Travels in the 2nd half

Union Square is one of my favorite place to come to in NYC. There are so many interesting aspects of this park, and I always find something new when I come.   It has a long history and has played key roles in New York’s past and present. Today it is a neighborhood backyard, a lunchtime outing, a marketplace and a soapbox, all wrapped into six and a half acres of urban open space. Originally a “potter’s field” that sat just north of 14 th street, which was the northern edge of NYC, this open space was designated as a public space in 1833 at the urging of Samuel Ruggles – founder of The Commerce Bank, and holder of land deeds to many properties the sat on the edge of the park to be. Its name comes not from the Union Army or many labor marches that that started or ended here, but from the fact that the park sits at the junction of the major thoroughfares of the time, The Bowery and Broadway. The park was originally laid out and planted in the early 1840’s and given a ...