Gothamist: Fence But No Gates for Washington Square Park

bob denver

Wed, 18 May 2005 12:48:03 -0500

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.

smitty

Wed, 18 May 2005 12:42:45 -0500

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.

Dave H.

Wed, 18 May 2005 11:21:34 -0500

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.

K

Wed, 18 May 2005 11:11:38 -0500

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/15/nyregion/thecity/15wash.html

K

Wed, 18 May 2005 11:08:58 -0500

The NY Times claimed execution victims, I think I recall. Will try to find the source article.

Jack

Wed, 18 May 2005 10:17:28 -0500

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.

K

Wed, 18 May 2005 09:29:21 -0500

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?!

Confused

Wed, 18 May 2005 09:24:32 -0500

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?

K

Wed, 18 May 2005 09:07:47 -0500

No; landscapes are not for walking. GRASS is for walking. And deterring dogs from sh*tting all over it is not a bad thing.