The evening of Tuesday, September 11th, 2001, as well as every evening that week, and then subsequent Fridays, Union Square’s Plaza became the place people gathered to come together, to speak out, to mourn, to call for peace.
The George Washington Statue at Union Square Park was filled with anti-war chalking and at the bottom of the statue were flowers and candles and photos of – and messages to – the people who had died on September 11th. It was solemn and gentle and yet quite beautiful.
Messages: “Stop the Cycle of Violence,” “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind,” and more…
Union Square on the southern end at 14th Street became the public space where people gathered. It was a very special place at that time right after September 11th, 2001.
Photo: Flatbush Gardener