamler|first=Bernard|date=February 14, 1999|work=The New York Times|access-date=November 12, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} Babies "R" Us in the former United States Communist Party headquarters,{{Cite news|last=Ryzik|first=Melena|date=2007-08-19|title=A Harmonic Convergence in Union Square|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/fashion/19wheatpack.html|access-date=2020-09-01|issn=0362-4331}} and Staples in the Spingler Building.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/07/20/nyregion/superstore-supersign-superfluous-to-some.html|title=Superstore Supersign Superfluous to Some|last=Allon|first=Janet|date=July 20, 1997|work=The New York Times|access-date=December 13, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}

The W New York Union Square, part of the W Hotels chain, is located at the park's northeast corner, in the former Guardian Life building.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/07/garden/currents-hotels-on-union-square-a-sweeping-staircase-with-a-ballroom-to-match.html|title=CURRENTS: HOTELS; On Union Square, a Sweeping Staircase With a Ballroom to Match|last=Louie|first=Elaine|date=December 7, 2000|work=The New York Times|access-date=November 25, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}} Additionally, the Hyatt Union Square New York hotel is located at the park's southeast corner, in a former post office.

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=6533|title=Union Square – Historical Sign|publisher=New York City Department of Parks and Recreation|access-date=December 12, 2006}} 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.Burrows & Wallace, p. 1,005.Ramón-García, M.[http://www.estudiosirlandeses.org/Issue5/Issue5_pdfs/Marta_Ram%C3%B3n-Garc%C3%ADa.pdf "Square-Toed Boots and Felt Hats: Irish Revolutionaries and the Invasion of Canada"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425111944/http://www.estudiosirlandeses.org/Issue5/Issue5_pdfs/Marta_Ram%C3%B3n-Garc%C3%ADa.pdf |date=April 25, 2012}}. Estudios Irlandeses 2010:87 (via Google Books). 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.[https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002696063/ Union Square bombing].

In 1893, Emma Goldman took the stage at Union Square to make her "Free Bread" speech to a crowd of overworked garment workers.{{cite news |date=1893-10-05 |title=Emma Goldman on Trial; No Longer Anxious to Pose as an Anarchist Martyr |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1893/10/05/archives/emma-goldman-on-trial-no-longer-anxious-to-pose-as-an-anarchist.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |issn=0362-4331}} She also addressed a crowd in 1916 on the need for free access to birth control, which was banned by the Comstock laws.{{cite news|date=1917-01-09|title=Emma Goldman Acquitted; Court Finds She Did Not Circulate Birth Control Information.|language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1917/01/09/archives/emma-goldman-acquitted-court-finds-she-did-not-circulate-birth.html |access-date=2023-05-01 |issn=0362-4331}} Her visits to Union Square pulled hundreds of followers; some of these rallies resulted in her arrest.{{cite news |date=1940-05-14 |title=Emma Goldman, Anarchist, Dead; Internationally Known Figure, Deported From the U.S., Is Stricken in Toronto |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/05/14/archives/emma-goldman-anarchist-dead-internationally-known-figure-deported.html|access-date=2023-05-01|issn=0362-4331}}

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.{{cite news|last=Fondren|first=Precious|date=2021-10-02|title=George Floyd Statue Vandalized in Union Square|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/02/nyregion/john-lewis-breonna-taylor-george-floyd-statues.html|access-date=2023-05-01|issn=0362-4331}}

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.{{Cite magazine|title=Monkey Business in Union Square: A Cultural Analysis of the Klein's-Ohrbach's Strikes of 1934–5|journal=Journal of Social History|volume=36|issue=1}} 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.{{Cite journal |last=Merwood-Salisbury |first=Joanna |author-link=Joanna Merwood-Salisbury |year=2009 |title=Patriotism and Protest: Union Square as Public Space, 1832–1932 |url=https://figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/12703085 |journal=Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians |volume=68 |issue=4 |pages=555–556 |doi=10.1525/jsah.2009.68.4.540 |s2cid=142399435}}

{{multiple image

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| image1 = Henry-Presentation_of_Colors_(edit).JPG

| caption1 = A patriotic demonstration: Presentation of colors before the Union League Club, 1864, by Edward Lamson Henry

| image2 = May_Day_'13,_strikers_in_Union_Square_-_19130501.jpg

| caption2 = May Day 1913, strikers and protesters rally in Union Square, with signs in Yiddish, Italian and English

| image3 = NYC Union Square Lebanon protest Aug 3 2006.jpg

| caption3 = 2006 Union Square protest

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File:Union Square chess with spectators.jpg with a customer in Union Square]]

The Villager, a local newspaper, reported in 2013 that most of the street chess players at Washington Square Park—where Bobby Fischer had played—had moved their games to Union Square because the latter had more foot traffic.{{cite news |last=Hines |first=Lael |title=Chess moves: Most players are now at Union Square |url=http://thevillager.com/2013/08/08/chess-moves-most-players-are-now-at-union-square/ |newspaper=The Villager |date=August 8, 2008 |access-date=August 27, 2015}} Street chess players play fast chess with passers-by for three to five dollars a game, with time controls of five minutes on each side being the most common.{{cite news |last=Roma |first=Giancarlo |title=A Black and White Game: The Chess Players of Union Square |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/chess-players-405/ |newspaper=Vice |date=December 29, 2014 |access-date=October 15, 2015}} Writer Lauren Snetiker at the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation also documents this migration of the historical Washington Square Park chess scene to Union Square, noting the "dozens of chess players [who] sit on crates and bring their own boards... as there are no permanent ones like there are in Washington Square Park".{{cite web |last=Snetiker |first=Lauren |title=Checkmate!: Street Chess in the Village |url=http://gvshp.org/blog/2015/09/03/checkmate-street-chess-in-the-village/ |website=Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation |date=September 3, 2015 |access-date=October 15, 2015 |ref=snetiker}}

Union Square is the site of a regular hip-hop freestyle rap cypher called Legendary Cyphers since 2012.{{cite web | last=Reilly| first=Dan| date=November 25, 2016| url=https://www.thrillist.com/lifestyle/new-york/legendary-cyphers-union-squares-freestyle-hip-hop-party-and-communal-movement | title=An Evening with Legendary Cyphers, NYC's Weekly Freestyle Hip-Hop Troupe| website=Thrillist }} The events draw residents from across the city and tourists and encourage participation in freestyle hip-hop. Notable local hip-hop artists such as Joey Bada$$ have attended in the past.{{cite web | url=http://aboveaveragehiphop.com/spread-love-its-the-brooklyn-way-the-notorious-cypher/ | title=Spread Love, It's the Brooklyn Way: The Notorious Cypher – Above Average Hip-Hop }}

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.{{cite news |last=Engquist |first=Erik |title=BID Executive Makes Plans for Progress |url=http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070117/FREE/70117012/1008/rss01&rssfeed=rss01 |newspaper=Crain's New York Business |date=January 17, 2007 |access-date=May 30, 2010}}

The Union Square Partnership provides a free public Wi-Fi network in Union Square.{{cite web |author=Union Square Partnership |title=Union Square Partnership Expands Free Wi-Fi Hot Zone (press release) |url=http://unionsquarenyc.org/about-us/press-releases/1044 |date=July 3, 2014 |access-date=March 10, 2013 |archive-date=September 30, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930110757/http://unionsquarenyc.org/about-us/press-releases/1044/ |url-status=dead }}

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,{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303933704577529002194406824|last=Fleisher|first=Lisa|title=New Charters Proposed for Manhattan|work=The Wall Street Journal|date=July 15, 2012|access-date=July 25, 2012}} and an elementary school opened there the next year.{{cite web | last=Holland | first=Heather | title=Success Academy Union Square Welcomes First Students | website=DNAinfo New York | date=August 26, 2013 | url=https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130826/union-square/success-academy-union-square-welcomes-first-students/ | access-date=February 10, 2024}}

File:The Only Other - Union Square Park.jpg

File:1910-unionsquare-newsboy.jpg|A boy selling newspapers in Union Square in July 1910

File:Union Square in 2006 blizzard.jpg|{{center|The square in the blizzard of 2006}}

File:Union Square Subway 3760070985 d4b6a3d4fa2.jpg|{{center|14th Street–Union Square station entrance}}

File:Metronome in Union Square, New York City.JPG|{{center|Metronome by Kristin Jones/Andrew Ginzel in 1999}}

File:Metronome November 2020.jpg|{{center|Metronome revision by Andrew Boyd and Gan Golan in 2020}}

File:31-41 Union Square West.jpg|{{center|Union Square West, including the Bank of the Metropolis Building and Decker Building (on the left at the end of the block) in 2011}}

File:W New York Union Square.jpg|{{center|Former Germania Life Insurance Company Building, now the W New York Union Square Hotel}}

File:Union Square Savings Bank full jeh.JPG|{{center|Former Union Square Savings Bank, now the Daryl Roth Theatre}}

File:Zeckendorf Towers over Union Square.jpg|{{center|Zeckendorf Towers with the renovated north plaza of the park in the foreground, and the Con Ed Building in the background}}

{{portal|New York City}}

{{div col|colwidth=22em}}

• East Side (Manhattan)
• Flatiron District
• Gramercy Park
• Washington Square Park
• List of National Historic Landmarks in New York City
• Madison Square
• USS Recruit (1917)
• MacDougal Street

{{div col end}}

Notes

{{Reflist|30em}}

Bibliography

• {{cite gotham}}

{{Commons category|Union Square, Manhattan}}

{{Wikivoyage|Manhattan/Gramercy_Flatiron|Gramercy Flatiron (incl. Union Square)}}

• [http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=6533 A History of Union Square], on the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation website
• [http://unionsquarenyc.org/ Union Square Partnership]
• [http://www.grownyc.org/unionsquaregreenmarket/ Union Square Greenmarket]
• [http://www.grownyc.org GrowNYC Greenmarket Farmer's Markets Official Site]

{{Union Square, Manhattan}}

{{Geographic location

| Northwest = Flatiron District

| North = Flatiron District, Gramercy

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| West = Chelsea

| Center = Union Square

| East = Gramercy, Stuyvesant Town

| Southwest = Greenwich Village

| South = NoHo

| Southeast = East Village

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