AA's "Fat Flier" Got Whole Row
Ashley Dupre On Tiger Woods' Babes: "At Least I Kept My Mouth Shut"
Same-Sex Marriage Blame Game Aims at Paterson, Addabbo
Rihanna's Random Airport Search
Wife Tries To Abort And Poison Husband's Lovechild
The debate over the Parks Department $16 million dollar plans to renovate Washington Square Park just got interesting again. In a last ditch attempt to stop the two-year project that some say would radically alter the character of the park, an ad-hoc group has filed a lawsuit in Manhattan State Supreme Court arguing that the the planned redesign is "arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable and illegal."
The plan, which would move the central fountain and statues of Girabaldi and Holley into alignment with the Arch (not to mention re-christening the fountain after the Tisch family who are throwing $2.5m into the renovation), has been hotly debated from the start (see the battle of the gate). This new suit though brings in some new issues, specifically recalling the Parks history as a potter's field (a Gotham history lesson!: Before becoming a park Washington Square was a burial ground for a synagogue, an African Methodist church, Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Veterans, not to mention poor people from the state prison on Gansevoort Peninsula and the Alms House by City Hall). Over 20,000 bodies are anywhere from 8-13 feet below the surface of the park and the suit argues that in renovating it they might be unnecessarily disturbing "hallowed ground."
Washington Square has had a long and varied history, from Henry James to drug dealers, and the arch is one of the city's better known landmarks. So we guess it shouldn't be surprising that people would fight over any changes to it... but what do you think of the planned renovations?
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
There are alot of things in the park that could be fixed, specifically the "mounds" (either fix them or get rid of them!) or the bathroom areas, but I feel most of the park looks much nicer than it did even 8 years ago. And, the moving of the fountain is such an absurd waste of money. I think it gives the park some unique character.
NYU should pay to maintain the park, since they basically own the surrounding area, not to mention most of their yuppie students wreck the place.
I actually think NYU has made the park better. Granted the students are irritating, but NYU has put ALOT of money into the park (helps recruit wealthy midwestern students and their parents), not to mention the fact that famous NYU donors pump lots of money into the park (i.e. Tisch). There are a fair number of cops there that NYU doesn't pay for, but NY Uis a huge employer in NYC, and a huge taxpayer.
True, the students are irritating, but just as irritating are all of the small dog owners or mothers with their $900 bugaboo strollers. Those people "wreck" the park just as much
The burial ground aspect is cool and kind of shocking. Is there any acknowledgement anywhere in the park that dead are buried there?
I think the most that the city and NYU can/should do is just smooth over what is there. Fix up things and clean them up a bit, but nothing so debilitating that the park has to be shut down.
how are all of NYU's students branded as "irritating"?
Yes! thank god they won't do it. If they start renovating the park where will we get our crack from? the dealers will be forced to go to the west side highway. This way we can still conveniently get all our hard drugs in W Square.
how are all of NYU's students branded as "irritating"?
That's a valid point. I think the thought behind this idea is that the people you're aware of being students at NYU tend to be obnoxious, loud on cell-phones, have a sense of entitlement, etc. However, there are many people around NYU who don't act like this, and we assuming that they aren't students, even though they may be.
So it would be better to qualify that many of the people around Washington Square are irritating, and as many of them are probably students, we project that all students at NYU are irritating, when in fact, maybe only 10% are, but those 10% brand everyone else.
Yeah. Not all NYU students are irritating. Only the Film School ones and the ones in the Gallatin division. Damn Hipsters! The nursing school students are alright.
I like the NYU students. I think they should flush out the guys playing beatles songs on acoustic guitars though. I can't get too worked up about the renovations, but the park ain't broke. I like the pointless mounds and the fountain is fine where it is. Street performers use the empty fountain and when the water is on kids wade in it. It really is the most interactive fountain in town. Seems like a renovation is a waste of money. The proposal to place a large statue of Larry Tisch next to Washington on the arch is also scandalous.
Well, since the park was a potter's field and site of a gallows long before anything was situated there, perhaps we should knock down the arch, rip out the fountain, dig up the dog park, raze the mounds, and otherwise make it completely unsuitable for public enjoyment. All in the name of preservation, of course.
NYU students are asses. They are always throwing themselves off buildings committing suicide and shit. Never looking at who they might crush below them. Talk about inconsiderate!
Leave the park as it is. Give me a break.
There's nothing wrong with the NYU students. They're not the problem and they mostly sit on the benches or tables reading and working.
The problem is the sense of entitlement that NYU itself has about the park. It is a City park and should stay that way. The city should pay for maintenance. NYU gives money to maintain the grass, but they should, since their graduation ceremony puts folding chairs on every square inch of the grass and does a lot of damage to it.
And their construction has pulled water from beneath the park killing the trees.