Albert Capsouto Park

Albert Capsouto Park sits on a small triangle of land where Canal, Varick, and Laight Streets converge. Before it became a green oasis, this site served as a long-standing parking lot that dates back to the nineteen-forties. In the immediate aftermath of the September eleventh attacks, the lot became a critical staging ground for search and rescue operations. Because of its proximity to the site of the disaster, the space spontaneously transformed into a place of public mourning, where residents left flowers and handwritten notes to honor the lives lost.