Sherman Square is a diminutive public space bounded by Broadway, Amsterdam Avenue and West 70th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, in New York City. The small parcel of land, acquired by the city in 1849, was named for William Tecumseh Sherman, who had once resided nearby, in 1891.[1]
In the 1960s and 1970s the nearby Verdi Square and Sherman Square were known by local drug users and dealers as "needle park".[2] This provided the title and general setting for the gritty 1971 film The Panic in Needle Park (set in Sherman Square, according to its credits), directed by Jerry Schatzberg and starring Al Pacino in his second role.
The site is also known for its elegant Broadway subway house, one of only three remaining in the city.