Union Square Park

On our list of the best activities in New York.

Union Square opened to the public in 1839 at the literal union of Broadway and the Bowery, and Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux redesigned it in 1872 to hold the mass gatherings the city kept throwing there; the first Labor Day parade marched through in 1882, and the first Earth Day rally filled it in 1970. Since 1976, the Greenmarket has set up on the north side four days a week, now the city's oldest and largest farmers market. Evelyn's Playground covers climbing structures, a splash fountain, and a sandbox, and there's a dog run for anyone traveling with one.