After a recent end-to-end walk through the newly renovated Washington Square Park, there was a certain ring missing from the din—not once 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.
The group that would be hiring the additional off-duty cops and maintenance is known as The Coalition for a Better Washington Square Park. Curbed calls them "a shadowy coalition of nearby co-op boards and NYU." They'll be meeting with Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe to discuss the plan next week.
The founder of the Coalition, Gil Horowitz, told the paper, "There are wealthy New Yorkers that are public-minded. We have brought together some very high-level people in order to get this done. Radicals see this as a form of the loss of their public space but we see this as securing the public space so it is civilized and better for them and for us."
Those radicals apparently include longtime Village resident Ron Kuby, formerly one half talk radio team Curtis and Kuby. He tells the Post, "I think the rich folk who are sponsoring this want to change the character of the park from the free-wheeling street-theater scene to something that resembles their backyard terraces." Kuby sounds reminiscent of the memorial service for the "spirit of the park" that was held when the renovations were approved back in 2007.
