4. Lafayette Square 0.02 Acres

Bartholdi’s Lafayette and Washington next to Morningside Park

Lafayette Square is named after the Marquis de Lafayette, the French nobleman who sailed to America at age 19 as a volunteer soldier and became the youngest general in George Washington’s army. Lafayette Square, like Johnny Hartman Square, was acquired by the NYC Parks Department through condemnation of the land and in this case, as part of the acquisition for Morningside Park. This pocket park is all the more notable for the sculpture, a replica of an original piece “Lafayette and Washington” located in Paris by Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi, the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty.