James Cagney Plaza

James Cagney Plaza occupies a stretch of East 91st Street that has been closed to cars since the mid-1970s. This pedestrian space sits in the heart of Yorkville, a neighborhood that shaped the legendary actor during his early life. Cagney grew up in this area at the turn of the twentieth century, back when the streets were known for their rugged, street-brawling atmosphere. He honed his own fighting skills here, eventually becoming a celebrated local athlete as a catcher for a neighborhood sandlot team called the Yorkville Nut Club. He kept his original baseball uniform from those days for the rest of his life as a reminder of his roots in this gritty, working-class district. The plaza serves as a rare, quiet enclave in the middle of a dense residential area, marked by benches and gates that have effectively preserved the space for community use for decades.