I remember a place in Manhattan where many people with points of view would tell the world all about it. This area had a local name, and that’s what I can’t remember. It could have been something akin to “Soapbox Square” It also may have been in Central Park. It was well known, and I have seen it in a movie ot two.
Anybody know?
BTW; most speakers actually stood on a milk crate or some similar rudimentary stage.
I liked going there to hang out.
Peace,
mangeorge ND
There are three places that sort of fit the bill of your description
Union Square Park – This was the classic locale for “soapbox” rhetoric, getting it’s start in the early days of the NYC labor movement, say, from the late 19 C (though that might be a little too early – I’m not an expert on labor history). The identity stuck up to pre-WWII.
Washington Square Park – This became the preferred “soapbox” rhetoric locus in the 1950s, '60s and '70s, as the beatnik scene took hold in Greenwich Village, near the park.
Tompkins Square Park – This was never the real high profile center that the other two parks were, but it attacted an activist-friendly reputation in the 1970 and '80s, as the counterculture drifted east from the Village.
Of course, if you want to go way back, there was Bowling Green and City Hall Park, where American rabblerousers stirred up trouble against the British King.
Washington Square sounds most likeky. The timing is right, and I did like to visit in the Village. I was there late '64 thru early early '65.
This was my first exposure to real free speech. I loved it. Many of the orators were very interesting if you talked to them after their speech.
And some were just plain crazy. 
Today, people prefer the captive audience of a subway car, especially now that the AC and heat can be reasonably relied upon.