About 80 NYU students and community members held a candlelight vigil under the Washington Square Park arch last night memorializing the 2,000 soldiers who have died in the Iraq war on the fourth anniversary of Congress' passing of the Patriot Act.

Last night's Washington Square Park protest was one of more than 1,100 protests held across the nation, several of which occurred in New York, organizers said.

Protesters huddling together in the heavy winds held signs reading "We the People say No to the Bush Agenda," "The Killing Must Stop! Let all People Live: Iraqi, Afghan, Palestinian, Israeli" and "No permanent U.S. bases in Iraq."

"I was disturbed by not only the military casualties, but the nearly 30,000 Iraqi civilian deaths," said CAS sophomore Anna Parlet, who helped organize the gathering.

Parlet said she got involved in protesting the war in Iraq after volunteering for an American Friends Service Committee exhibition "Eyes Wide Open," which alleged that misinformation led the nation into war.

Though New Yorkers could also gather in Central Park, Parlet said it was important to bring the protest to lower Manhattan.

"I felt like we needed to do something downtown," Parlet said. She invited several hundred NYU students and publicized the protest "last minute" on Facebook.com, NYU listservs and Moveon.org, she said.

Several community members said they were glad for the opportunity to protest the war in Washington Square Park.

"I didn't want to go to Times Square because I've been there for so many protests, and this is just such a beautiful place," Brooklyn resident Madeliene Hart said.

One woman from the American Friends Service Committee, who held a sign that read "Not one more death, not one more dollar," said she has been protesting the war in the park every day from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m., rain or shine, since it started in 2003.

"It's really a great cause," CAS sophomore Emily Westlake said. "Hopefully, people will notice."