Union Square Park

---

Union Square 9/11   |   9/11 One Year Anniversary 2002  |   Union Square RNC 2004   |   Union Square Protests

Union Square is an official historic landmark. Its borders are 14th Street to the south, 17th Street to the north, Park Avenue South, Fourth Avenue to the east and University Place to the west. There are perhaps more exceptional photographic opportunities within its border than any place in New York City.

On 11 September 2001, 14th Street was the dividing line between north and south. Unless you lived or work below 14th Street, or had a legitimate reason to be there, you didn’t get in. People began gathering in the park that first night. Within a few days, the National Guard and State Police moved south to Canal Street and as they did Union Square became even more active, as memorials were built, survivors looked for missing colleagues and family members, and ordinary people came together to grieve.

I photographed Union Square in black and white and color for almost two weeks, at different times of day. It was often just as active at midnight as noon, and at 5 o'clock in the morning something would be going on. The photographs were particularly poignant at night. Other than Ground Zero itself, Union Square was perhaps the primary gathering point in New York City. These are but a few of the roughly 1000 photographs from these very sad days.