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Yesterday, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve the Parks Department's plans to redesign Washington Square Park, but the Parks Department will scrap its plans for gates. Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe said, "The gates were clearly a hot-button issue that went beyond the neighborhood. The people have spoken, and we have listened." Yes, the gates people like are saffron and removed after sixteen days. Reaction to the approval is mixed, with many residents feeling left out of the process and some local politicians threatening to withhold city money if plans are not revised. The main opposition to the new plans for the park is directed at a proposed perimeter fence; Parks Commissioner Benepe explained, "You can't have a landscaped park without a perimeter fence, or else people will walk through the landscape and soon there is no landscape." So, landscapes are not for walking? Good to know.
Curbed on Washington Square Park redesign sentiments, pre-vote.
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No; landscapes are not for walking. GRASS is for walking. And deterring dogs from sh*tting all over it is not a bad thing.
You know, I don't follow the desire to line up the fountain with the arch. Wasn't all this originally off-center in the first place ....so why are we changing it from the original way it was? Seems like a waste of money to grid things up some more and loose the organic feel of a place that has SO much history as is. Why not fix up what's there instead of uprooting and rearranging it?
I think a road was supposed to (or did) go through the park back in the day. Read that 20,000 bodies are buried underneath as executions used to take place there; eerie, eh?!
An astounding waste of resources all around. Just leave the park as-is, and clean up the grassy areas that already exist.
Lining up the fountain and the arch? How is that landmarks presevervation since the park was never designed that way.
This whol issue should be shelved.
The NY Times claimed execution victims, I think I recall. Will try to find the source article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/15/nyregion/thecity/15wash.html
The bodies were from a Potter's field for the indigent and slaves who died without resources for burial. Public executions did take place in the park--the hanging tree is still alive in the northwest corner of the park--but not necessarily all executed were buried in Wash. Sq.
yeah, I agree that the moving the fountain thing is ridiculous. In fact, a lot of it is ridiculous, such as moving the dog parks. it's fine how it is!
sheesh.
I agree with smitty and confused. The fountain is fine where it is. It's a waste of money to move it a few feet east just to suit the aesthetic sensibility of some fussy tight assed bureaocrat. The idea of aligning it with the arch might appeal to some suburban shopping mall food court architect, but not most new yorkers.