Anna LaGrone
September 25, 2017
Studio – Union Square Essay
Union Square Tour
Deniz and I chose Union Square as our area to explore and learn more about the history of the location. Since it is the area that most of The New School buildings and dorms are located, we were interested in the rich history and geography of the neighborhood.
The first few days after moving to the city, I noticed the huge statues in Union Square Park. I wondered what the significance of the statues was, but never took the time to research it. So when I saw that Union Square was one of the options for the guided audio tour, I was immediately interested.
The tour guided us to six different locations throughout the park, which included 1839 Map Plaque, the statue of Abe Lincoln, Tammany Hall, The W Hotel, the Plaque of Olmsted’s design of the park, and the statue of George Washington. Each stop held it’s own story in history. Some were from the early stages of our country, and others were from not too long ago, such as the installation called The Vortex. All of the sites revealed a story that I had never heard before and gave Union Square a new personal meaning to me. I’m honored to be living in an area with as much history as this neighborhood. 
