A reenactment of the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence in New York City on the evening of July 9th, 1776, on its 250th anniversary, in the place where it happened.

The reading will be held in the Commons at 6:00 pm. After the reading, there will be a march to Bowling Green followed by the premiere of the movie ‘By George’ at the Battery.

On that day, General George Washington, based at his headquarters at Number One Broadway (beside Bowling Green), received a copy of the Declaration — adopted by the Continental Congress on July 4, 1776 — and ordered a formal reading to his troops and the public. At 6:00 PM, Washington assembled the city’s brigades at the Common, now known as City Hall Park, a central civic space

The reading was both a military and civic event. Washington’s recorded orders emphasized that the peace and safety of the country now depended “solely on the success of our arms”. After the reading, a large crowd of patriots, led by figures like Isaac Sears, marched to Bowling Green Park to protest the presence of a large equestrian statue of King George III. The statue was torn down, its head cut off, and its pieces shipped to Connecticut, where much of the lead was later melted down to make bullets for the American cause

This July 9, 1776, reading was a pivotal moment in the Revolutionary War, boosting morale among soldiers and civilians alike, and cementing New York City’s role as a key center of the independence movement.