Washington Sq Park Renovation
Sunday, February 3rd, 2008
I poked my camera lens into the chain link fence around the Washington Square Park renovation. They’ve removed the fountain, planning to center the new one with the arch. This is about as good a view as you can get from the ground. Most of the surrounding fence is covered with black tarp. Some NYU Flickrite probably has a good shot from one of the surrounding building.
Noooooooooooo – what the heck has happened to it? What’s that blue-and-beige monstrosity in the background? Sheesh, it has apparently been a looooong time since I was there.
Not sure when that went up, ruminatrix, but it’s been awhile.
Im thoroughly disgusted at the events Ive been watching unfold in the NY Times and the Villager. As a kid I lived in an apartment on the corner of University Place so this park was my backyard.
I rememebr around 1971 they renovated the park and it was closed for a while with a fence around it, I think they replaced benches, added new play stuff, swings, replanted grass and that sort of thing, more of a facelift that didn’t involve massive tearing up of the whole park, and it was closed long enough to let the grass take hold.
What NYU has done to this area and nearby with demolition of loved ‘landmarks’ and building huge UGLY outscaled monstrosities borders on criminal acts with the approval of the LPC and others.
NYU has utterly destroyed the character of this park by erecting these huge ungodly looking skyscrapers that dwarfs everything around them.
I rememeber the low-rise 1950ish Leon Lowenstein student building I think it was called, being on the corner about where that ugly blue and beige building is now- it was demolished for THAT.
Now that church you see in the view is also going to be demolished very soon. NYU built that ugly Bobst Library around 1970- totally wrong for this location.
NYU also destroyed another building in Astor place to build aother wierd looking glass box, and they are planing to demolish the low rise bengineering building North of The Cooper Building to build another high rise.
NYU has been probably the WORST corporation for Greenwich Village ever, and to think that paying to move a historic fountain 23 feet to improperly align it with the arch which it was NOT designed to be- gives them the right to RENAME the fountain in the Tische family honor takes the cake, they really have GALL!
NYU would be happy to fencethe park off as their own private ceremony plot for their campus, and they are well on the way to doing that.
If NYU needs THIS much space that they have to demolish and destroy half the neighborhood, then they should damn well move to JERSEY CITY or something.
It’s clear that no matter what the residents WANT, the city and the crooks at NYU and the LPC will do whatever they want, and the subversive way they pushed this project and lied about the plans despite protests shows they will do whatever they want.
Even from 1500 miles away Im angry, and upset about this.