| Zuccotti Park | |
|---|---|
 Zuccotti Park inNew York City in May 2015 | |
 Interactive map of Zuccotti Park | |
| Type | Plaza |
| Location | Financial District,Manhattan, New York City, U.S. |
| Coordinates | 40°42′33″N74°00′40″W / 40.709228°N 74.011247°W /40.709228; -74.011247 |
| Area | 33,000 square feet (3,100 m2) |
| Created | 1968 (1968) |
| Etymology | John Eugene Zuccotti, Brookfield Properties CEO |
| Operated by | Brookfield Properties |
| Status | Open all year |
Zuccotti Park (formerlyLiberty Plaza Park) is a 33,000-square-foot (3,100 m2) publicly accessible park in theFinancial District ofLower Manhattan inNew York City. It is located in aprivately owned public space (POPS) controlled byBrookfield Properties[1][2] andGoldman Sachs. Zuccotti Park is bounded byBroadway to the east,Liberty Street to the north,Trinity Place to the west, and Cedar Street to the south.
The park was created in 1968 byPittsburgh-basedUnited States Steel, after the property owners negotiated its creation with city officials. It was named Liberty Plaza Park because it was situated one block south ofOne Liberty Plaza. The park's northwest corner is across the street fromFour World Trade Center. It has been popular with local tourists and financial workers.
The park was heavily damaged in theSeptember 11 attacks and subsequent recovery efforts of 2001. The plaza was later used as the site of several events commemorating the anniversary of the attacks. After renovations in 2006, the park was renamed by its current owners,Brookfield Properties, after company chairmanJohn Zuccotti. Starting in September 2011, the plaza became the site of theOccupy Wall Streetprotest camp, during which activistsoccupied the plaza and used it as a staging ground for their protests throughout the Financial District; this was the first protest of what became the globalOccupy movement.
The site was the location of the first coffeehouse in colonial New York City, The King's Arms which opened under the ownership of Lieutenant John Hutchins in 1696. It stood on the west side of Broadway between Crown (now Liberty) Street and Little Queen (now Cedar) Street.[3] On November 5, 1773, summoned by theSons of Liberty, a huge crowd assembled outside the coffee house to denounce theTea Act, and agents of theEast India Trading Company who were handling cargoes of dutied tea. It was perhaps the first public demonstration in opposition to the Tea Act in the American colonies.[4]
The park was created in 1968 or the early 1970s byPittsburgh-basedUnited States Steel, after the property owners negotiated its creation with city officials, in return for a height bonus for an adjacent building at the time of its construction.[5] The structure,One Liberty Plaza, replaced the demolishedSinger Building andCity Investing Building.[6]
The park is home to a signpost for Temple Street, a "ghost street" which appeared on Manhattan maps as early as 1695, but was redeveloped out of existence by the early 1970s.[7]
The park was one of the few open spaces with tables and seats in theFinancial District. Located one block from theWorld Trade Center, it was covered with debris, and subsequently used as a staging area for the recovery efforts after thedestruction of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.[8] As part of the Lower Manhattan rebuilding efforts, the park was regraded, trees were planted, and the tables and seating restored.[6] Those who were working in the Zuccotti Park staging area of the recovery efforts, along with those who were living and working South of Houston Street in the months after the 9/11 attacks, have continued to develop cancers and other illnesses, for which they can seek compensation through the9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. Located near Zuccotti Park is the law firm ofPitta & Baione LLP, which serves as a local office for those who were impacted by these events and are seeking legal recourse.
On June 1, 2006, the park reopened after an $8 million renovation designed byCooper, Robertson & Partners. It was renamed Zuccotti Park in honor ofJohn E. Zuccotti, former City Planning Commission chairman and first deputy mayor underAbe Beame and the then-chairman of Brookfield Properties,[9] which used private money to renovate the park. Currently, the park has a wide variety of trees, granite sidewalks, tables and seats, as well as lights built into the ground, which illuminate the area. With its proximity to Ground Zero, Zuccotti Park is a popular tourist destination. TheWorld Trade Center cross, which was previously housed atSt. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, was featured in a ceremony held in Zuccotti Park before it was moved to the 9/11 Memorial.[10] The park won the 2008American Institute of Architects Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design and was featured inArchitectural Record andInternational New Architecture magazines.[11]
During theOccupy Wall Street movement, many protesters inhabited Zuccotti Park and spent their days and nights there, despite park rules prohibiting staying overnight. Attempts were made by theNYPD to disperse the protesters, but not until November 15, 2011, were they substantially evicted. At that time, police officers lit up the area with floodlights and began to clear out the park. Tents, tarps, and other forms of shelters were immediately removed, but protesters began to resist being driven out of the park. This led to thepepper-spraying and detainment of some protesters. After the park was reopened to the public, it was made known that protesters were still permitted to exercise theircivil rights, but that this did not include sleeping and camping out at the park. Some protesters attempted to remain at the site after this, which led to continuing conflict with the police. After the complete eviction of the protesters from the park, they rallied again and attempted to take over other locations.[citation needed]
The park is home to two sculptures.[8][12]Joie de Vivre byMark di Suvero, a 70-foot-tall sculpture consisting of bright-red beams,[13] was installed in Zuccotti Park in 2006, having been moved from its previous installation in theStorm King Art Center.Benjamin Genocchio, an Australian then-New York-based art critic, commented that the sculpture suited the location, "nicely echoing the skyscrapers around it."[14] The other sculpture isDouble Check,[15] depicting a bronze businessman sitting on a bench, byJohn Seward Johnson II.[16] The park formerly had a third sculpture:Rose III byIsa Genzken, installed in 2018 at the northwest corner of the park.[17]
New York City portalNotes
The park was built in 1974 in a trade-off that let the developer add seven stories to 1 Liberty Plaza, the office tower across the street; the park could only be completed when a holdout, a Chock Full O' Nuts store, was razed in 1980.*Early 1970s:Urbanelli, Elisa (June 7, 1988). Goeschel, Nancy (ed.).U.S. Realty Building(PDF) (Report). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. p. 5.
In the early 1970s, the U.S. Steel Corporation constructed a plaza, in conjunction with their new headquarters, directly to the north of the U.S. Realty Building ...
Bibliography
Media related toZuccotti Park at Wikimedia Commons
