Celebrated editor and political leader Horace Greeley (1811-1872) launched the New York Tribune in 1841. From its pages, he had an enormous influence on American popular opinion. Greeley’s famous advice, “Go West, young man, go West,” inspired generations of Americans to seek their fortunes on the new frontier. He advocated protectionism, abolitionism, labor rights, and political reform. Greeley ran for President in 1872.
Greeley Square lies between West 32nd Street and West 33rd Street and between Broadway and Sixth Avenue, and is taken up almost entirely by a triangular park.
Greeley and the neighboring Herald Square, serve as rest areas for the thousands of shoppers that flood the neighborhood, as a lunchroom for thousands of midtown office workers, and as a stage for product launches, musical performances, and photo and film shoots.
It is named after Horace Greeley, who was the publisher of the New York Tribune, the Herald’s rival newspaper. The two papers eventually merged to form the New York Herald Tribune.
There is a statue of Greeley inside the park, created in 1890 by Alexander Doyle.
The small park has great deal of charm, it is planted with trees and shrubbery, enclosed by a wrought-iron fence, and provided with inviting chairs, tables and a restaurant kiosk.