Prior to the 2014-2016 redesign of the area, the intersection was difficult for pedestrians to navigate. Bowery, Third Avenue and both sides of Cooper Square were two-way streets, and the area was part of a city-approved through-truck route.[3] TheNew York City Department of Transportation announced plans in 2009 to "normalize" traffic, increase the size of the park in the middle of the square, and create a new community park in the area.[4] The redesign was completed in 2016. Lafayette Street, Cooper Square, and Fourth Avenue were converted to one-way streets with reduced lanes, and the park in the intersection was expanded.[5]
When the square was initially opened as a public space in 1850, it was named "Stuyvesant Square", despite there already being a "Stuyvesant Square" about a half-mile north onSecond Avenue. It was renamed forPeter Cooper, the 19th Century industrialist and philanthropist, after his death in 1883.[6][7] In 1853, Cooper had broken ground forCooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, an institution founded on the belief that high-quality education should be available to all who qualified, including women – a radical notion at the time – without cost. It continued to provide every student with a full-tuition scholarship until 2014.[8] Frederick A. Peterson's Cooper Union Foundation Building on the north end of the square, the oldest existing American building framed with steel beams,[9] still stands where it was located when it opened in 1859, but the interior was extensively reconstructed in 1975 not only to modernize it, but also to fulfill one of Cooper's plans which was never realized at the time: the installation of a round elevator. The exterior of the building was restored in 1999 as well.[10]
Downtown of the Foundation Building is a small park, Cooper Triangle, which includes a monument dedicated to Peter Cooper.[11] Across the street, at 41 Cooper Square, is the school's newest building, theNew Academic Building, designed by Thom Mayne ofMorphosis.[12][13]
TheNew York City Department of Transportation's "Reconstruction of Astor Place and Cooper Square" plan[19] calls for some changes to be made to Cooper Square beginning in 2013. The western leg of the square will be a northbound bus-only lane, from a two-way multi-use roadway. The confusing intersection of the two legs at Fifth Street would become a simple "Village Plaza", with sidewalk extensions and a smallamphitheater on the western sidewalk. Finally, Cooper Triangle would be renovated, and expanded to make a new "Cooper Walk" leading up to Cooper Union. New trees would be planted up and down the square on both sides.[19]
#35: The modest building on the left was owned in the early 19th century by a great-grandson ofPeter Stuyvesant.[21] It was demolished for new construction.
#25: The luxuryThe Standard, East Village hotel, an ultra-modern 21-story tower, opened in 2008 as the Cooper Square Hotel
#36: As of December 2012, houses the headquarters ofThe Village Voice and of digital firms including curbed.com and 9Threads.
^Rosenberg, Andrew; Dunford, Martin (2012).The Rough Guide to New York City. New York: Penguin.ISBN978-1405390224.Just east of Astor Place is Cooper Square, a busy crossroads formed by the intersection of Bowery, Third and Fourth avenues and St. Mark's/East 8th Street...
![#61: This building was built in 1867 as a bank, but has been a church since 1937. (New York City Landmark, 1969[20])](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aMetropolitan_Savings_Bank_Building.jpg)
![#35: The modest building on the left was owned in the early 19th century by a great-grandson of Peter Stuyvesant.[21] It was demolished for new construction.](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aCooper_Square_Old_%2526_New.jpg)
