Union Square NYC: Markets, Shopping and People Watching

Union Square is a college neighborhood thanks to its proximity to New York University, and at the same time a thriving retail hub that's ideal for shopping.

Its streets are lined with elegant 19th-century buildings and dozens of bars and restaurants, which also makes it an excellent neighborhood to eat in.

All around it you'll find other traditional Manhattan neighborhoods such as the Flatiron District, Chelsea, East Village and Greenwich Village, so you can easily cover them all in one day.

What to do in Union Square

You obviously have to start with Union Square park itself. It's the heart of the neighborhood and it's full of life. Just sit down for a while and watch the people go by, you'll see everything!

As I mentioned, the neighborhood has plenty of shops and chain stores clustered around the square. Beyond shopping, there are a few other places I'd recommend taking a look at:

Strand Bookstore

Strand Bookstore (828 Broadway) is one of the few old bookstores left in New York, and it promises 18 miles of books. It's enormous!

It stays open until 10:30 p.m., which makes it perfect for escaping the cold in winter while you dig through its treasures across 4 floors of books, vinyl and seriously stylish souvenirs.

It opened in 1927 and its selection of titles beats Amazon's. You'll find everything stacked in mountains of books, and there's even a section of rare and collectible books.

The secret to this bookstore is that its owners, the Bass family, own the building, so they haven't been driven out by high rents the way other small bookshops have. It has still been an uphill battle, which is why every so often they run campaigns to keep the doors open. If you want to support them, read the details on their site.

Union Square Greenmarket

If you love organic, healthy food, you'll enjoy a visit to the farmers market on Union Square. At the Greenmarket you'll find fresh fruit and vegetables, cheeses and other treats from small regional producers.

The Greenmarket hours are every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, year-round, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Metronome sculpture

On the south side of the square you'll see the Metronome, a kinetic sculpture with a digital clock that shows the time of day in a very peculiar set of digits, and sometimes counts down to major events.

It was installed in 1999, when it was counting down to the dreaded Y2K.

Union Square buildings

If you're on the lookout for the city's famous buildings, to the east of the square you can spot the four Zeckendorf Towers, classic examples of 1980s New York architecture.

The history of Union Square

In the 19th century, Union Square was one of the first commercial neighborhoods in New York. It got its name because the square joined two important streets, one in the «old» city (The Bowery) and one in the «new» (then Bloomingdale, today Broadway).

Its large plaza, Union Square proper, has witnessed countless protests and public demonstrations.

In the sixties it filled up with drug users and prostitution, but this is also where the famous mayor Giuliani‘s «cleanup» arrived, and he deserves much of the credit for pushing crime out of the city center. So stroll the streets without worry.

Address

Union Square is a small neighborhood bounded by 14th Street to the south and 17th to the north, and by Union Square West and Union Square East from west to east

Getting there

Subway lines L, N, Q, R, 4, 5, 6. 14th St-Union Square station

Map