Washington Square

Washington Square Park is one of the best-known of New York City’s 1,900 public parks. At 9.75 acres (39,500 m2), it is a landmark in the Manhattan neighborhood of Greenwich Village, as well as a meeting place and center for cultural activity.

An open space with a tradition of nonconformity, the park’s fountain area has long been one of the city’s popular spots for residents and tourists. Most of the buildings surrounding the park now belong to New York University. Some of the buildings have been built by NYU, others have been converted from their former uses into academic and residential buildings. The university rents the park for its graduation ceremonies, and uses the Arch as a symbol. Although NYU considers the park to be the core of the school’s campus, Washington Square remains a public park, which local residents have protected as an essential part of the neighborhood.
Located at the foot of Fifth Avenue, the park is bordered by Washington Square North (Waverly Place east and west of the park), Washington Square East (University Place north of the park), Washington Square South (West 4th Street east and west of the park), and Washington Square West (MacDougal Street north and south of the park).

While the Park contains many flower beds and trees, little of the park is used for plantings due to the paving. The two prominent features are Washington’s Arch and a large fountain. It includes children’s play areas, trees and gardens, paths to stroll on, a chess and scrabble playing area, park benches, picnic tables, commemorative statuary and two dog runs.

In 1889, to celebrate the centennial of George Washington’s inauguration as president of the United States, a large plaster and wood Memorial Arch was erected over Fifth Avenue just north of the park. The temporary plaster and wood arch was so popular that in 1892 a permanent marble arch, designed by the New York architect Stanford White, was erected, standing 77 feet (23 m) was built just inside the park. During the excavations for the eastern leg of the arch, human remains, a coffin and a gravestone dated 1803 were uncovered 10 feet (3 m) below ground level. The inscription on the arch reads:

Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair. The event is in the hand of God. – Washington

White modeled the arch after the 1806 Arc de Triomphe in Paris. In 1918 two statues of George Washington were added to the north side.
The first fountain was completed in 1852. The fountain was replaced in 1872.

In December 2007 the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation began construction on a US$16 million project to redesign and refurbish Washington Square Park. Changes to the park’s design include the realignment of the central fountain with the arch, a replacement of the existing perimeter fence with a taller iron fence, and the flattening and shrinking of the central plaza. Controversially, the plan calls for the cutting down of dozens of mature trees and the reinstitution of ornamental water plumes in the fountain – changes opponents worry will undermine the park’s current informal character.
Upon the completion of the park’s renovation on May 22, 2009, the Coalition for a Better Washington Square Park, a private organization, began raising money to “hire off-duty cops and maintenance workers to patrol the Park” by the summer of 2010.

The main character of the 2007 film “I Am Legend,” played by Will Smith, has his home and laboratory on the Square.