1906

Manhattan: Union Square - 14th Street (East) - [Lincoln Statue.]

Union Square West, north from East 14th Street, showing the Lincoln statue silhouetted against the buildings that face Union Square. This thoroughfare in reality is a part of Broadway. It’s true identity is lost in that 14th to 17th Street gap that sweeps past the Park. The street cars of the same curved eastward in a serpentine loop forming the well known "Death Curve". The martyr President stands in the attitude of addressing an audience, and the angularity and ungracefulness of his figure are expressed with painful exactitude. A low curb of granite surrounds the pedestal, and on this are inscribed the famous Gettysburg words, "With malice toward none, With charity for all". This is the work of Henry K. Browne and was paid for by popular subscription. It was erected in 1868 and complements the nearby equestrian Washington statue. At the left margin is the 5 story building occupied for years by Tiffany & Company. Opposite is a lower structure with the well known Sol Young, Photographer, as a tenant. These are at East 15th Street. The dominant office building is the 17 story Bank of the Metropolis Bldg., No 31 Union Square West. Broadway reasserts itself in the center background. To the right are buildings that face on the north side of East 17th Street, extending toward Fourth Avenue. George L. Balgue February, 1906

Photo from the New York Public Library - Milstein Collection