Peretz Square is a public park in
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, which marks the spot where
Houston Street
Houston Street ( ) is a major east–west thoroughfare in Lower Manhattan in New York City, New York. It runs the full width of the island of Manhattan, from FDR Drive along the East River in the east to the West Side Highway along the Hudson ...
,
First Avenue, and
First Street meet. Peretz Square marks the spot where the smaller grid of the
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...
meets the grand regularity of the
Commissioners' Plan street grid of 1811.
The surrounding neighborhood was largely populated by Jewish immigrants in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and was named after the Polish
Yiddish language
Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
author and playwright
Isaac Leib Peretz (1852-1915). The square was dedicated on November 23, 1952. Peretz played a major role in the early development of both Yiddish and Hebrew literature, and was particularly beloved for his simultaneous appreciation of both traditional Judaism and socialist doctrine.
References
{{Protected areas of New York City
Parks in Manhattan
East Village, Manhattan
Lower East Side