Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2011/08/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I used to go to Union Square often when I was a photographer for the stock agency FPG (long ago bought by Getty), whose headquarters was on the northeast corner. I still have fond memories of the excitement and vibrancy of the place. Years before, in the summer of 1977 (the great blackout), I witnessed wide-scale looting there and in lower Manhattan. I was a medical student living on east 21st street at the time. It was quite scary. Leland It was the scene for some famous riots and killings during the civil war. -- Mark R. > From: Lawrence Zeitlin <lrzeitlin at gmail.com> > Reply-To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org> > Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2011 18:00:27 -0400 > To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org> > Subject: Re: [Leica] Union Square - statue of Gandhi > > Jayanand, > > Union Square, actually a triangular piece of land, is located in NYC where > Broadway and 4th Avenue converge. It is bounded by 14th St. on the south > and > 17th St. on the north. Union Square is at the southern edge of the NYC > photo > district and was one of the few places in the city where you could walk > around with a couple of Leicas hanging from your neck without someone > thinking you had ripped off a camera store. But since most of the camera > stores in the area have closed, today you are the one likely to get ripped > off. My university office was just a couple of blocks away and I used the > Union Square subway station for commuting. > > In times gone by its central location in lower Manhattan made it a > convenient place for political rallies and riots. Now it hosts a weekly > Farmer's Market where restauranteurs and shoppers go to pick up the > freshest > produce from upstate NY and New Jersey. Some of the best restaurants in NYC > are to be found in the Union Square area. Before the Farmer's Market, Union > Square was the choice place to score drugs in NYC. One of my graduate > assistants used to shop there regularly for a weekend stash for her and her > boyfriend. In one of NYCs periods of renovation the area was cleaned up, > old > buildings torn down, and high rises put up. > > As Nathan says it is about a mile north of Wall Street and close to three > colleges, New York University, The New School for Social Research, and the > City University of New York's Baruch College. The presence of so many > college students keeps the place humming. > > The name has nothing to do with labor unions. > > The statue of Gandhi was put up in 1986. > > I'm sure that's more about Union Square than you wanted to know. > > Larry Z > > > > Mark, > > Nice one. Where was it taken? > > Cheers > > Jayanand > > > On Fri, Aug 19, 2011 at 10:32 PM, Mark Rabiner <mark at > rabinergroup.com>wrote: > > > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/lugalrabs/110815_180703.jpg.html > > Gandhi with Flowers > > > Union Square NY > > -- > > Mark R. > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information