Foley Square - History and Description

History and Description

Foley Square sits on the site of Collect Pond, which was one of the original fresh water sources for the city, but in 1811 was drained and filled-in because it had become severely polluted and implicated in typhus and cholera outbreaks. The neighborhood around the pond was the notorious Five Points neighborhood, home of many gangs.

The square is the site of a number of civic buildings including the classic facades and colonnaded entrances of the 1933-built United States Courthouse, fronted by the Triumph of the Human Spirit Memorial by the noted artist Lorenzo Pace; the New York County Courthouse; the Church of St. Andrew; the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse – known before 2003 as the Foley Square Courthouse – where the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is based; the New York County Municipal Building; the Foley Square Federal Building and the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building and Court of International Trade.

Also featured in the square are five bronze historical medallions, set flush into areas of the surrounding sidewalks, telling the history of the park and its surroundings, including one for the "Negro Burial Ground", an 18th century African-American burial ground unearthed during construction of the square. This burial ground has been preserved as the African Burial Ground National Monument. In 2005, Tom Paine Park was established as a part of the square.

Foley Square was used as a triage center the day of September 11, 2001.