Results tagged “washingtonsquarepark”

Perhaps it would have been nice to have had the mystery of the Washington Square Park tombstone prolonged until Halloween, but the case has seemingly been cracked! In just under a week the unearthed tombstone has been dusted off and, the NY Times reports, belongs to one James Jackson who died in September of 1799.

Yesterday we noted that as renovations continue in Washington Square Park, a tombstone was unearthed by workers. Considering there are about 20,000 dead bodies under there, this is much more mysterious than creepy.

This past Friday, as construction on Washington Square Park's redesign entered Phase II, a tombstone was unearthed. Dun dun dun. An eagle-eyed reader of the WSP Blog wrote in to that website Friday after "he noticed that there was a large hole dug about 6 feet below the surface in the fenced-off construction area" where two people were seen dusting off the tombstone. Creepy!

With the wind blowing down trees out there today (seriously, watch out, one "city-owned tree" just hit a house in Queens), and the 600-year-old tree being torn down before it rots out and falls over, CityRoom asks where the oldest tree in the 5 boroughs is.

       

With the arrival of the first official weekend of summer, skies glowing in mesmerizing patterns and everyone looking for a breather from a full month of June gloom, New Yorkers already out in the streets have continued to form their own impromptu tributes to the late Michael Jackson. In Washington Square Park, a spontaneous dance party broke out yesterday at dusk with fans doing the signature moves of Moonwalker and Thriller alike, led by the few who showed up in fedoras, gloves on one hand and one MJ lover who went the full nine and had the classic red leather jacket.

After a recent end-to-end walk through the newly renovated Washington Square Park, there was a certain ring missing from the din— had anyone polled us to see if we smoke (smoke). To make sure that the new-look park stays on the up-and-up, there's word that a local community group is planning to hire additional security that the Post says "will soon be booting druggies and lowlifes" out of the square.

       

We can't resist—here are more photographs of the newly re-opened Washington Square Park. (Yesterday really was a marvelous day to enjoy it!)

After what seems like ages of renovations, Washington Square Park is back to its glorious self with fountain turned on and parkgoers enjoying the lack of construction material in the way. A tipster told Curbed, which has more photographs, "It's all very pretty, and clean -- but it looks like the local dogs will take care of that pronto. Nothing like days of yore (yet). Neither a guitar nor blunt in sight."

Over the weekend we mentioned the adorable Tweenbots project briefly, but those little guys really deserve their own post. A little background: NYU student Kacie Kinzer built the not-so-high-tech bots to see if they could make it from one side of Washington Square Park to the other, with the help of New Yorkers. She explains: "Tweenbots are human-dependent robots that navigate the city with the help of pedestrians they encounter. Rolling at a constant speed, in a straight line, Tweenbots have a destination displayed on a flag, and rely on people they meet to read this flag and to aim them in the right direction to reach their goal."

Father of Bronx, husband of Ashlee and 1/4 of Fall Out Boy, Pete Wentz, attempted to put on an impromptu concert yesterday with his band. The scene: Washington Square Park; the time: 3:30 p.m.; the outcome: a cappella. One blogger recaps the scene, which they say was "inspired by Bob Dylan’s improptu ’60s performances in the same location." Allegedly Wentz had written about the show on his blog the night before, but "just as the band was about to play, they got in a bit of a scuffle with police, who arrived to inform them that they had not obtained the proper permit and would not be legally allowed to play instruments." Ah, Footloose laws. Apparently the boys were allowed to sing sans instruments, however, so the publicity stunt show went on. One question remains: could this Pete Wentz fella be the rock star that was spotted busking on the 14th Street F platform over the weekend?

NYU kids now have a new sticking point to convince their parents to fork over money for a deposit so they can move to Williamsburg. In a move that school officials say will divert $25 million into academic programs, NYU is scaling back on security around the downtown university. Today's Post reports that gone are overnight guards for two administration buildings--two of school's six "green buildings," spots that were kept open all night as safe havens for any students who felt threatened. One student points out, "This area around Washington Square Park has a lot of shady characters." The move to slash the security budget comes just after a new study named NYU the third highest-priced university in the nation at just over $50,000 in total yearly costs.

A sonic device designed to drive off troublesome youths has been installed in one Queens building known for vandalism and drug use. It's called The Mosquito, and is produced by a British company, where more than 3,500 units of the equipment are in use. As humans age, they naturally lose some of their hearing, beginning at the higher end of the audible spectrum detectable to man.

In the territory immediately surrounding NYU, and therefore Washington Square Park, fine dining isn't always the first thing to come to mind. Instead, there's Mamoun's for late-night falafel, the Dosa Man, or the Dessert Truck – great for meals on the cheap and meals on the go. But on nights when you feel like you deserve a glass of wine with dinner, have a downtown date, or just crave a real sit-down meal, the Washington Square Hotel's North Square Restaurant (formerly C3) is a another subterranean option that'll dig slightly deeper into your wallet, but is well worth the price. In the L-shaped dining room on the corner of Waverly and MacDougal, the art deco-meets-contemporary furnishings set the right tone for some fancied up home-cookin'.

In the course of conducting soil testing during the renovation of Washington Square Park, archaeologists discovered the skeletal remains of four people. Some adjustments will be made to redesign plans, but the skeletons will be left in place as a gesture of respect for the dead.

Brilliant, reclusive and eccentric, Chicago-born and Brooklyn-bred Bobby Fischer died at age 64 in Iceland. His spokesman said the cause was kidney failure, after a long illness.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a possible abduction on Warwick St. and Livonia Ave. in Brooklyn, a police involved shooting on West Kingsbridge Rd. in the Bronx, and an abduction on 33rd St. and 5th Ave. in Manhattan.
• A contestant on Deal or No Deal from Bayonne, NJ tells host Howie Mandel that the godawful smell around there is from the dump on Staten Island. Residents of Richmond County are not amused.
• Two pitbulls, one dead and the other severely injured, were found in a dumpster at a Yonkers gas station Sunday morning. Police say that it appears that the two animals were used as bait in a dog fighting session.

After years of protesting renovations to it -- this evening community members will be grieving Washington Square Park, and protesting those with its blood on their hands: the Parks Commissioner, Mayor Bloomberg, and City Council Members. Yesterday we received this letter, sent out by the Open Washington Square Park Coalition.

It is with frustration and remorse that I write to inform you of a memorial service for the spirit of Washington Square Park.

Continue reading "Washington Square Park, R.I.P."

Before there were iPods, New Yorkers had boomboxes. Since 1992, people have been gathering to celebrate an Unsilent Night, when dozens of portable sound systems play a piece of ambient music simultaneously. Of course, iPods are allowed, and mp3 downloads are available on the Unsilent site...but boomboxes and cassette tapes are the preferred way to go.

Artist Phil Kline has brought us an Unsilent Night every year since 1992. He describes his experiment as an "outdoor ambient music piece for an infinite number of boomboxes. It’s like a Christmas caroling party except that we don’t sing, but rather carry the music, each of us playing a separate track that is a voice in the piece."

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: shots fired on Soundview Ave. in the Bronx, a gas leak on Snyder Ave. and East 34th St. in Brooklyn, and a bank robbery on West 4th and 6th Ave. in Manhattan.
• High school girls (including a pair from Long Island) swept the top prizes in both team and individual categories for the first time in the history of the Siemens Competition in Math, Science, and Technology.
• Houston St. now sports south-side sidewalks that have doubled in width and feature trees planted in the middle, after a renovation of the street between Broadway and West 6th.
• Silicon Alley Insider names the 100 most influential people in the New York world of digital business. Mayor Bloomberg captured the top spot.
• A New Jersey task force recommended that Drug Free School Zones are too large and the mandatory harsher penalties against non-violent drug offenders crowd actual violent criminals out of prison and back onto the street.
• Gov. Spitzer raised $1.5 million at a fund-raising dinner last night in an effort to refill a diminished campaign war chest. Voters are indicating they've got buyers' remorse after electing the once-popular Spitzer.
• Police recruits studying for their pre-graduation (Dec. 27) exams will receive an early Christmas present in the form of iPods loaded with study material. They will have to return the devices after graduation.
• And a judge has cleared the way for Washington Square Park's renovations. City Councilman Alan Gerson who previously opposed the renovations but is fine with concessions the city has made: "We have secured unprecedented protections against the commercialization of the park."

FESTIVITIES: Forget about that big shiny show-off in Rockefeller Center. Tonight the menorah and Christmas tree in Washington Square Park will be illuminated for all. Come bask in the glow of holiday, people. 6pm // Washington Square Park [W 4th St to Waverly Pl between MacDougal and University] // Free FILM: In a week-long tribute to Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini (pictured), tonight The Film Society of Lincoln Center will be screening Notes for an...

Barack may have Oprah, but the stagehands' and writers' union have John Edwards! The former senator, currently in third place after Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama in the hunt for the Democratic presidential nomination, voiced his support of Local One, the Broadway stagehands union that has been on strike since November 9 over a new contract. Democratic political consultant Hank Sheinkopf said, "To interfere with the power of the Broadway community is not...

A lot of the filming for the upcoming Will Smith zombie movie I Am Legend took place in Washington Square Park and at the Brooklyn Bridge, but Union Square gets the star treatment on the I Am Legend website. Well, star treatment if you consider a rather bombed-out looking New York to be glamorous.

Early this morning, a man was stabbed to death on Washington Place near 6th Avenue in the West Village. Police believe the 43-year-old victim was arguing with other men outside 123 Washington Place when the attack occurred around 1:40AM.

A huge crowd fathering in Washington Square Park last night to hear Senator Barack Obama speak. He mentioned that he "used to hang out in Washington Square Park" and that he knew "a little something about Greenwich Village." His speech touched upon issues like making college more affordable and how his relative lack of experience didn't matter, "Longevity does not guarantee good judgment. A long resume says nothing about your character.”

Talk about joy -- over 300 sakes will be poured at the largest sake tasting in the United States, coming our way tonight. Over 100 of them are generally not available outside Japan and about 150 are silver and gold award winners in the National Sake Appraisal that takes place each year. Never fear, there will be appetizers to soak it all up, from the likes of Bao Noodles, Bond St, EN Japanese Brasserie, 15 East, Megu, Sakagura, Tocqueville, Woo Lae Oak, wd-50, and more. There's also a sake info desk where an expert will be able to answer all of your burning sake questions. 6 - 9 p.m., the Puck Building, 295 Lafayette between East Houston and Prince Streets. Tickets are $75 in advance and $90 at the door. For more info or to make reservations, call 212-799-7243, or visit joyofsake.com.

RALLY: Barack is back! This time he's hitting up Manhattan with an evening rally in Washington Square Park. It's gonna be a big one, so get there early! At least this time there won't be any unhappy paying customers, because it's free! Check out his video invite:

Celebrate the extension of the vendors' permit through the end of their season in October and add on extra festivities for Mexican and Central American Independence Day. Caesar Fuentes, the organizing force behind the vendors, promises that "the food vendors committee will host a livelier than usual weekend event - more soccer games, pinatas, music, and a 2 day art exhibit featuring photographs taken by the food vendors." Sounds good to us.

You nominated your favorites and now the finalists have been revealed:

- Don't be a MetrotardAnd yeah, a lot of these are similar to advice you'd give tourists. But in some cases, these students are four-year tourists.