Cooper Square

Cooper Square is a small urban square and major traffic junction in Lower Manhattan at the boundary of the NoHo and East Village neighborhoods. It is associated with Cooper Union, the historic institution that gives the square its name.

The area contains a compact public plaza and several notable urban features, most famously the black rotating cube sculpture at Astor Place and the facade and entrances of Cooper Union. The square functions as a local transport node and meeting point rather than a large civic park.

The square took its name from Peter Cooper, the industrialist and philanthropist who founded Cooper Union in the mid-19th century. The surrounding streets and buildings have evolved with New York’s urban development but the college and the cube remain central references.

Cooper Square sits in lower Manhattan, a short walk north of Houston Street and near the Bowery and Third Avenue corridors. It is readily accessible by subway stations serving the East Village and NoHo.

• Name origin: Named for 19th-century entrepreneur and philanthropist Peter Cooper, whose foundation established an influential technical and art school nearby.
• Local landmark: The cube sculpture is a local landmark and popular informal meeting point; it is accessible for public interaction when not fenced for maintenance.

What to See #

• Cooper Union: A small liberal arts college founded by industrialist Peter Cooper in 1859, with its main building facing the square and holding historical lecture halls and galleries.
• Astor Place Cube (The Alamo): A large public sculpture known locally as the 'Alamo' or 'Astor Place Cube', an angular black cube by Tony Rosenthal installed in 1967 and set on a pedestal that can be spun by visitors.
• Public plaza and intersection: A pedestrianised plaza and traffic junction at the convergence of several Manhattan streets, used as a short public space and meeting point in the NoHo/East Village area.