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This public park is the gateway to downtown—a stone’s throw from the East Village, SoHo and Greenwich Village—and as close as New York gets to a European piazza. At almost any hour you can expect a good crowd. Hackey-sackers, skateboarders and protestors dominate the steps on the south end while dog-walkers and dog-watchers gravitate towards the narrow dog run on the west side of this landmark space. Kids play in the park’s three playgrounds, adults shop the fantastic greenmarket, and students from the New York Film Academy (on the park’s northeast corner) learn how to focus. Union Square Park has long been and still remains a location for political activists, ever since the first Labor Day Parade took place here in 1882. The park also hosts a series of free music and dance performances in the summer, plus a crafts fair in the winter. Restaurants along its perimeter (there’s even one, Luna Park, inside), as well as the bars, bookstores and shops, have further established Union Square as an extremely popular destination. And thanks to good planning by the park’s designers, there’s room for everyone. — Amy Allison

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